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iPod Course Design
7/18/2007
“Radio: Theater of the Mind”, in which students examine the radio decades from 1920 to 1960, and then create their own radio productions in various broadcasting modes of the past. Because the radio productions are made available to the public, students are compelled to create productions that will be well-received and appreciated by that larger audience. Production of the radio projects involves extensive use of the iPod package, including the voice recorder. Students also become skilled with audio editing. Needless to say, the class has been deluged with applicants.What’s Next
In what looks to be the rapid ascent of re-integrating audio into course content, we can’t help but wonder what might be the most significant and long-term impact of the availability, ease of use, and ubiquity of the MP3 player/ recorder. O’Brien believes the tools have sparked a faculty interest in exploring digital media as an alternative to text, helping educators to take students beyond the written word with new ways of visualizing content and modeling the virtual world.
But the quest to integrate podcasting into the college or university course management system (CMS) is strengthening, too, as educators seek tools to streamline that process and increase ease-of-use, and the vendor community rises to the need. Wimba, for instance, recently announced Wimba Podcaster, a new podcasting tool that makes it easy for faculty to create podcasts within their CMS environments and also upload audio from digitally recorded lectures. Faculty and students subscribe to the podcasts with just one click on the Podcaster interface. And Angel Learning has announced new podcast support capabilities such as a “course syndication” folder. (Faculty simply add a file to that folder and students can subscribe to it as an iTunes podcast or RSS feed; more here.) These new tools are only two of many being designed to make the process of creating and distributing podcasts even easier, so be sure to check them out!
:: web extra: Learn more: Jim Wolfgang (Georgia College & State U), Keith Politte (U of Missouri-Columbia), and Frank Lowney (GC&SU) will present the session, “Social Software and Academic Podcasting: Your Blueprint for Success,” at Campus Technology 2007 in Washington, DC, July 30-Aug. 2.
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