Podcasting in education
Ahhhh, back from moving abode and realised that I didn’t conclude my week of podcasting stuff. So without further ado, here is the blogsavvy guide to using podcasts in education.
There are two very very good reasons for getting into podcasting in education: 1. You’re going to save yourself a fortune & 2. You’re going to improve the quality of your materials no end.
1. Saving lots and lots of money through using podcasts in education
The amount that your mid-large educational organisation spends on audio recording is very very scary.
First up all the lecture theatres are wired up… and not simply wired but generally come with a literal stack of hardware for all things from video recording, to amplification, to networking and so on and so forth. However, all that you really need is a computer, a projector and some speakers. If that.
Because all that you need to really do is to but each of your ‘lecturing’ staff a nice microphone, show them how to use a simple audio-editing program (like Audacity) and introduce them to the concept of uploading / posting their audio. It will save you tens of thousands of $s, immediately…. and with an increase in the quality of materials and online teaching and learning in your institution because…
2. Podcasts will dramatically improve the quality of what you’re doing
When a lecturer stands in a theatre, ‘lectures’ and is recorded by your stack of hardware and centrally processed, this is what happens:
-First and foremost they are interacting with / teaching the people in the room. The material is not being recorded with an online audience in mind… this has an enormous impact.
-Secondly, good teaching in a lecture theatre involves interaction. This won’t just be not captured but will also disrupt and destroy the quality of the recording.
-Thirdly, the lecturer has no control over the material. They can’t edit, play with, add to or own whatever they have done. This is a pretty unmotivating (and also quite scary!) experience.
However, if a teacher records a podcast instead of a lecture then lots of good things come into play:
-The material is recorded with the online listener in mind so it’s relevant, *short* and geared towards the audience
-You can start to have some online interaction too as more than likely you’ll be posting this to a blog with a comments field or people can pingback their comments from their own student blogs.
-The lecturer has complete control over and ownership of the material, this not only increases motivation but also the level of responsibility involved and thus the quality all over again (and that’s not to mention the amount you just saved by cutting out the middleman)
So, next time you have a cost-cutting exercise in your organisation here’s a quick way that you can do good and save a heck of a lot of money.
- Posted on: July 4th, 2005
- 10 Comments
- Category: Archives
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So… are you going to do one for us or not??!
Hi James,
There’s an alternative to using a laptop, a microphone and Audacity.
I’m working on a LearnScope project for TAFE - http://www.groups.edna.edu.au/course/view.php?id=273 - where we are about to show teachers how to record their lectures using an iRiver recordable MP3 player and a lapel mike.
This is a lot more portable rig and not everyone has a laptop.
At about a couple of hundred dollars a rig it’s a lot cheaper too. We’ve bought some rigs for teachers to borrow, but they are already considering getting their departments to fund some.
I suspect some teachers will just go out and buy their own. Considering they can double as an MP3 player (they can listen to other people’s pocasts!) and USB thumb drive, I think this would be an attractive option.
We will also be showing them how to edit their lectures in Audacity, if they choose.
Hmmm… y’know I like the mobility afforded by that kind of approach but for me everyone has access to a laptop and mobile can often mean an extra layer of cost / difficulty. My uni has been using Maycoms for the last few years so I speak with authority!
Sounds like a v. interesting learnscope project though, we should hook up sometime to talk about this stuff!
Hi Cam, yes…d efinitely will, have had a pretty full on couple of weeks tho… http://incsub.org/blog/2005/my-dad
yeah mate understand completely!
Hi James,
Hardly any of our TAFE teachers have laptops, and they don’t take them to class. I’m not sure which model of Maycoms you are talking about, but they all look a bit chunky. The beauty of the iRiver is that you can stick it in your pocket and move around, which you couldn’t do with a laptop, unless you had a wireless mike or bluetooth. With a laptop you need to plug it in, turn it on, boot up, configure Audacity etc. The iRivers are instant on then just hit record. They save to MP3 files too, so they are ready to be podcast. Anyway, we are at the beginning of our trial, so we’ll see how we go.
Best wishes for your Dad.
I recommend the Olympus WS200-S voice digital recorder, with a clip-on microphone. I saves in WMA format, but you can easily convert that to a preferred alternative (I use EasyWMA for Mac OS X to convert my files to mp3) and edit with Audacity. The Olympus is unbelievably light and convenient. Only one caveat: it’s very sensitive to handling and motion noise, so I’d keep the recorder itself stationary while recording (I keep it in a pocket and use a clip-on).
As a graduate student I feel Podcasts are really appealing. Most students at the secondary, undergraduate, and graduate levels have portable devices with an mp3 function. Most cellular telephones now have an mp3 function. Podcasts offer a familiarity not found with blogs or discussion boards. As a student and soon to be educator I think Podcasts are in the future of education communication. It is cost effective and appealing to the students. It is at least worth a try.
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