Forget Class, Just Get The Podcast
from the cutting-101 dept
Forget borrowing somebody's notes or looking at the prof's PowerPoint slides on the Internet, now college students can just subscribe to the podcast if they don't want to go to class. Cue the inevitable backlash from people calling this the downfall of higher education, but it seems like a pretty good use of technology, really. If a student wants to go over a lecture again, they can, and somebody that tries to replace actually showing up for class with a podcast probably wasn't that interested (and probably wasn't going to do very well) anyway. But I guess Duke's finally found a use for all those iPods they gave out.
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Good idea
This is a great idea. I'd love to listen to lectures from other classes sometimes. This would be a great idea for students that are sick or end up missing class due to no fault of their own. Sometimes you can learn a lot by hearing something explained in a different way.
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Re: Good idea
Exactly, or even listening to the lecture again and picking up key points or ideas that you missed. As long as students don't just skip class and download a podcast, this is a great technology.
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No Subject Given
Who cares what the students do with it? It's information that they paid for, they should be able to access it. If someone wants to never attend class and just download podcasts then that is their choice and their money on the line.
I only went to college to see the faces of the people that I left in highschool when I dropped out. Here is me, the guy that never did shit in highschool, attending the same college as them and making it look easy. It was a mixture of shock and horror.
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Can anyone get these?
I read the article and it appears that some lectures are available on the 'net. I hope more schools give them out to anyone who wants the casts. It would be cool to get a collection of lectures on interesting subjects.
The schools could benefit by exposure and, since the much of a class is taken up by homework and using textbooks, they could justify giving out the podcasts for free.
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Re: Can anyone get these?
I wonder if the people over at MIT's "OpenCourseWare" is paying attention. Having a video to go along with their notes would be nice...
The only thing missing would be the ability to ask questions and getting someone to correct my homework.
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No Subject Given
Like somebody else mentioned, the students paid for the class, they should be able to show up when they want without penalties.
Now I agree, its about time Colleges got a little hightech and I dont mean offering Wi-Fi. This is a superb method of using a technology thats easy and very availible because even if the kids dont have an iPod, they can still download iTunes for free and listen to them on their computer and their free downloads on the program side and usually the podcast itself is free. this is superb I believe.
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Lecture Podcasts
Interestingly, I was asked a few weeks ago by the Director of Communications for the University I work for (a fairly large one, and this guy's responsible for *all* internal & external communcations across all departments, including student activities) to put together a proposal to do exactly this.
So yes, it's a good use of technology - and the Universities themselves want to do it - they see it as adding great value to the teaching services they already offer, providing a better service to their customers - the students.
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Re: No Subject Given
I think this is a grand idea! I happen to be one of those folks that never tend to show up for classes, and prefers to dig into the books by himself...After all, it's the grades that matter in the end, not how well you attend classes!
If my school would have had this possibility, I would have made good use of it! :D
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