Cutting-Edge Technology In Higher Education

Podcasting and similiar technologies dizzy with possibilities

Story by Eric Rushia

Education is ever-changing, especially in colleges. Teachers, students, and distance learners, with the aid of new techonologies, are discovering more radical ways to approach distributing content to aid in student learning. As tons of information bombards them in all directions, teachers and students are developing new ways to bypass the traditional, face-to-face interaction that has been the cornerstone of education since the beginning of the free exchange of ideas. Podcasting is one of the cutting edge study tools breaking traditions and being utilized by students and teachers from elementary schools to colleges all over the country.

Podcasting has largely been associated with audio files, but it can incorporate video, photos, and text, which is one reason podcasting seems so unique. Podcasting involves the merging of text, video and audio files into a single multimedia file that can be downloaded off the internet or even subscribed to, and delivered to, your personal email address. Once the file is saved to a computer or transferred to a portable media player, the user is granted instant access to the material, which can be analyzed many times over and may be a more effective study tool.

Eddie Vega, a digital media specialist at Plattsburgh State University College (PSUC), says, "Podcasts can be used to review lectures. They do not serve as a substitute for not showing up to class. You may have questions about something you heard on a podcast, who would you ask for clarification? Being in a classroom allows immediate interaction. Podcasts are simply a tool and not a replacement for the instructor."

Podcasting allows students the freedom of reviewing a lecture anytime, anywhere. The possibilities are endless. For teachers podcasting may slowly become the building block for modern education in creating the virtual classroom.

"One of the positive benefits of podcasting deals with team-building, and learning how to work cooperatively, which are both life skills that enhance student learning," says Aline Bobys, literacy education professor at PSUC.

Podcasting brings students to a higher level of learning by changing the way classes are taught, the frequency of the student's involvement with the material, and the manner a student can understand a variety of complex topics, Darcey Aubrey, a PSUC graduate student says. Podcasting deals with issues, such as teachers, the way they teach, what their curriculum entails, who should be educated, how podcasts are distributed, and what is to be achieved.

"Before teachers can incorporate podcasting as an option for their students, they need to be supported through professional development opportunities where they are educated about the technology, the tools, the process, and the 'how-to' of integration of podcasting into already existing curriculum," Bobys says.

"People using podcasts are every day people who want to express their personal, professional opinions or share their knowledge of a specific topic to demonstrate their own creative talents."

Podcasting provides many choices for teachers when developing lessons for their classes to further incorporate non-traditional teaching methods that will allow the tech-savvy student to adapt more easily. College is more than simply showing up for class and getting a grade, but rather a place where friendships are made. Podcasting transforms the traditional learning environment into one where face-to-face interacting is rare. Podcasting allows students to explore themselves, discover their own personalities, and make them more aware of what is going on around the world, Vega says.

"Younger students are more accepting of podcasting and other emerging technologies because it is just another part of the 'sound-light-image' technology life they know and have become accustomed too," Bobys says.

According to Vega, each and every classroom and school, no matter how it is constructed, should be striving to help teachers and students become more "tuned-in to the latest developments" of 21st century teaching methods. Podcasting can serve as an effective aid for educators and students on the road to higher learning. Students can review class notes with their iPods while driving or walking to class. Anyone can create and distribute podcasts ranging on a variety of topics, from learning a foreign language to taking apart the engine of a car, and apply them to real world settings. Teachers no longer need to remain set in their ways; they will now be able to solve problems through the integrated use of new technologies.

"People using podcasts are every day people who want to express their personal, professional opinions or share their knowledge of a specific topic to demonstrate their own creative talents," Vega says.

Creating a podcast is much like hosting your own radio show, except with podcasting you add video and text to enhance your overall presentation, Vega said. Then, you can publish the entire package and distribute your podcast through the Internet as long as podcasters have appropriate audio-recording software, such as Adobe Audition, a good microphone and web-publishing software to host their podcast on their own website so other people can have access to it.

"Podcasts by nature are free to download and shared via peer-to-peer systems," Vega says.

As with any communication technology there are a number of copyright laws that must be followed by anyone who is creating, distributing, and publishing a podcast for use on the Internet. Podcasting, a recording that is uploaded to the Internet, includes topics like music, travel, news, politics, education, and more. The possibilities are endless. Children can tell jokes, report the news, share their writing, sing songs, and take on the roles of characters in history or in a novel, Aubrey says. Students at Stafford Middle School are creating Podcasts about the local history of Plattsburgh.

"With the growth and development of podcasting, news exposure will help teachers learn this new technology so they can explore it in their own classrooms," Aubrey says.

Different styles of learning and implementing podcasts and other similar technologies into education is only the tip of the iceberg. Stepping into the classroom and applying these new technologies may be difficult and some teachers may be hesitant at first, but the future use of podcasting may be necessary to keep students interested in learning.

What type of podcast would you create?

Copy Right Information:

In 2001, the Creative Commons License was created by Lawrence Lessig. It deals with copyright infringement on the Internet. With the creative commons law, people can easily reserve the rights to most of their work and post the guidelines on how their work is to be distributed. In most cases, people need to give attribution to the original author. The way they have specified how others are to use their work. For example, most people will not allow their work to be used for commercial purposes and if they use someone else’s work then they can also have a similar creative commons licensing for others to use their work.