I do not presently listen to any podcasts and I have to say that I personally see them as inferior to other methods of knowledge distribution. I have always struggled with strictly audio learning (such as listening to a lecture) and podcasts are just that. I lose focus easily and before I know it I’m off thinking of something else and I missed a big chunk of content. My attention span for audio is very small. I struggle to even listen to audio books for fun! To stay engaged, I need to see a video, a slide presentation (text heavy is fine with me – I learn well through reading), even just slides with relevant images.

I recognize that this isn’t universally the case and that some people do well with learning by hearing. However, I would still be inclined to incorporate material with a visual or text component to engage more learners.

I do engage regularly with text-based material. I use Twitter to participate in chats, follow conversations, and follow influential users. I frequently discover relevant articles and websites this way. In addition, I recently started using Browzine, an app my library subscribes to that pushes scholarly journal content to my iPhone. Rather than having to search for articles, I can serendipitously discover what is being published in select journals of professional interest to me.

I see more value in teaching students (keeping in mind that my students are college-level) how to build a personal learning network using things like Twitter (or LinkedIn discussion boards or whatever) so they can be engaged in topics that interest them, keep up with their fields, etc.