Economics 2.0 Workshop

DEE 2009 Conference

Cardiff

Supporting information

• DEE Web 2.0 Blog – http://dee09.wordpress.com/

• Presentations, links, articles, case studies

• Please contribute!

• dee09 tag

Who are we?

• Paul Ayres

• Zak Mensah

• Bhagesh Sachania

Overview of the workshop

• Podcasting and audio in teaching and learning

• Critically evaluating online information

• Social media – how web2.0 sites can enhance teaching

• ‘Hands on’ approach

Overview of this session

• What is podcasting?

• How do you create, publish and subscribe to a podcast?

• How might podcasting be used in teaching and learning Economics?

About you

• Quick introductions and some questions

• Is lecturing part of your current job responsibilities?

• Have you created an audio file (say an mp3 file) on a computer?

• Have you used any form of audio in your teaching?

• Have you subscribed to a podcast?

• Have you ever created and published a podcast?

What is podcasting?

The Technical

Podcasting entails multimedia content that is delivered via an RSS feed as a downloadable or streamed file

What is podcasting?

The Functional

The term podcast, like "radio", can mean both the content and the method of delivery. Podcasters' websites also may offer direct download of their files, but the subscription feed of automatically delivered new content is what distinguishes a podcast from a simple download or real-time streaming. Usually, the podcast features one type of "show" with new episodes either sporadically or at planned intervals such as daily, weekly, etc.

Why Podcasting?

•Easy to create and distribute content

•Audio vs text based content

•Gives the subscriber control

•Variety of content

What does podcasting involve?

The Subscriber

• Install podcatcher software (Juice, iTunes, PocketRSS, Google Reader)• Add the rss feed address as a subscription• Listen to the audio file

Walk through: Subscribing to a podcast using Juice

What does podcasting involve?

The Producer – create the file

• Create the file (mp3, mp4) using the appropriate tool (audacity, camtasia)

Walk through: Creating an audio file using Audacity

What does podcasting involve?

The Producer – publish the material as a podcast

• Publish on the web (VLE, blog, or podcast services)

Walk through: Publish as a podcast using the podcast Blackboard building block

Activity:Read the following case study

•Geraint Johnes, University of LancasterPodcasts as a Learning Tool in Economicshttp://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/showcase/johnes_podcasts.htm

•Draw up a list of potential uses of podcasting in lectures

•Engage students

•Allows education to be more portable

•Uses existing and familiar technology

•Reusability

Examples:•Lectures and other course content

•Access to experts

•Student podcasts

An educational context

Providing a recording of your lecture

Software that we are using to do this at the University of Bristol is called Camtasia. The rationale behind using this software is that it is very easy to use, easily produces lots of different output formats, but (assuming you want to invest the time) can produce some very sophisticated results.

An educational context

Examples of economics podcasts

• The Economisthttp://audiovideo.economist.com/

• Voxhttp://www.voxeu.org/

• University of California,Berkeley

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/

I hope you can now…

• Explain what podcasting is to a colleague• Know how to subscribe, create and distribute

a podcast• Identify some potential uses of podcasting in

your teaching or research• Start to think about what issues surround the

use of podcasting in teaching and learning

• Thank you!

• Email: b.m.sachania@bris.ac.uk