Audio/Video Podcast: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners

As a trainer, creating asynchronous content has been somewhat of a challenge for me. I have struggled with when and how to use it. I see the benefit in creating asynchronous material, because there are times when certain subject matter does need to be digested individually.

However, while I have done comprehensive email summaries and video tutorials for various topics, I never thought about using a podcast as a method of instruction. However, podcasting "enables the professor to develop more advanced instructional materials, and to provide individualized instructional assistance for special situations" (King & Cox, 2011).

For example, if I were to need to do a follow-up training on a specific topic for individuals who may have struggled with something, I could cater the training to their specific questions, while not requiring the remainder of the department to necessarily need to listen. This would also be an effective method of getting out post-presentation material such as answers to follow up questions. I love the idea of having advisors "post their questions in a folder in an online discussion board by week or topic. The faculty member collects the questions and records the questions with the answers and posts the file in print and voice" (King & Cox, 2011).

If I created a weekly podcast with questions I received that week, there would be far fewer questions repeated. It could be a recap of all pertinent information, and could be archived and transcribed for easy searches.

By having both an auditory training and a written recap, I would be catering to different learning styles. "Since learning styles provide information about individual differences in learning preferences they can suggest how instruction can best be designed to support the learning preferences" (Saeed, Yang, & Sinnappan, 2009).

The only real downfall I can see is how it may be time-consuming for individuals to spend time listening to the recaps; however, it may require them to actually digest what is being said rather than archiving an email I send.

King, K. & Cox, T. (2011). The professor’s guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Saeed, Nauman, Yang, Yun, & Sinnapan, Suku. (2009). Emerging Technologies in Higher Education: A Case Of Incorporating Blogs, Podcasts and Social Bookmarks in a Web Programming Course based on Students' Learning Styles and Technology Preferences. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 12(4), 98-109. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/jeductechsoci.12.4.98

Gamification - an interview with Alli Lindemann

I sat down with Alli Lindemann, an Instructional Designer at Grantham University. Grantham is a 100% online university located in Lenexa, KS.

She told me some of what she does on a daily basis, along with the challenges she faces. Something new she is trying to implement is the addition of gamification to Grantham's courses. Take a listen here: