The Center for Teaching Excellence held an all-day conference yesterday addressing how to effectively use iPods and podcasting as supplement teaching materials.
After receiving 3,300 hits on its first Podcast since Aug. 16, the Washington College of Law has pioneered Podcasting for law schools.
"We have a responsibility to work with such technology in order to provide the most rich learning experience possible," Vivian Vasquez, professor in the School of Education, said.
Podcasting leads the way in current teaching technology, especially in the areas of foreign language. Professors can now record and post their lectures on the Web, and students can also record interviews or weekly journals on their iPods.
"The bottom line is that the future is here now," Francis Shepard, Apple representative, said. "Today we can start to integrate Podcasting into the classroom."
"Teaching drives technology, technology does not drive teaching," John Richardson, CTE director, said.
At the beginning of last school year, Duke University distributed iPods to all 16,000 incoming freshman hoping that teachers would use them in their classes to supplement their teaching.
Lisa Merschel, assistant professor of Spanish at Duke, began to integrate iPods and podcasting into her class immediately. Merschel said she first felt overwhelmed by the concept of using such technology in her classroom.
"I felt pressure to integrate using the iPod into the course well and train students how to use it," Merschel said.
In her class students kept a weekly journal of two to three minutes, which she received positive feedback on. She also used Podcasting to have native Spanish speakers read the novellas for her classroom so students could listen and read the material at the same time as well as recorded their oral exams.
"The goal of the semester was to use the iPod as an accessory that reflected the unique portable ability of the iPod," Merschel said.
Merschel did not structure her course to center around iPods and Podcasting, however in students responded that they would have like the iPod to be a larger part of the course.
"Students need to understand that they are going to need to become Renaissance geeks to move ahead in the world," Shepard said.
A Renaissance geek is a person who continuously learns, Shepard said.
Patrick Jackson, professor for the School of International Service, currently Podcasts his class lectures. This reinforces material and allows ESL students to listen to sections they did not fully understand the first time, he said.
Jackson also requires students to listen to some lectures before coming to class.
"The old model of teaching is dying," Jackson said. "Students can look up data on-line, they don't need faculty to tell them facts."
With Podcasting, Jackson can leave classroom time open for discussion and debate so students are involved in the learning process.
"Class time is when we are physically together," Jackson said. "Classes now expand beyond the classroom."
Ruben Musca, a junior in SIS, appreciates when Jackson posts his lectures on Podcasts.
"I think Podcasting will change the way we have classes because lectures will not be such a large part of classes," Musca said.
Podcasting is also important for ESL students who can re-listen to material at their own pace, Korin Munsterman, WCL director of technology said.
Conferences, such as this one, tend to create a ripple effect, Jim McCabe, Manager of Web Course Work, said. A new concept like Podcasting always starts with a kickoff because we want to get a buzz going around faculty.
"Podcasting shouldn't be added on to the curriculum," Vasquez said. "It should be part of the curriculum. It gives us the opportunity to include diverse multimedia perspective to teaching."
Here are other student reactions if you want them (sorry I just don't know where to put them)
Approximately 60 faculty and staff from AU and Georgetown attended the event.
