Podcasting

I don’t know that I actually learned much that was new to me about podcasting.  The concept wasn’t new to me, though I’ve seldom had the opportunity to take advantage of it in a school setting.  My microbiology teacher is one of the few I can recall that used podcasting to supplement her lectures.  She would record her daily lectures and post them online for students to access.  During that class I did occasionally download and reference her podcasts while working on homework or studying for a test.  Though I diligently take copious notes in all my classes, the ability to go back and hear what the teacher said word for word is invaluable.  It had never really occurred to me assign projects to students that required them to use podcasts as their completed project.  Though, as a math teacher, I’m not sure I can see an application for my students, I do see the potential in other educational curriculum. 

Podcasting is different in as much as the podcast itself is not likely to be edited or added to by other people as would be typical in most Web 2.0 applications.  Wiki, Twitter, and IMDB for examples, are typically composed of work created by multiple users.  The work as a whole can’t typically be attributed to one user, whereas a typical podcast is normally created by one person only.  Podcasts are similar to other Web 2.0 applications though, in that they are created and posted for use by an audience.  This audience can be either specific or public, as is the case with other Web 2.0 applications.  Podcasting can also be used for group collaboration the same as a Wiki page, but through audio files rather than text.

I do own an mp3 player, specifically a Zune.  I don’t really use it anymore as my smart phone, tablet and computer fulfill the same roles.  I also own a digital recorder that I’ve used in classes before.  I would record the lecture on the digital recorder then transfer the file to my computer each day when I got home.  The recordings were organized by semester and class and date so that I could easily access any particular lecture.  I’d use these recordings as supplements to reviewing my notes and reading the applicable texts.  I’m not adverse to using the same sort of technology to create podcasts for my future students; however, since I intend to teach high school mathematics, I’m not entirely convinced of the usefulness of such a podcast.  Hearing a math instructor discuss how he is solving a problem is only half of the information.  Students really need to see what the instructor is doing as well as hearing what he is doing.  If video recording technology were available I’d likely use it to create a video podcast for my students. 

Certainly the advantages are many:

• The ability to review class lectures precisely as communicated originally
• To clarify points that the student didn’t initially understand or pay attention to
• Self-evaluation of a lecture for future improvement
• Archiving a vast amount of knowledge in an easy to reference library for future use.

 The disadvantages, to me, are only in how a person uses the information.  If somebody were to rely exclusively on an audio only podcast, they would miss the visual cues that expand upon the audio message.  An example would be a student skipping a day of class then relying on the podcast and hoping he learns as much from it as he would have from the actual lecture.