Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Back again -Podcast

I am back again after a visit to near by University (Findlay)for a conference.It was a good conference given that it was the first one for a small University. Pretty well organized. I am amazed how the smaller colleges and universities seem to be doing so much and so well.
As soon as I came back to work found the server down and everyone going crazy at the start of Intersession .
I found some good resources for Podcasting.
Good news:>> we (kent State) will be the first iTunes University in Ohio.We are going to have a big debut party for that at Kent State on 22 June. So that should be fun.
I have read quite a bit about podcasting etc.being the new craze but I sometimes do wonder if this is just a phase or its being used in the best way it possibly can and should everyone and anyone jump on this because its new and cool. Is there any research /data to prove it is significantly affecting teaching and more importantly learning.
I doubt it. Podcast to me are really good and effective if done in an innovative, creative ways for some creative ideas. concepts and fields of studies. They (video podcasts especially) are great for demonstrating ideas or concepts.
The re usability and the ability for students to go back and review a material over and over are great advantages. Again the quality of the podcast will depend on the instructor and there creativity, which (from what i have seen in things like simple voice over ppt etc )is questionable in many cases.
Just recording your lecture and put it on web is not enough and is probably waste of time if enough time and effort is not put in.
I am just starting to explore and understand all this.
University of Washinton seems to be doing lot of cool stuff with Podcasting , screencasting etc. You can read their blog HERE
An extremely comprehensive guide about Podcasting in education can be FOUND HERE