This might have been my favorite unit yet! As a radio DJ and long-time public radio and podcast listener, being able to go in-depth about a medium I’m passionate about has been very educational and has given me a more informed perspective on how these productions are undertaken and the various methods we can use to craft audible stories.
We started the unit with an introduction to audio as a tool of digital storytelling, and some very valuable input from the legend, Ira Glass. I found his reflections on storytelling to be crucial to the creation of audio content: making sure that your story is meaningful, entertaining, and that you structure it in a way that actually engages the viewer. Personally, when I’m hosting Spinnin’ With Sinn on WMWC Radio, it can be hard to consistently come up with quality commentary to add to the music I’m playing on the show. Overall, I really enjoyed listening to Ira’s thoughts: you can see my whole reflection here.
Next, I was assigned to reflect on a podcast I listened to, and I chose the Spooked podcast. This assignment was really engaging as it allowed me to listen thoughtfully and focus on the strengths of the podcast using my newfound knowledge about audio storytelling. While the episode wasn’t perfect, I could understand more clearly the reasoning behind their choices and appreciate the value of their production. Read my full thoughts, and listen to Spooked for yourself here!
Finally, the most fun part of the unit was the Digital Bank Assignments! I found these to be both a little challenging and super worth it. Unlike with some of the other tools we’ve used, audio is one that I find really effective. It fully immerses us and allows my imagination to really run wild when creating these assignments! I hope you enjoy them:
In conclusion, this Audio unit was very engaging! Though again, I struggled with the more technical aspects of creating, it was extremely rewarding when I could listen to the final product and imagine my story taking life. Do you have any special audio creations that you’ve made? Please share!