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Podcasting and Education
Podcast and Education
By Sharon Housley
Schools all over the country have flocked
to podcasting as a new medium to assist the teaching
profession. Professors are using podcasts to instruct
students and get their messages out. Podcasting is not
restricted to one educational sector, professors at
prestigious colleges from Bentley to Purdue have flocked
to this medium.
A growing number of professors are recording
their lectures, the term coursecasting has been adopted
in academia. Podcast lectures are used as study tools,
and are available for students who might have missed
class. Some podcasts are password restricted to students
who are enrolled in that specific class. While other
institution's publicly post their podcasts and offer
non-enrolled students insight into the class material.
Why has podcasting been embraced by the
educational field? The adoption of RSS is likely in
part due to the demographic higher-education attraction.
Most college students are young and well educated. Because
of their age the students have embraced technology,
they have always had technology as a component to their
life. This demographic have grown up with computers
their entire lives, technology has always been an integral
tool in their education.
Bentley initially adopted podcasting in
the course IT 101, to introduce students to the concepts
of technology as they relate to business, ethics and
social responsibility, global commerce and culture.
Students are not only required to listen to podcasts,
but also to produce their own podcasts. Bentley, understanding
the importance, influence and power of technology felt
that students would benefit by obtaining a complete
and thorough understanding of the podcasting medium.
Certain subject material lends itself
to podcasting more than others, for example: foreign
language lessons are ideal for podcasts because students
can listen to accents, intonations, and speech patterns.
Students listening to foreign language podcasts are
able to hear and experience the language outside of
the classroom.
Some educators are using videocasts to
demonstrate science labs and experiments. The portability
of the videocasts make it easier for students to review
labs, when critically analyzing their data.
Educators are known for their philanthropy
and desire to share their knowledge. Technology and
podcasting as a communication medium have made it easier
for educators to collaborate, share and provide material
in a portable format. Podcasting allows professors to
extend their reach outside the classroom. With the hectic
pace today's students keep between classes, commuting
and employment, podcasts fit, allowing students to maximize
their commute and use their time efficiently while juggling
it all. Just as home computers have become an integral
tool in the educational field, todays hectic lifestyles
make the need for educational podcasts and videocasts
only more evident.
Additional Resources: How Podcasts
and RSS are Used in Education http://www.small-business-software.net/rss-and-academics.htm
Locate Educational Feeds
Educational Feeds - http://www.educational-feeds.com
Educational Podcast Network - http://www.epnweb.org/
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com
software for creating, editing, publishing RSS feeds
and podcasts. In addition Sharon manages marketing for
RecordForAll http://www.recordforall.com
audio recording and editing software.
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copy of the issue or a link to any online posting would
be greatly appreciated send an email to sharon@notepage.net
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