Reflection 3, Week 4

Podcasts. What are they?

A brief introduction from jrhode at the Northern Illinois University on his YouTube site (8 mins).

Sorry it’s not as fun as some of last videos, unfortunately podcasting is still a reasonably new technology for many people. The main features of a podcast is the serialisation and episodic format of the content. This is a fantastic way for learners to get their information as well as teachers to post their information in a way for learners to get a really good idea across.

I have created an audio file that I shall incorporate into my blog here. It is about a topic I am very passionate about, Dungeons and Dragons, I have explained at the end of the blog my reason for doing a D&D podcasts as opposed to a podcast about graphics or IT.

You can find it here http://ken-brown88.podomatic.com/entry/2015-03-31T19_39_17-07_00

Understanding how podcasts can influence the way we teach is important. Merhi (2015) talks about in his article in Computers & Education how podcasts can be adopted into the teaching and learning process. Merhi states:

Podcasts usage helps institutions to serve their current students and to target those students who do not have the ability to attend regular classes. A recent report by the Pew Internet and American Life Project suggested that mobile technologies may contribute to reducing the “digital divide” (Smith, 2010)

Also regarding the difference for distance learners at a tertiary level, Merhi talks about the difference between a podcast, a broadcast that can be downloaded and listened to everywhere, and a webcast, a broadcast that must be connected to the internet.

Educational institutions from around the world have been acquiring m-learning technologies to better serve their students. Demand for m-learning products and services has been rapidly increasing (Adkins, 2011). The growth of m-learning tools and specifically podcasts in education attracted many researchers to examine different aspects related to these technologies. For instance, some researchers were mainly interested in examining the benefits of podcasting and how this new method can influence the performance of students (Jarvis & Dickie, 2010; O'Bannon, Lubke, Beard, & Britt, 2011). Shim, Shropshire, Park, Harris, and Campbell (2007) examined student's preferences of media delivery richness of communication media using podcasts and webcasts. The main difference between podcasts and webcasts is that the latter requires users to be connected to the internet while playing or viewing the webcast files (Shim et al., 2007). Shim et al. (2007) found that personalization and usability are two main factors that affect media use. They also found podcasts to be a better communication tool rather than webcasts. Fernandez, Simo, and Sallan (2009) analyzed the use of podcasting to enhance distance students' personal study. They argued that podcasting is a powerful tool to complement traditional educational resources but not a complete substitute for them. Kemp, Mellor, Kotter, and Oosthoek (2012) suggested that student-produced podcasts enhance engagement, competence in e-technologies, creativity, science communication skills and a broader understanding of the instructional content.

How can we as future educators incorporate this ICT tool into our classroom experiences? A good start would be to include them as an assessment tool. Most learners have access to a computer. This allows the learner to create absolutely everything. As with this course, a teacher can suggest that the learner install Audacity, a free recording and editing program off the internet and use this tool to create an audible assessment piece instead of an oral assessment in front of the class.

Another way of incorporating the podcast would be to supplement the classes that the learners go to. So a teacher could provide a ten to thirty minute podcast on the subject, which includes more topic specific information. As a learning tool podcasts already have a fantastic range by podcasters who have already made them. A teacher who is teaching ancient history focusing on Rome could direct the learners to go to http://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/ by Mike Duncan or more modern history and focusing on a revolution that happened, Mike Duncan is currently working his way through the French revolution, in detail at http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/.

Understandably, due to the time it takes for podcasts to be produced and posted it would be better for many of the teachers to develop their own podcasts for their students. Podcasts aren’t always going to be the answer to an ICT tool, remembering that students can learn through three mediums, audibly (through podcasts), visually (through images and text) and kinaesthetically (through the creation or doing of the task). However a combination of all three would be beneficial to all students.

Using the SAMR model we can create this table for how podcasts could be used in the classroom.

Podcasts in the SAMR model of teaching – Teaching area Graphics (Industrial Design)
Substitution	A substitution of the traditional class, lecture based. With links to readings and documentation on the Australian Standards.
Augmentation	Augmentation, the teacher talks through the process of designing an object. Using the Australian Standards as a guide, but guiding the student through designing the object on paper or more commonly in a Computer Aided Design program.
Modification	The teacher gets the students to write down their processes of designing the object, after refining the process that the student did get them to produce a podcast on the process of developing the object in a CAD program.
Redefinition	Every student is given instructions to write their podcasts and produce them, on top of that in a wiki site for each student, they post their podcast along with screenshots and snipped pictures of their design and how they did that. If the computers have a Camtasia style capturing program the student can talk through the design process and use this as an assessment piece, as a Vodcast (video podcast).

These are just some ideas that can be used for podcasts, which are fantastic for the learners to learn in their own time as well as the teachers to give information and mark on as well.

References

Jrhode. (2007, Jul 12). What is a podcast? [Video File]. Retrieved

       from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQFKNcdCdLM

Merhi, M. (2015). Factors influencing higher education students to adopt podcast:

       An empirical strudy. Computers & Education, 83, 32-43. Retrieved

       from http://www.sciencedirect.com/