The Power of Podcasting

Lum, L. (2006). The Power of Podcasting. Diverse Issues of Higher Education , 32-35.

The focus of this article was how a new technology is revolutionizing the way faculty and administrators interact with students. It has been determined that 80 percent of college students own at least one device that can download and play recordings. Given this information, it falls to reason that pod casts would be an excellent medium for enhancing instruction. In an effort to promote podcasting Duke University handed out about 1600 iPods preloaded with orientation material to its entire incoming 2004 class.(Lum, L. (2006). These iPods were used for class lectures, as well as general information about courses. At Mansfield University the administrators did an ongoing series of podcasts exploring student life, especially for freshman. These podcasts explored everything from their favorite Saturday night pastimes to what the seniors believe their most important lessons have been, educationally and personally. This has produced an 11 percent spike in student applications for the fall semester compared to last year's numbers.(Lum, L. 2006)It appears that podcasts are finding more and more uses and won't be going away for quite a while if ever.