What the heck is a "podcast" and what does it have to do with teaching about social work practice?

Welcome to the second installment of our "what the heck" series (the previous installment addressed "wikis") - this time focused on learning about what a podcast is - with specific examples of podcasts that can help in teaching people about social work practice.  According to Wikipedia, which I use here as a source given that the topic relates to the Internet, a podcast is a :A podcast (or non-streamed webcast) is a series of digital media files (either audio or video) that are released episodically and often downloaded through web syndication."

One of the most popular podcasts out in the wild world of the Internet (known affectionately by some of our  young(er) and hip(per) students as "the interwebs") is Dr. Jonathan Singer's Social Work Podcast.  You can see some of his thoughtful work on "how to listen" (perfect for students in our introductory practice courses) by clicking on this link.   Here is Dr. Singer's blurb on it:  "The Social Work Podcast provides information on all things social work, including direct practice (both clinical and community organizing), research, policy, education... and everything in between. Join your host, Jonathan Singer, Ph.D., LCSW, as he explores topics near and dear to every social worker's heart. The purpose of the podcast is to present useful information in a user-friendly format. Although the intended audience is social workers, the information will be useful to anyone in a helping profession (including psychology, nursing, psychiatry, counseling, and education). The general public might also find these podcasts useful as a way of learning what social workers understand to be important. If you have ideas for future podcasts, please send an email to jonathan at socialworkpodcast dot com."

Check out these podcasts for application to practice courses:

On DSM diagnosis for social workers


On social work practice with the parents of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender kids

For a list of the different (many!) podcasts available, see this link.

Please consider using these for your classes next fall - I find them most helpful as posted links on WebCT that students can read ahead of class vs. something for class...............enjoy the world of podcasts!