Spring Break
Go to class, anytime, anywhere
Jheel Mehta
Issue date: 4/7/08 Section: News
If you ever wanted to go back and listen to your lectures before quizzes, tests or finals, now you can with a podcasting system offered by UMKC.
Last fall, a podcasting committee of more than 15 professors came together to set up a system for students that will allow them to revisit lectures throughout the year.
A podcast is a collection of digital media files distributed via Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers.
"I think the technology is great, and certainly recommend it to instructors who are looking for methods to enhancing their courses and learning outcomes," said Jennifer Lundgren, assistant professor in the psychology department. "In my mid-semester evaluation, podcasting was rated second among course features that the students like."
Podcasting works directly with UMKC's Blackboard system, to which students already have access. So far, the committee has been able to produce approximately 143 podcasts.
Students in those courses with podcasts have viewed them more than 2,000 times. A student must be enrolled in a course to access the podcasts, and the professor of the course must agree to podcasting the lectures.
"If instructors are already using Blackboard and are comfortable with that technology then it is easy to incorporate," said Rita Cain, professor of business law. "I don't use it for my MBA negotiations class because too many things go on in the class that are not focused on me at the front of the room. But for classes that are predominantly lecture and discussion with slides on the screen, I think it works pretty well."
Currently, 19 instructors are part of the podcast pilot, and the numbers are increasing. Students who are enrolled in classes that use podcasts can access them one of three ways: by streaming the video online, by downloading the video to their computer or by downloading audio on MP3 versions of these podcasts. An instructor must approve the last two options. If an instructor allows MP3 versions, students can put these lectures on an MP3 player and listen to them at their convenience.
For more information about how to create or access a course in the podcast forms, contact Vishal Kurup, leading analyst of the podcasting initiative on campus, via e-mail at podcasting@umkc.edu, or visit www.umkc.edu/ia/its/podcasting for more information.
jmheta@unews.com
Last fall, a podcasting committee of more than 15 professors came together to set up a system for students that will allow them to revisit lectures throughout the year.
A podcast is a collection of digital media files distributed via Internet, often using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers.
"I think the technology is great, and certainly recommend it to instructors who are looking for methods to enhancing their courses and learning outcomes," said Jennifer Lundgren, assistant professor in the psychology department. "In my mid-semester evaluation, podcasting was rated second among course features that the students like."
Podcasting works directly with UMKC's Blackboard system, to which students already have access. So far, the committee has been able to produce approximately 143 podcasts.
Students in those courses with podcasts have viewed them more than 2,000 times. A student must be enrolled in a course to access the podcasts, and the professor of the course must agree to podcasting the lectures.
"If instructors are already using Blackboard and are comfortable with that technology then it is easy to incorporate," said Rita Cain, professor of business law. "I don't use it for my MBA negotiations class because too many things go on in the class that are not focused on me at the front of the room. But for classes that are predominantly lecture and discussion with slides on the screen, I think it works pretty well."
Currently, 19 instructors are part of the podcast pilot, and the numbers are increasing. Students who are enrolled in classes that use podcasts can access them one of three ways: by streaming the video online, by downloading the video to their computer or by downloading audio on MP3 versions of these podcasts. An instructor must approve the last two options. If an instructor allows MP3 versions, students can put these lectures on an MP3 player and listen to them at their convenience.
For more information about how to create or access a course in the podcast forms, contact Vishal Kurup, leading analyst of the podcasting initiative on campus, via e-mail at podcasting@umkc.edu, or visit www.umkc.edu/ia/its/podcasting for more information.
jmheta@unews.com
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