UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA
FACULTY OF EXTENSION RESEARCH R&D REPORT 2007
Podcasting as Pedagogy: McCalla Research Professor Marco Adria
T
he McCalla Research Professorship is awarded annually to a small number of tenured faculty at the University of Alberta. Dr.
medium requiring literacy. Podcasting is reintroducing
Marco Adria is the first member of the Faculty of Extension selected
orality into this globe-
for this honour. His successful proposal was to research the use of
spanning communications
podcasting as a pedagogical tool.
medium.
Podcasting refers to distribution over the Internet of digital
As part of the
media files - audio or video. It is a “push” technique - i.e., podcasts
research for his McCa-
can be distributed automatically to people on a distribution list - for
lla project, Marco will be
example, to students enrolled in a university course. The podcast
visiting one of the pioneers
can be listened to or watched on the recipient’s computer or else
of academic podcasting,
transferred to a mobile device such as an Apple iPod or another
Professor Hubert Dreyfus of
MP3 player. This contrasts with a “pull” technique such as simply
the University of California
posting files on a website and waiting for students to go to that
at Berkeley. Dreyfus, a Professor of Philosophy in the Graduate School
website to access the files.
at Berkeley, has for years used podcasting to introduce new audi-
“We have good infrastructure here [at the University of Al-
ences to lectures that he has been giving since before the technology
berta] to support podcasting as a teaching and learning resource,”
existed. “What’s fascinating about Professor Dreyfus is that he’s not
said Adria. “What I’d like to find out is how and why we would
a technophile at all,” said Adria. “And yet, he’s been podcasting for
integrate podcasting to create the ideal learning environment for
years, and today, his podcasts are incredibly popular.”
our students.” Its key advantage as a pedagogical tool, he suggests,
In the fall semester of 2007, Marco taught a graduate course in
is that podcasting can connect a person who is interested in a par-
the M.A. in Communications and Technology (MACT) program that
ticular subject with information that is specific to them, creating a
discussed the history and development of communications media. He
much more intimate dynamic between speaker and listener. Marco is not only a professor interested in promoting learn-
incorporated weekly ten-minute podcasts into the course. In these podcasts he addresses difficult concepts in the course content, as well
ing through whatever technologies work best, but also a scholar in
as mentioning current events. Preliminary indications are that this ad-
the field of Communications. As such, he looks at podcasting not
dition to the course was well received by the students. To check them
only through his educator’s eye, but also through the McLuhanite
out go to
eye of a media theoretician. Podcasting, is, according to Marco,
http://madria.podcastspot.com/
“almost a form of radio programming.” Among the ways it is similar
Marco’s project is an outstanding example of the Faculty of Ex-
to radio is that both are discursive, rather than expressive. Among
tension’s initiatives to integrate appropriate educational technologies
the ways podcasting is different, however, is that the portability of
into teaching and learning. For other such initiatives see below. ❑
radio is extended not only in space, but also in time - recipients of podcasts can listen to them according to their own schedules. Not surprisingly, Marco is having fun thinking about how McLuhan’s famous four laws of media apply to podcasting. Then there is its effect on the Internet, until now essentially a text-based
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: The E-portfolio: Assessing its Effectiveness
2
Computer-Assisted Language Learning: A Multi- Faculty Collaborative Project
3
Extension’s Newest Researchers: 2007 Graduates from the Master of Arts in Communications & Technology
3
Research Publications, Presentations
4