Beth Ritter-Guth, Professor of English and Gender Studies at LehighCarbon Community College (LCCC), is the hippest prof on campus. Withevery class, she entices students to learn by employing a technologymany own and most admire: the iPod.
Ritter-Guth has implemented podcasting in all of her classes: Sherecords her lectures, then makes them available on iTunes and on herblogspot for students to download at a later time. "I see a need toprepare our students for future communication expectations," saysRitter-Guth. "These tools will be standard tools in the future."
Podcasts make excellent study tools and are used to disseminateextra information. "Podcasting also adds a new dimension to onlinelearning; it makes the online classroom more personal," saysRitter-Guth. LCCC is one of the only colleges in the area to includethis technology in its educational base.
In addition, Ritter-Guth hasteamed up with Dr. Jean-Claude Bradley of Drexel University,Philadelphia, to create an online cross-college program for sciencewriters. "The UsefulChem Writing Partners[www.inblogs.net/usefulchemwritingpartners/] is meant to help emergingtechnical writers work with and disseminate information aboutcomplicated scientific material," Ritter-Guth says. "We all can add tothe rich environment of knowledge by sharing our ways of telling thetale or painting the picture."
http://www.lccc.edu/about-lccc/press-releases/2007-press-releases/lccc-professor-advances-education-through-technology-ipods-not-just-for-tunes/
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Its a pretty nifty thing, to podcast lectures through iphones. Maybe they will expand on it and allow do RSS feeds so that students aren't forced to use an iphone just to get additional class information. I don't like the fact that they singled out a single type of device to use, instead of using a universal format. Some people would never buy Apple products, and hopefully they shouldn't be forced to in the future. Hopefully those without iphones aren't missing too much.
ReplyDeleteI think this is a creative way to keep the interest of students. Professor Ritter-Guth is correct when she believes this is the future of education. More and more technology advances and these advances are being reflected in the class room. Teachers seem to be using the latest advancements in technology to keep the interest of the students. The more interest a student expresses in class the more that student will learn and maintain. This is definitely an example of keeping up with the times.
ReplyDeleteThe article mentions the podcasts are available via iTunes and the instructor's blog. At first I thought, "Why is this not being done already?", I've been listening to podcasts for over 3 years now, then I realized the article was from 2007. Funny how something can become dated within 2 years when it comes to technology. This is a great way to add a personal touch to a lecture plus allow for students to listen to the lecture multiple times. I wonder if this is not a sign of what more there is to come. I could see in the future the use of videos and mashups to make more information available to the student. Giving students more ways to learn and options they are comfortable with only helps to improve society.
ReplyDeleteThis is pretty interesting but kind of outdated, this is two years old. I still feel like it would be a good idea, and one that I would like to use. It is weird to think back when I was a kid. I never thought that education would take a turn for this. I thought that was the one thing in life that would be unchanged by technology, and know 10 years later I find myself taking a class that is fully online. Two years ago this was pretty much cutting edge, no one else was doing this. But I'm sure if you looked today there are numerous teachers across the country, maybe even the world, that are exploring these alternative methods of teaching.
ReplyDeleteI am actually kind of surprised that this idea did not take off sooner. The iPod has been around for a few years now as well as the iTunes service. This is one tool that teachers should have been using back when the iPod first came out in my opinion. While I think that podcasting information to students is a good idea, I don't think that it is future of education, I just think that education is finally catching up to technology.
ReplyDeleteThere has been many times that I was so tired in class that I could barley stay awake, much less take decent notes. If I had been able to watch a podcast of that day’s lecture I might have done better on a few tests. This is a very useful tool for the classroom because almost every student in America owns an iPod or iPhone and would benefit from this ingenious use of technology. To say that I learned a lot from this blog is kind of the point I guess, since it was on education. Thank you for the enlightening experience this semester.
