Technology for Teaching
By name, podcasting sounds technically complex. Given that it is tied in name to iPods – the ubiquitous gadget connected to many of our students' ears - you may think that podcasting is part of a cyber-world that only young people and techno-geeks inhabit.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
What is Podcasting?
Simply put, a podcast is simply audio (or sometimes video) that is accessible online. The term is derived from “broadcast” and iPod, which is Apple corporation’s brand of mp3 player. Don’t be fooled by the word “pod” – you don’t need an iPod, or a portable mp3 player to listen to podcasts. They can be listened (or viewed) on your own computer.
Some web sites syndicate podcasts, meaning that you can subscribe to podcasts and have new recordings automatically sent to your computer. Using aggregator programs, such as iTunes or Juice, enable updates from various podcast subscriptions to be collected and sent to you. From there, you can listen to or view the recordings on your computer, or upload them to your portable MP3 player for access on the go.
CBC Radio is an example of a site that provides a variety of podcasts including
- special topics podcasts (i.e. “Spin Cycle”, a multi-episode feature podcast available on www.cbc.ca/editorschoice.com )
- scheduled podcasts of their regular radio programming (i.e. “CBC Radio 3”, a weekly show of Canadian music from new artists available on http://radio3.cbc.ca/ ) and
- featured “best of” podcasts that provide highlights from various daily radio programs covering a week of CBC broadcasting (i.e. “You Region This Week” on http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/ ).
What Types of Podcasts are Out There?
There are three main types of podcasts:
- Audio (e.g. an audio recording of a radio show; 3 minute “quick tips” podcast),
- Audio-visual podcasts (e.g. a PowerPoint presentation with narration, pictures with voice-overs), and
- Vodcast (a video podcast).
Why Would You Use Podcasting?
- Podcasts are like radio or (tv shows) – but better.
- Podcast information can come to you. Through subscriptions, podcasts can be delivered to you on a regular basis. You don’t have to remember to turn the radio or tv on at certain times.
- Portability. You can review the material when you want, where you want and as many times as you want.
Case Study
Sara is a nursing teaching who uses podcasting in three ways:
1) staying current with trends in medicine,
2) connecting students to podcasts of interviews with medical practitioners and patients, and
3) creating her own instructional podcasts that she links to in Blackboard.
Professional Development
Staying Current
Sara enjoys reading the New England Journal of Medicine. Given her hectic professional and family life, there is not a lot of time to read. She subscribes to a podcast from the "New England Journal of Medicine". She also subscribes to a radio show called "Sound Medicine" - a show produced by the University of Illinois' School of Medicine and WFYI Public Radio which discusses health care issues.
Weekly, she will sort through the podcasts that she has received, select the ones she is interested in, and play those on her computer. Using her portable mp3 player, she can also play these selected podcasts while she's driving home, or when she is exercising at the gym.
In the Classroom
Links to Audio Discussions and Interviews with Experts and Patients
In one of her hybrid courses, Sara assigned her students to listen to a podcast, produced by Yale School of Nursing called "Support for Caregivers"
For an out-of class activity, students were asked to take notes while they listened, and write answers to a list of questions that she had provided.
Creation of Podcasts to Reinforce Key Concepts
Sara experimented with making her own podcast. Using a program called Camtasia, she created a short podcast that reviewed a complex conceptual model that students often have difficulty grasping. Using some PowerPoint slides that she had already created, she walked through the model step-by-step, with Camtasia recording the PowerPoint slides and her audio comments. She was then able to create a link to the podcast that Camtasia created within Blackboard.
Students were able to review the model many times on their own, and stopping and starting it where they wish. It was a supplemental way for students to reinforce their learning of this concept without utilizing more in-class instructional time.
Further Information
Interested in using podcasts? Interested in connecting with other professors who are using podcasts?
Learning and Teaching Services has tools as well as technical and pedagogical expertise to assist you. Contact the Online Learning Centre at 6652, or by email at olchelp@algonquincollege.com.
Podcasting at Algonquin
Read School of Business teacher Jennifer Monk’s article “Adventures in Podcasting"
Read Podcasting and Accessibility... for All Students
Podcasting Resources
Podcasting 101
As part of her coursework within her Masters of Education program, Rachael Murphy, a professor with the School of Hospitality and Tourism, created a web resource about the use of podcasting in education.
http://www.freewebs.com/rachmurphy/
Education World Techtorial: “What is Podcast”, http://www.education-world.com/a_tech/techtorial/techtorial091b.shtml . An easy-to-read introduction to podcasting.
Education World: Sites to See: Podcasting. A great index to web sites that provide information and resources related to podcasting. http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/sites/sites074.shtml
The Education Podcast Network
A directory of educational podcast programming with listings for various topics.
http://epnweb.org/
BBC Radio
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/waystolisten/podcasts
The BBC provides an interesting selection of podcasts by genre. Subject include Arts and Drama, Comedy and Quizzes, History, and News and Current Affairs.
Podcasting in Education
A soundtrack for study, http://education.guardian.co.uk/elearning/story/0,,1550197,00.html
Can Podcasting Move from Pop Culture To a Killer Application? http://podcasting.about.com/od/podcastingineducation/a/
podinedkillapp.htm
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