It is never too late for a new beginning. And when it is the right thing at the right time, we shall call it a win-win for all. The 21st Century has opened those horizons of advantages and opportunities which will surely take us to victorious destinations in Education. Using Technology in education is a default thing and we may never be surprised at this sync, as it is but natural. Podcasting, the new name for 'Audio Blogging' is the new IN THING in Education now, so will be PodMOOCs.
Podcasting is Coming to Education and PodMOOCs are not that far then. EklavyaParv and EduSoMedia have envisioned this integration and we have received great support from educators across the globe. Be it a small village or a metro city, all are welcoming to this NEW Friend in Education. Podcasting which is a 21st-century phenomenon and is not going to turn old for the next half a decade at least has a lot to offer in terms of:
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Creativity
- Critical Thinking
The 21st Century Skills are the focus and even the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals for Education) shall find a leading supportive hand in the EduPodcasts. When teachers shall be on board; students will be participating and the administrators shall acknowledge the immense amount of learning potential of Podcasting, we shall be able to integrate it into any curriculum or -gogy. We need to be clear about one fact that students are already using the most advanced of tools, resources and platforms for their self-directed learning. They are Digital Natives and Teachers are prone to fall to the Digital Immigrants category. To avoid this fall, we have initiated the mission of Podcasting in Education. While we ready a short MOOC on the skills and pre-requisites of using Podcasts in Education, we are expanding our networks as well.
For what? The answer is one word and that is Learning. MOOCs are going to be an important part of this journey. While we see MOOCs as products being made of all traditional and modern tools, Podcasts do claim a large part of our imagination. We see that soon, we shall have All Audio-based MOOCs as well. Fortunately, the foundations have already been laid by the masters in the field of innovative learning. Prof. MM Pant, a leading name in the arena of education in the world and one of the most innovative minds in Indian Education has been running WhatsApp based Nano MOOCs. Audio Messages are the main part where slides come as images and he elaborates via Live Recording aka Voice Messages. The interactions happen in text and in Audio.
As we understand MOOCs providing education, not as a favour but delivers learning as a right to all. The restrictions that kill holistic learning in the classroom sometimes, are modified into assistance. We can see that Pedagogy (mere Broadcasting in the words of Prof MM Pant) and teaching as a Ring Master Act (Dr Ramesh Sharma) shall be a thing less appreciated now. MOOCs shall assist learners in upskilling and re-learning as well. We shall see that teachers will need to transform themselves into facilitators, not the owners of the classroom. Hence, this delegation of authority shall need a system which allows collaboration in an innovative manner. Podcasting shall be one among the leading harmless weapons to bring peace in education.
Podcasting started in 2009-2010 for me. It has been nearly a decade now that my students have used Podcasts just as they used power-point presentations or MS word to make their submissions. The collaboration we did in making Audiobooks, making recordings of GDs, conducting Mock Interviews and making interactive, as well as literary Podcasts, is brining fruits now. We have moved to a new dimension in the learning expedition. EduPodcasts have a story to tell now.
I have been part of a WhatsApp group where we have people from all parts of the world, especially Haryana in India and various parts of Pakistan. These members are the ones who have Haryanvi as their native language. The Group 'Haryanvi Baithak' has a norm. Only Voice Messages are allowed. The results of this PodConferencing have been really rewarding. The young generation has been able to speak, understand the language which relates to their cultural roots. Now there is a possibility that the learning of language can happen via these audio modes as well.
While we see Podcasting getting popular and at the same time we have the whole world moving to Virtual Teaching-Learning. The latter says that MOOCs shall surely be adopted as the medium of instruction by most of the institutions in the world. Now, as history tells us: The trends of technology and popular life have always moved to Education. Here lies our fortune. We know Podcasting is standing at the threshold of education and learning. We shall fail the natural process of learning and developing the eco-system of learning if we do not acknowledge Podcasting in Education.
Massive Open Online Courses are massive not because of their recipients being into millions. Rather, the rating as massive happens when it encompasses all into its delivery modes which are matching the ease of access with the users. as we know, Radio has been the most accessible medium since ages. Auditory senses are also considered the real skill-senses for us. Those who Listen to Well-they Speak Well and vice-versa as well.
MOOCs designed as Audio MOOCs shall help us in:
- Developing yet another Attractive Structure of Learning
- Leveraging Technology to make MOOCs more Life-like
- Collaboration is easy via Audio as Podcasting is quite easy to learn and do
- Cultural Documentation option can open new horizons for learning
- Improvement of Primary Communication Skills i.e. Listening and Speaking
- Discussions and Conferences are easy as less Internet and Equipment needed
- Strengthening the OER Movement through PodMOOCs
PodMOOCs shall not be a new thing in the world of AI, ChatBots, Augmented Reality, Big Data, VR, Gamification and each-day-new-tech world. But these MOOCs shall present a new colour in the already decorated rainbow. The thin gaps between the colours can be bridged by using Podcasts in Education. We wish to bring the MOOC on CANVAS LMS real soon in the second week of June. Introducing you to Podcasts is the first step to make you see PodMOOCs as a real thing to happen in education.
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