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

As Merriam, Caffarella and Baumgartner (2007) assert, experience helps learners connect current learning to their past, while allowing them to see possibilities for the future significance of their new knowledge.  I find this true in my case and, once again, draw upon my podcast experience to reflect on my learning.   I have to admit I was not looking forward to the podcast assignment. I was unsure of myself, and did not know if I would have the technological skills (or the time) to pull it off.  In the end, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the entire multimedia interview process, and also the learning along the way.

Viewing the suggested podcasts, and the presentations of my fellow classmates, has heightened my awareness of the benefits of using a multi-sensory approach to instruction.  I realized just how much I relied on the visual component of the presentations, and found that the podcast’s benefits for auditory learners (King & Cox, 2011) were essentially lost on me. I found my mind wandering during the audio podcasts, and missed the visual cues that enhance a face-to-face conversation. Many of my classmates’ presentations contain text and graphics that tapped into my visual sense, and aided my learning.  Whiteley (2007) tells us that individuals bring different preferred learning styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic), to the learning environment, and using an approach that taps into more than one of these senses increases the likelihood that meaningful learning will occur. I know this. As an occupational therapy practitioner, I have first-hand knowledge of the benefits of using a multi-sensory approach to learning.  It is an automatic, a given……a must-have, for therapeutic interventions. However, as an educator, I don’t always keep that knowledge at the forefront.  This assignment has provided the foundation for the critical reflection and analysis needed to take my new learning, find it’s significance, and apply it to a real-world setting (West & West, 2009). My take away from this assignment is a renewed determination to use technology, not just for the sake of meeting a job expectation,  but blended into my course in a way that better meets the needs and learning styles of my learners.

References

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

Merriam, S., Caffarella, R., & Baumgartner, L. (2007). Learning in Adulthood: A comprehensive guide.  San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

West, J. & West, M. (2009). Using Wikis for online collaboration: The power of the read-write Web. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass

Whiteley, T. R. (2007). Integrating the technological resources of the online learning environment with the VAK Learning-Styles Model to Foster Student Learning.  AMA Winter Educators' Conference Proceedings, 181-9.