The Right Place for an Educational Podcast

In a recent class post, I mentioned how I would use Soundcloud to post Podcasts as a part of media to consume in an online training situation. After some feedback from my instructor, I have looked into this further.

Soundcloud has its positives. On a limited level it is free, and offers a platform for use comments on a timeline and download options. On the back end, you can the see the point when students tended to stop listening, and from what region they hail.

For more a realistic amount of upload time it does cost a fee. This fee does not offer too much beyond that. And the platform is not necessarily associated with education. These are detractors.

After some searching, I discovered that Libysn.com is the better option. Yes, it does cost a fee, but the options provided are much more valuable and more slanted towards education. It is available on more  Operating Systems and devices, and has options for plug ins to improve the experience- and can easily link to youtube to reach a larger audience. In addition, the associated media is more complimentary to an educational focus.

Looking at negatives, it would be difficult to reach some audiences who have hearing issues. So, this may not be the online training resource in every situation./


That being said, were I to create a podcast for education, this would be my domain of choice.

Moving Towards a Blended Classroom Approach

The majority of the teaching I do is in a classroom setting, with 12 computers and a fixed monthly class calendar. My audience is mainly adults who wish to improve their Office Skills and employ-ability.

About 2 years ago, I was able to consistently fill my classroom regardless of class and time. My statistics were great. However, in the past year, attendance numbers started to dwindle. I am not alone: my peers at other locations are experiencing the same trend. 

My intuition tells me this because students have less attention spans than in the past, and have come to expect their education to come to them- just like their entertainment and amazon purchases. Is this expectation unrealistic? Perhaps not. It is time to make library patron classroom education as easy to access as many other commodities we consume daily. 

I would like to integrate two technologies into the library education process and get to a more Blended approach for our technology courses; video and podcasts. 

My plan is as follows- 

Begin to video record all of my classes. Create edited video versions of the most popular Business related technology courses. Offer these on youtube or the library website for streaming. In addition, I would like to create podcast versions of the same material from the audio and offer on a resources like Soundcloud for download. 

I think this would reach an audience who wants to attend class but does not have the time or means to get in the classroom. We could improve the accessibility of the videos by providing closed captioning.

Over the years, some students have recorded my lectures in the classroom, and reported that this was an excellent resource for them as they were completing their own work at home. This planted the seed for me to consider recording my class sessions. Recently, I have started to learn how to make videos and record audio for podcasts, so this is a very interesting topic for me.

Turn of the Century Educational Method

I found this picture and it illustrates what the artist thought school would be like in the future. Printed on a postcard in France around 1901, it relates to the field of Instructional Design.

from Wikipedia: Paper cards/postcards by Jean-Marc Côté and other artists, France. This was a series of futuristic pictures issued in France in 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1910, originally in the form of paper cards enclosed to cigarette/cigar boxes and, later, as postcards. They depicted the world of the future, in 2000. 

Instructional Designer in Training

Really happy to be back in the saddle, so to speak. After years of dancing on the educational stage as a teacher for the library system, I am now a student again. It feels good. Time spent as an instructor has transformed me into an engaged and curious scholar. Who knew?

My hope is that these classes in Instructional Design from Rollins will allow me to help the Library system move towards a more current method of conducting technology courses for the public.

I see certain trends in attendance and student retention that would dictate a move towards a more more hybrid approach of Mobile Learning and traditional classroom instruction. The Library could benefit from a more Flipped Classroom approach, with a focus on helping patrons succeed on their own projects rather than just give them training, exercises, and then send them on their way.

We want to create Lifelong Learners, and help them gain access to the knowledge they need to succeed in their personal endeavors now and in the future.