The pros and cons that integration of audio/video podcast into lesson plans may bring to adult students

Before I dive into this discussion, reflecting on the difficulty I had taping myself narrating my interview and then getting it into podcast form, I can say that it was worth it. Though it was very unprofessionally made, it showed me that it is possible to test your own personal limits and achieve things that you may never have thought of before. That being said...

Pros

At the beginning of chapter 3, King & Cox (2011) highlight the efficiency of the podcast by explaining the different ways to listen to one; computer, downloaded files, secure digital card, or a CD (p. 35). When incorporating a podcast into a lesson plan, the array of listening options can enhance the adult learner's comprehension, and allow them to listen how they find most desirable. 

King & Cox's (2011) study pointed out how the students appreciated the teacher's "nuances" in the audio messages (p. 59). I think when an adult learner is trying to stay motivated, being able to hear the subtle sounds/expressions can encourage them to continue to pay attention in order to pick up pertinent information.

In the article, Podcasting in Education: What are the benefits?, it underlines the fact that reading and watching a lecture (video) require the student to be fully immersed/full attention. However, with a podcast, the student is now able to listen "on the go" and while doing other tasks. I think this is important for the adult learner as they are already busy. Allowing them to listen at their leisure can actually enhance their listening skills why learning. 

Cons

On the contrary, using a podcast in lesson plans can actually be harmful to the student. "Short podcasts can fail to encourage students to engage in the higher order thinking necessary in tertiary education contexts," (Drew, 2017). With minimum engagement, the adult learner may not comprehensively take away any information of value from a shortened podcast. 

When reviewing some of the example podcasts, I found "Little College, Big World: Big Tech Wins for Small Schools," to be rather boring to listen to. I was able to fast forward to different sections, but still could not become engaged. I think that when the content is boring, listening to an audio lecture can create a sense of monotony and disengage the adult learner. 

An obvious downfall to an audio podcast is the inability to reach the deaf students, unless there is a script. The diverse nature of classrooms can mean language barriers, to which listening without translation is meaningless.

In conclusion, I think there are real benefits to integrating an audio/video podcast into the lesson plans for adult learners. Breaking up the routine can be exciting, motivating, and even challenging, which is good for the learner. 

The following link is to one of my favorite podcasts for kids. It is called Aaron's World and it is all about dinosaurs. Having three boys, they enjoy listening to these episodes. 

http://www.mydogrocket.com/

Drew, C. (2017). Edutaining audio: an exploration of education podcast design possibilities. Educational Media International, 54(1), 48–62. https://doi-org.er.lib.k-state.edu/10.1080/09523987.2017.1324360

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

http://www.thepodcasthost.com/niche-case-study/podcasting-in-education/

CODING AND ADULT TECHNOLOGY

For my interview, I phone-interviewed a computer specialist in Iowa (where we used to live) who works at a community college. He has integrated adult coding into his curriculum. I recorded my narration of the interview. Please excuse the amateur recording, this is all new to me! In case you were not able to visit the buzzsprout website via the link where the podcast is located, I also added the podcast to my page as a header Titled "Coding: A new integration! (Every time I tried to embed the link into this post, it would tell me the page was no longer available!)

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1364980/episodes/5522023

For this activity, I will be writing an 8 week lesson plan for students/trainees on how to reach their baseline after explosive anger while utilizing wikis. This lesson plan will integrate wikis intended for critical thinking. (This topic is relates to my work in group homes.) 

 

TITLE:  How to control your anger and get back to baseline 

TARGET AUDIENCE: Students, professionals who work with individuals with explosive behaviors, parents.

LEARNING/TRAINING OBJECTIVES: The students and trainees in this course will utilize their critical thinking skills to-

• identify anger triggers
• define the intensity of each trigger
• discuss the ways in which you can get back down to baseline
• recognize a shift in frequency
• prepare a plan of action
• evaluate the ending baseline

RATIONALE FOR THE USE OF THE WIKI: The students/trainees will use a wiki in this course specifically as a collaborative and supportive workspace in order to master the learning objectives. Each student/trainee is responsible for ongoing input and continual discussion.

DETAILS ON HOW WIKI IS USED: The wiki will be set up with pages designed to enhance learning and promote understanding. Their will be a home page that "serves as a table of contents" for the training objectives. Their will also be hyperlinks to specific anger trigger scenarios, which the student/trainees are responsible for navigating and reviewing important instructions and deadlines. The students will be split up into groups, randomly, and then they will each be assigned a set of triggers that an individual might have and from there they will have to use their page to collaborate and navigate through the directions and target activities while creating a small case study. Students should be able to finish activities by their due dates. 

