Utilizing podcasts as a medium to ship lectures could be an attractive and handy methodology to attach with college students. There are at present over 75 million podcast listeners in the USA with that quantity anticipated to achieve 100 million by 2024 (Adams, et al., 2021). My very own expertise utilizing this methodology to achieve my college students has been profitable and the coed response has been welcoming. The COVID-19 pandemic supplied a chance to discover this methodology of educating and attain college students in a brand new and interesting means.
Once I was a baby, I had a small document participant. I’d spend summers at my grandmother’s home taking part in my mom’s outdated 45s assortment. I used to be launched to a number of the early greats of Sixties and 70s rock n’ roll and practiced my greatest radio voice to speak up the information and “hit the submit” – ending my pretend information and climate reviews earlier than the singer started the verse. I all the time thought that I needed to be on the radio or be a radio persona. However what I actually realized is that I loved speaking to an viewers and training grew to become my calling.
After a profitable profession in Okay-12 training as a instructor and principal and later an assistant professor, I perfected my craft of talking in public. Whether or not I used to be delivering an expert improvement for my school or talking earlier than an viewers at a significant convention, I used to be all the time comfy talking in entrance of individuals and extra importantly, main my college students or contributors in high quality discussions.
Previous to COVID-19, my graduate programs have been what you’ll count on a typical course to be – lectures, dialogue, group work, tasks – all meant to be partaking and garner a scholar discourse that strengthened scholar understanding of the content material. When the pandemic compelled colleges to maneuver programs on-line, a lot of the pure dialogue that was precious in a graduate course was misplaced to clean Zoom stares and a reluctance to dive into conversations with out speaking over classmates or forgetting to activate the microphone. Nevertheless, regardless of these delicate setbacks, we realized that we will nonetheless ship top quality instruction in an internet atmosphere.
Because the pandemic continued, I seemed for tactics to attach with my college students in a digital atmosphere. I needed to curate content material that may be related to their studying in my class whereas even be as partaking and supportive as our normal face-to-face lecture atmosphere. I realized a number of precious methods to attach with college students academically whereas sustaining excessive expectations for my programs.
Why use podcasting to attach with college students?
The eye span for the human mind is normally solely about 10 minutes lengthy. If the content material somebody is watching or listening to isn’t fascinating, an individual will search one thing else extra fascinating. This is the reason transitions in training are so vital and why academics must differentiate and range their instruction. Nevertheless, the rising recognition of podcasts is essentially rooted of their comfort and of their leisure worth for particular audiences. This is the reason there are quite a few podcasts on homicide mysteries, politics, sports activities, or training – podcasters can discover a particular viewers for his or her content material when it’s handy to the listener.
That is precisely the identical purpose why folks enroll in on-line course – the comfort of with the ability to work by a level program on their very own time. Nevertheless, meaning college students nonetheless must schedule a time to take a seat in entrance of a pc to finish the coursework. Podcasts open up an avenue of latest entry of your course content material.
College students are leveraging social media content material in new and fascinating methods. As youthful audiences flip to TikTok, Instagram, and different social media retailers to entry content material, professors ought to search for methods to attach with college students the place they need to be met. This implies discovering handy and accessible boards to curate educational content material for scholar consumption.
Strategies to attach with college students nearly
The important thing to closing the hole between college students that you just by no means see if you’re educating in a totally on-line course is to search for methods to attach with them nearly. Even when you don’t have a set time that your class meets or when you class is designed as a “go at your personal tempo,” you need to use easy on-line instruments to attach with college students.
Podcast audio lectures
I piloted a podcast lecture collection through the pandemic that was met with a lot success amongst my college students. The lectures have been brief in size – not more than 10-12 minutes – and targeted on particular matters of curiosity associated to the course. I used a free recording and modifying program known as Audacity to document the lectures, edited the content material, and uploaded the content material to my course and to a free podcasting internet hosting service known as Anchor. College students who have been surveyed on the finish of the course said they favored with the ability to hearken to lecture podcasts at their very own comfort. Many college students admitted to listening and re-listening to the lectures on the health club, within the automotive throughout morning and afternoon commutes, or throughout lunchtime breaks.
I like to recommend that you just plan your lectures and podcast episodes forward of time earlier than sitting right down to document the content material. Create a content material sheet to assist information your dialog on the podcast and think about using segments which are subject particular to assist restrict your time. To add your content material, Anchor is a free service for easy internet hosting of your podcast content material or you’ll be able to pay for giant internet hosting house on their website.
Preserve your content material brief, particular, and to the purpose. Whereas professors can simply communicate at size about numerous matters, you’ll want to use podcasting as an choice to ship brief and distinct classes that college students can eat shortly and conveniently.
Reside video broadcast shows
One simple methodology to attach with present and potential college students is to conduct stay shows. These stay shows could be scheduled at a time that’s handy in your college students to observe. Fb Reside, YouTube Reside, and Periscope (Twitter) are all simple mediums to make use of to create stay broadcasts on something linked to your course or college program. Professors ought to create skilled accounts on these boards and share hyperlinks and pages with college students in your programs. Keep away from utilizing private accounts in your broadcasts. These boards are nice sources so that you can use to make bulletins to your college students, broadcast stay lectures, or present fast updates about due dates or upcoming assessments.
On your podcast, you’ll be able to simply document video lectures, seminars, or coaching sources and use on-line platforms equivalent to Fb or YouTube to add and host your content material. Different internet hosting websites equivalent to Twitch and Discord, that are usually content material particular, may also be thought of in your podcast channel. For safer or secured entry to video content material, think about using Panopto to add content material by university-sponsored webhosting account.
Consider video podcasting or broadcasts as a brief TV present in your course content material. Just like creating audio podcasts, preserve your movies brief and succinct.
I understand that not everyone seems to be comfy on digicam or talking right into a microphone. Additional, not everybody has had the early follow as a youth chatting with imaginary audiences to follow their radio and pre-podcasting expertise. Nevertheless, the pandemic has stretched the consolation ranges of some professors as they discover know-how in a brand new means. As well as, with school attendance ranges dropping throughout the nation, it is necessary for professors to hunt new methods to fulfill college students in a digital atmosphere that’s most comfy and handy for them. Podcasting is a superb useful resource that can be utilized to leverage your course content material whereas connecting with college students in a digital atmosphere.
References
Adams, Okay., Baer, U., Branscum, O., Bosu, S., Dissinger, D., Galvin, A., Kramer, B., Perry, L., Plotz, J., Robinson, Okay., Terlunen, M. (2021). “It’s Time for Academe to Take Podcasting Significantly”. Inside Greater Ed. Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/advice/2021/09/28/how-harness-podcasting-teaching-and-scholarship-opinion
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