Podcasting at Wits

Podcasting at Wits
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1415 days ago

At Wits, we have opportunities to use podcasting to support teaching-and-learning, as a means to promote our research, as well as to engage with the broader community.

Where the material is visual, there are a number of online services that allow you to quickly synchronize a podcast with a slide presentation in OpenOffice, PowerPoint or Keynote, and create a media rich tool. Of course, at this point it is no longer a podcast and the student needs to be online to view it. But it does illustrate how podcasts can be extended to provide richer experience.

Benefitis of Podcasting at WITS:

allowing an absent student do download the podcast of the recorded lecture;
allowing students to replay the lecture after it has taken place;
providing a means for lecturers to communicate curriculum, assignments and other information with students and other stakeholders;
record book discussions, vocabulary or foreign language lessons, medical practical’s, interviews, and debates;
learning and teaching language;
students conduct interviews in the field and produce 'radio show' podcasts;
students record interview process, and upload for assessment;
Publishing student oral presentations.
- Convenience for both faculty and students ofì portable digital course content, and reduced dependence on physical materials
- Flexible location-independent access to digital, multimedia course materials, including reduced dependence on lab or library location and hours.

Pedagogical Perspective Benefits of Podcasting in academic use:

Effective and easy-to-use tool for digital recordings and interviews, filed, notes, small group discussions, and self- recording of oral assignments
Greater student engagement and interest in class discussions, labs, field research, and independent projects
Enhanced support for individual learning
novel aspect of podcasts raises students interest and encourages engagement with the materials.
Podcasts are relatively easy to create and deliver without needing specialist skills or expensive software and equipment.
Provides an opportunity to review own teaching style and effectiveness.
Analyze needs and engage faculty in the use of new methods, ideas and ICT, researching pedagogy in order to choose appropriate tools to complement course material.
Research methods - both of pedagogy and of technological options helps to educate faculty in the implementation of ICT within the learning environment.
Enable audio and slide casting capability with Podderlive and Slideshare - whatever the technology selected, it must serve the needs of the students and meet the practical realities of program, curriculum, administrators, and educators