"Audio/Video / Podcast: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners"

For this week’s blog entry, we were asked to describe the pros and cons of audio, video and podcasts for adult learners. While I have never been a regular podcast listener (I get bored too quick), I am a big proponent of including short videos in my class structure. My classes on different battles in warfare would often include short videos from movies, actual battlefield footage and interviews with soldiers who participated in the battle. The short visual diversions from lectures or discussions would usually help engage the student further.

YouTube opened a whole new world in the past generation; you can find anything and everything on the site. I learned how to completely remodeled a bathroom in my last house, including having to rip out and replace all the copper and PVC plumbing, solely by watching videos from YouTube and remodeling websites.

           Before                                                                        Post Demo

          

 

            During                                                                  Almost Finished

 

The reading in King and Cox (2011) made me really think about the aspects of audio in learning. Being a visual learner, I often do not think about the advantages of audio to those who learn best by listening. When I think about podcasting in education, I only thought about recording a lecture for playback later or for interviews (like you will see here on this blog in a few days – stay tuned!). Some other uses of podcasts mentioned by King (2011) include: further then lecture webcasting (cutting up the webcast into small organized pieces), FAQs, primary sources, tutorials, historical reenactments, and one that I really liked was the position podcast where a pair of students debate or dialogue targeted issues. It is basically a whole lot more then I originally thought and I foresee a lot of growth in this type of media in education over the next few years.

 

Let's get to the pros and cons:

 

Pros

- Activates the learning of those who are audio/visual learners

- Ability to access anywhere at anytime

- Ability to preserve a class/discussion for future reference

- Can add more of a personal touch then just text

- Innovative way to engage students (including student projects)

 

Cons

- Instructors can overuse technology

- Possibility of students losing focus if too long

- No instant feedback or interaction



I think most people will agree that the pros of audio, video and podcasts far outway the cons and in the majority of cases will certainly add to the learning of adults. What do you think?


Reference:

King, K. P. (2011). Podcasting: Learning on demand and content creation. In K. King & T. Cox (Eds.), The professor's guide to taming technology: Leveraging digital media, Web 2.0, and more for learning (pp. 33-50). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing Inc.