Podcasting article

I found the article on podcasts in the material that came from MIT. How very topical I thought as my colleagues and I have just been approved to buy a couple of ipods for the night staff and PC deprived areas to listen to and watch. So, I thought I'll read that!! And I did......

Having finished it, I felt a little underwhelmed....that OK so what? feeling That wow what a lot of effort in the thinking about how to present a lecture when I see my students regularly recording lectures for review at a later date (or for the students who aren't there!).....It bothered me....We don't usually get articles sent to us for no good reason....so I have been reflecting on what learning I can take from it.

Ostensibly, there's the evaluation: looking at different options, trialing them together which surely saves time. The reaslisation that what was originally thought to be a great solution in fact, turned out to be best in a different format. But I am still not really 'getting' this. After all, for most of us the choice between broadcasting a lecture would be F2F or audio....(+/-) powerpoint for a number of reasons including webspace; technical hardware and an editing suite.........so what has been bugging me...all week....

An then..the universe collides! An 'Aha!' moment that Gagne would have wept for.......I had a conversation today with someone who wants to 'do' e-learning. By 'doing' e-learning the development goes that they want to make available some informational material in an electronic format. Hardly e-learning to me as a half way through graduate student.....and then later....(much later......sometime between wringing out wet children and putting them in warm pyjamas it dawned on me......(i love how e-learning is such a leveller of learning)..... whilst both the article and my conversation partner are thinking of e-learning in a very broad sense...using an form of electronic media to present an idea...for me e-learning has become something much more than a slop and drop of an old lesson plan.....I value it's contribution, and I want to see that it has changed behaviour and (for me) had an impact of patient care delivery. And that's what neither of these have...they are one offs.....so how does this fit with evaluation? Well, it's back to the old learning objectives...how do you measure that they have been achieved. What should you see, do you intend that you should see as a result of student engagement......The difference between 'doing' e-learning and real e-learning is indeed evaluation. Thanks Bron. Nice article!