For some reason I felt like firing up GarageBand on Thursday and creating a podcast. Since I am stuck in PSU Podcasting Project Land I thought that would be a good topic to discuss. I know it is probably becoming a very tiring topic for most people around me, my head is planted squarely in the middle of it all and there are times I need to get some of it out.
Even though I have the pleasure of working and talking with Chris Millet everyday, I thought having Chris join me via iChat AV would be a good idea. Chris has been visiting all the people at Penn State who are interested in podcasting the last four weeks or so and is really starting to get the lay of the land.
In this podcast, we discuss all sorts of stuff in 20 minutes … topics run from the training he and Tim Perry are designing, to tools, to project goals, and more. The thing that turned me on the most was Chris’ statement about wanting to create opportunities to enable the “casual podcaster.” What I loved about Chris’ comment was that his expectations are all about this being so easy that faculty, staff, and students can create digital content without thinking about the technology or the approach. You know, real digital expression. He wants it to be like when you currently want to say something in a digital sense, you click on Word and write it … this thought is about being able to capture the moment in a digital, first person sense and share it instantly. Just goes along with all the things Chris and I have been discussing for a number of years in this space.
At any rate, it may be worth a listen. Direct link to the 14 MB podcast.
Hi Cole
I got your podcast through my subscription – really interesting for me to be allowed to be a fly on the wall as you roll out podcasting, in particular the weighting of the various challenges.
Recording technology in the classroom – can I throw in a googly here? Is recording lectures a high priority? I remember when Blackboard was introduced to our institution and staff were invited to upload their handouts in order to get themselves started. The results were a lot of Word files on the server, many of which were never accessed, and staff feeling that this e-learning thing wasn’t very exciting. I can’t speak from battlefront experience of using podcasts to enhance teaching and learning but I hope to produce podcasts that will either be a prequel or sequel to the lesson activities. The podcasts are going to have to be mighty entertaining if my learners are going to subscibe and will probably have as little of me on them as possible, after all they’ve listened to me ramble on for 2 hours, why would they want more? I think this advice is most useful – http://engage.doit.wisc.edu/podcasting/teachAndLearn/
Thanks for sharing your experiences – I enjoy the blog and podcasts immensely.