THES: 'Let them tune in'
Published 8 February 2006
The Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) quotes Professor Geraint Johnes of the department of Economics in a feature on podcasting in higher education.
Harriet Swain of the THES writes:
Geraint Johnes, professor of economics at Lancaster University, was one of the first to start using podcasts for university teaching in the UK. He says you need to remember that students' access to podcasts varies - not all have MP3 players and not all of them have broadband computers - so you have to make sure your podcasts are available on a website so that everyone can listen to them on university computers.
He says you also need to think about the teaching as well as technical aspects of podcasting. "When students have finished listening to the podcast they are going to listen to music," he says. "You cannot rely on them thinking afterwards." This means that you should leave gaps in the podcast to encourage them to think during it. He says you also have to make sure the podcast is integrated into the course, "otherwise, why should they bother going to it?"
Richard Hollingsworth, who was Johnes's student last year, says the length of a podcast is crucial. "What works is if it's the length of a song," he says. Any more than three or four minutes and he would be tempted to listen to only sections at a time, he says.
Hollingsworth says it is also crucial to be very clear, especially if you are dealing with difficult words and theories, and to use it as a starting point rather than trying to cover everything. "It should be used in conjunction with a variety of other materials."
