Monday, April 14, 2008

Podcasting

I discovered the wonderful world of podcasting when I first became obsessed with Bravo TV's reality show "Project Runway." Four seasons ago when the show had just hit the cable prime time line up, I fell in love with the fashion designers' mentor, Tim Gunn, and his candid yet eloquent commentaries about the contestants. I subscribed to iTunes in order to access Tim's weekly podcasts. Through trial and error, I learned how to download and listen. Loved it! Tim has become too busy to podcast in the last season or two and I do miss his observations. But podcasting is fun to listen to; it's like talk radio with no commercials.

I did find a few video podcasts while browsing through the assignment this week. One was an educator teaching piano teachers to podcast their lessons. The Music Teachers National Association believes that video podcasting missed lessons would help students keep up with the class.

Some audio podcasts I found and enjoyed were MuggleCast on PodcastAlley.com. Of course, this is for the Harry Potter fan. In spite of the fact that the book series has ended, the owners give out news of the fandom and of author J. K. Rowling and they even give "news reports" of what's happening in the Wizard World today. Another site was WillWriteForWine, a site where two authors discuss wine and/or the authoring process.

Vanderbilty University uses their audio podcasts to publicize the university calendar on a weekly basis. They have also used podcasts to record events from their Distinguished Speakers series and to record lectures by visiting professors so that those who are unable to attend will be able to hear the message as it was originally given. Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Business has a directory of podcasts that cover a variety of subjects, including "International Law and International Students." To revert to Harry Potter for a moment, Vanderbilt (and probably other universities) is using podcasts like Hermoine Granger used the time turner: to allow a student to be in two places at the same time. While this is not appealing to many students, it is a wonderful opportunity for others.

The audio podcast is not much different than audio taped lectures. The video podcast, I think, is a greater innovation and better opportunity to use the new technologies in education. It may even help improve a professor's ability to connect with his or her students.

2 comments:

McMillan said...

Thanks for sharing some interesting pod/vidcasts. I intend to listen to the one on Wine and Writing since I enjoy both topics thoroughly. The idea of recording piano lessons is unique, although I wonder how much a student would gain by simply watching a lesson. As one who has played musical instruments, including the piano, I can't image learning without doing.

I think making podcasts available of special guest speakers or events here at Marymount would be especially well received by our community. There are so many events that I would like to attend, but I am often not available at the times when they are held. How great it would be to catch them at my convenience.

Recording a class lecture would be useful for students who need to miss a class or maybe did not clearly understand the information the first time around. Although, I do sometimes wonder if there is a higher degree of absenteeism in classes that offer podcasts.

It would also be fun to offer podcasts that are created by our students themselves.

MaryElla said...

I thought the guest speaker podcast was the best use in an educational environment that I came across. Events that occur in only one time slot could be captured and distributed to a wider audience. I thought the candidates for Chaplain could have benefited from a larger audience at the Masses they conducted on campus. I only got to participate with one of the candidates and would have liked to see more.