From an article in the Collegiate Times the student news paper from Virginia Tech. The article is a typical article on podcasting and higher education but is written from a student perspective. This excerpt sparked a few thoughts…
iPods and teachers make good match
Should Virginia Techâ??s professors consider using the iPod as a vehicle for providing students with supplementary notes and materials?Yes, but not without taking a few precautionary measures first. If Tech professors ever start making classroom materials available for iPod download, they need to realize that, first and foremost, the iPod is not a tool to teach their classes â?? it is merely a supplementary device. The day that technology ever starts to replace human instructors, if it ever comes, will be a scary one indeed.
The professors also need to realize that not everyone has access to an iPod â?? so supplementary materials should be available for download in all file formats.
First the idea that ipods and podcasting are good only for supplementary materials is worth noting. The view that podcasts are only good for delivering material on the fringe of the topic I feel is short sited. Why not deliver the main content through podcast and open the in class time for wrestling with that content through interactions with peers and the professor? Technology will not replace the need for a human instructor but it should be used to allow the living breathing instructor to interact with the students and the content in more human ways. The time shift that podcasting class content prior to class can allow for an increase in professor-student discourse, something that has been tied closely to learning.
Secondly, the comment that not everyone has access to iPods is very important. As one makes the leap to include technology into the classroom, one needs to make sure that the instructional decisions made do not create a system of haves and have nots within the class. Thus, if a student does not have an iPod (or whatever the new gadget is this year) do such students have other avenues to access the content? If they do not is it appropriate to implement podcasting (or what have you) even if only for supplementary materials?