SUGGESTED WIKI RELATED LEARNING ACTIVITES/PRACTICES/SCHEDULES: 

1. In week one of the course, the students/trainees will be introduced to the the concepts of anger and baseline. They will begin to work in small, assigned groups that discuss the basics.
2. Week 2 the students will be given reading material to which they will learn how to collaborate with each other on a new platform, while learning ways to define anger. 
3. Week 3 students will be assigned new groups, randomly, in which they will stay with throughout the remainder of the course. It is in this week that the students will be introduced to wiki. They will have the opportunity to practice discussing the course assignments on their group wiki pages. Students will create a rough draft baseline to anger and back to baseline sample tab on their wiki. This is not graded, just practice.
4. Week 4 students will be given a group project where they are tasked with creating small case studies on trigger warnings, how to spot them, how to manage them, and how to remain at baseline more frequently. 
5. Week 5 students will continue to collaborate on their wiki pages and decide ways to communicate throughout the remainder of the activities (while keeping up with assigned readings and tasks). Students should be using their critical thinking skills to assess the importance of getting to baseline and preventing triggers. 
6. Week 6 students will be asked to turn fill out a wiki questionnaire on how they feel they are contributing (not graded) and how they feel they the wiki is helping them achieve class objectives. 
7. Week 7 students will review their wiki, make any last minute changes, and then submit their wiki case studies.
8. Week 9 students will evaluate their overall collaboration with their peers, discuss on the boards what was the most productive using the wiki and what was the least productive. Students will read through their peer wiki case studies and comment the observable learning objectives. 

WIKI ACTIVITY EVALUATION: Grading criteria:

• Student's contribution to their small group wiki: 10pts
• Student's demonstration on the objectives of the course through their case study: 10pts
• Student's knowledge of anger and baselines: 10pts
• Student's creativeness/page layout: 2pts
• Overall group collaboration: 5pts
• Wiki turned in on time: 5 pts 

                                                    42 pts possible

REFERENCES:

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

 "Wikis: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners." Based on this week's readings and your previous experience with Wiki (if any), you are to blog about the pros and cons that you think Wiki may bring to enriching adult learners' learning experience. 🙌

Throughout my own adult learning experience, I have found that creating a WIKI and navigating through that process has been beneficial. It has enhanced my problem solving skills and has opened up a more creative door, so to speak. However, this process does come with a few negative drawbacks. 

First, the pros:

Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D. (2009) suggest that "technology tools (such as Blogs and Wikis) can empower students by giving them a chance to express their views," (p.188). Much like a blog, a wiki starts out as a fresh slate, allowing the adult learner to create a meaningful and informative page. This can also facilitate collaboration amongst peers, to which the views of other students can be shared and compared. Drawing on the community that a wiki incorporates, King & Cox (2011) elaborate on the community group's "enthusiasm or interest for something they do and learn how to do it better as they interact with each other," (p. 124). This strengthens the adult learner's learning experience as they have their peers to support them. A wiki also is useful for "research coordination and collaboration," which is significant for the adult learner as they continue learning. 

The cons:

One of the problems that can occur when using a WIKI as a collaboration tool amongst students is the possibility of editing errors. Since the students have the ability to edit the page at their leisure, they may incorporate information that is misleading or false. This could have a negative effect on the student(s), therefore hindering their learning experience. West & West (2009) list a set of limitations to using a wiki and one of the more important ones is the "minimal management capabilities," (p.8). This could mean that the adult learner may not have access to all of the text/editing/graphics/audio that can be useful in creating a meaningful wiki collaboration. 

In conclusion, I think the pros outweigh the cons in using wiki and viewing it as an enhancement to adult learning experiences. 

Hazari, S., North, A., & Moreland, D. (2009). Investigating pedagogical value of Wiki technology. Journal of information systems education. 20(2). 187-198.

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

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

Topic: “Blogging: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners”. Is blogging the same as discussion board activity? Based on this week's readings on blogging, discuss about the difference between blogging and discussion board activity (if any) and  the pros and cons you think blogging brings to adult learners. 

Though both blogging and discussion board activity require typing entries on the web where they can be seen, discussion board activity is limited to your peers in the classroom and blogging is published for anyone on the web to see. King & Cox (2011) note that a "distinctive feature of the blog is the ability for readers to comment on posted entries, which are dated," (p. 90). Unlike blogs, once discussion boards are locked, there is no more access. 

Pros

"Blogs are one of the most popular forms of social media used in HE," Garcia, E., Moizer, J., Wilkins, S. & Haddoud, M.Y. (2019). That being said, adult learners might have a better chance at discussions with more of a variety of individuals, allowing for the potential of more in depth analysis and conversations on subject matter. 

Garcia, E., Moizer, J., Wilkins, S. & Haddoud, M.Y. (2019) also mention that blogging and similar engagement with the technology depends on the "attitudes and perceptions," which could benefit adult learners if the individuals reading and responding were really upbeat and into discussing on blogs. 

King & Cox (2011) elaborate on higher education blogging being an "extension of the online or paper journal in which the author expresses thoughts, feelings, and reactions to lived experiences in an attempt to reflect critically," (p. 93). Adult Learners have the freedom to explore their creative side all while learning and engaging in discussions and lectures. 

One of the major cons of blogging and the adult learner is, as mentioned in a previous discussion, the less tech-savvy students and their inability to navigate the blog requirements. Even in this very digital/online/technological age, some platforms can really throw you for a loop. Interestingly, King & Cox (2011) point out that "many adult learners of all ages have scant exposure to the use of technology for educational purposes," (p. 95). Not to mention time sensitive deadlines can add an extra strain on the adult learner if they are finding themselves already stressed from this new platform. 

Personally, I do not prefer the blogging over discussion boards as this is new to me.

References

Garcia, E., Moizer, J., Wilkins, S. & Haddoud, M.Y. (2019). Student learning in higher education through blogging in the classroom. Computers & Education, 136(1), 61-74. Retrieved from: https://www-sciencedirect-com.er.lib.k-state.edu/science/article/pii/S0360131519300776

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