ReplyDeleteHow neat! This is such a great way to capture students interest. It is a good way to keep them curious about something they may otherwise not care about. I think that the use of the iPod and podcasts within the classroom can be beneficial on many levels. Yes, it keeps students entertained. But it also it helps to incorporate culture into classroom. We are all aware how popular iPods have become. Using podcasts also gives students more freedoms. They can listen to her lectures on the go, whenever they please. This is a great example of integrating technology into the classroom!
ReplyDeleteThis only makes sense. Most college classes these days are lecture anyway. What is a lecture if it isn't just someone prattling on about something and you listening to it. It just seems logical that lectures would be made available in a digital format that could be accessed at anytime and as many times as the student wanted. For how years have students been taking some kind of recording device to their lecture classes so they didn't have to pay attention then? What like the 70's? This just seems like a natural transition to me.
ReplyDeleteI also had a professor who recorded all of his lectures, that has a plus and a minus side to it. The positive side of it is that if students miss the class they have something to look forward to it, but what happens when the schools run out of money and no one purchases books anymore? Will the schools be more expensive than they already are? I do like the idea that you can listen to the lecture even if you're not in class, but i would feel like i would still be missing the bigger picture, although it is a great tool to have, just in case, in my opinion this should be more secondary.
ReplyDeletePodcasts cab provide a variety of information including lectures, recordings, debates, conversations and talk radio program to name a few. Podcasts are then downloaded to an IPod and can be listened to in the car, at home, at the gym – anywhere where one may listen to their IPod.
ReplyDeleteThe decision of Professor Ritter-Guth was an excellent choice. She gives students the ability to download and listen to her lectures at a later time when it is convenient for them. This is great for students that may have missed class or had to leave early, for those who can focus better on a lecture on their own time or for those with disabilities.
Allowing students access to these lectures can help them prepare better for tests, papers and group discussions.
I was shocked to see that Lehigh Carbon Community College is one of the only campuses using this technology especially because the use of computers, technology and online learning has become so popular and widely used. I am sure within the next couple of years many more schools will be jumping on this bandwagon.
~Angela (A Bag of Tricks)
Well actually the truth is I heard this once or twice but that time i thought that it won’t work that much because teachers won’t be doing that. Couple of days ago I was talking to my cousin's friend and he told me that her teacher record the lecture and then we can get it on iPod and listen to it when we need. And I thought it was amazing. Well along with the technology the learning system has also became easier and faster. I think that recording the lecture will somehow help students to catch up when they are absent and when they are completely lost of what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteI think that its a great idea to record the lecture and then make it available on iTunes. Are students going to have to pay for the lecture though? That could pose as a problem. Even though this is a good idea, I don't think teachers should rely on just this recording for students. I know with my online classes, if I have to listen to something I get distracted. I don't think teachers should just have the recordings available, they should actually teach the class. If this is the proposition, its a great idea. Interesting blog comment, I figured the idea would come out eventually, but I didn't know it had before I read the blog.
ReplyDeletePodcasts have been becoming the new way of reaching out to people with certain topics of interest. Apple, brings a whole section of their multi-million dollar iTunes store with just Podcasts. Not to mention their new addition (added some years back) called iTunes U, where universities and colleges can upload courses, for either students or anyone with a desire to learn, and educate across the nation. Podcasts brings a new way of learning to the classroom, for those who already record classes as to not miss a note or a professor's confusing point, to learning aids such as, video, graphs and audio within the podcast itself. I personally have witnessed this new technology first hand, when I decided to download a podcast provided by Stanford University teaching me the iPhone software development program.
ReplyDeleteAlthough podcasts are not a new development in the world of technology it is when using it in the classroom. Usually podcasts are used for raio or TV shows but not for something like a class. The idea is great and I would definitly use something like this if my teachers offered it. Worried about missing a class and falling behind, it isn't an issue just listen to the podcast. Forgot what the teacher assigned for homework, no big deal just listen to the podcast. It would also be very helpful for finals and other tests. Hearing a teacher explain what you are studying while you are studying would be a huge help. I cant remember how many times ive forgotten something important that a teacher has said in class, that would no longer be a problem.
ReplyDelete