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Podcasting at the University of Connecticut: Enhancing the Educational Experience
10/16/2006
Web, iTunes) is a series of weekly discussions about course content, not the course content itself. In iCube, I record meetings with students who come together to discuss lecture material in greater depth. No extra course credit is given for participation. Students have told me they show up for the excitement of being part of something new and different. Also, iCube is one of several ways that I make a very large class feel “psychologically” smaller. I meet students in a small, informal setting where we discuss course content and get to know one another in ways not possible in a large class environment. Podcast listeners tell me they feel more connected with the class by being able to listen to our informal discussions at their leisure. Some have told me that even though they were not involved in the actual recording, they feel like they are part of the small group.My “Animal Behavior Podcasts” series for my Animal Behavior course (Web, iTunes) is similar to iCube, but is an Honors enhancement. That is, Honors students in this otherwise non-Honors class can obtain Honors credit by participating in weekly discussions that are shared as podcasts. Recently, I invited an animal rights advocate to participate in a podcast for what turned out to be a lively discussion of very divergent views. This particular episode has received considerable international interest and was advertised in the newsletter of the Animal Behavior Society.
Finally, I have a series of twice weekly “Precasts” for my General Psychology students. These are enhanced podcasts that I created using the shareware program, ProfCast. With ProfCast, one can create an enhanced podcast from a Microsoft PowerPoint (or Apple Keynote) presentation, while narrating that presentation. While some students may find the podcasts useful for review, I use them to meet different goals. My “Precasts” are brief descriptions of some of the main points that students should look for in the upcoming lecture. They are not the actual PowerPoint screens I use in class (because of the multimedia nature of those screens and potential copyright concerns), but instead, brief bullet points over which I provide a narrative. Because I have taught this course to over 20,000 students, I have a good idea of which concepts are more difficult than others, and I elaborate on those concepts in the Precasts.
Recommended Reading
- Getting the Money Right
A clear sign that online and distance learning is maturing is that we are struggling with how to organize and fund these programs on an ongoing basis.
- Technology and Campus Services
Can auxiliary services be mission-critical? You bet they can. With tuition on the rise, Auxiliary Services departments at a variety of colleges and universities are proving that they can innovate and still save their parent institutions cash.
- Ad It Up
Commercials on television tend to enrage me and laugh tracks are guaranteed to give me a headache. Plus, where do people find the time to watch TV?
- What Is the Purpose of an Electronic Portfolio? Is the Answer the Key to Your Successful Implementation?
Among many themes, Margaret Price explores the theme of purpose in her Viewpoint. One purpose of ePortfolio is to reflect on change from a beginning to a later point in time. In a future Viewpoint, Margaret will return to the SpEl.Folio and we’ll see how her thinking and her project have evolved.
- Making Faculty Smarter about Smart Technology
If you’re not also enabling the ‘why’ or ‘what’ behind the tech tools you give your faculty, you’re not enabling effective use of those tools.
- Smashing the Shackles of Intentionally Dysfunctional Technology
Until last week, it hadn’t "clicked" inside my head that the Library of Congress could or would make specific exemptions to copyright laws.
