Weblogs and Podcasts
 

REFLECTIVE STATEMENT
Describe: The weblogs and podcasts are technologies that I was instrumental in initiating into the recruitment, retention, and instructional sectors at Sherman College. Departments authoring weblogs include Admissions, Alumni, Learning Resources, and the Instructional Designer. Several individual instructors are also utilizing weblogs in their courses. Student bloggers have also been recruited to support the admission department recruitment efforts. Podcasts are also being utilized by the Admission department, Instructional Designer and several instructors. The weblogs and podcasts are linked from Sherman College’s main web presence as well as on specific internal course web pages. The weblogs are maintained using outsourced, third-party software, such as typepad and blogger. Podcasts are created in-house and made available in various formats: MP4 download, throughiTunes, and by using a third-party auto play option through audioblog/hipcast.

Analyze: As instructional designer, it is my responsibility to assess current trends, methodologies, and approaches in instructional technology. Weblogs and podcasts are twenty-first century technologies that are widely accepted as appropriate instructional tools. Infusing them into the didactic arena is representative of my portfolio framework which seeks to implement appropriate technology in to a learning environment. As webmaster, it is my responsibility to support and represent the various web site departments. Using weblogs and podcasts as recruitment and alumni engagement tools is another example of technological enhancement that supports my framework. Implementing these tools into the web site is using social software to engage and promote a sense of community among the various constituencies of Sherman College.

Appraise: The weblog and podcast technologies have been most noticeably effective and measurable through the Admission department use. Admission events and recruitment efforts have benefited greatly from these technologies, according to statistics and surveys. The impact of this technology in other departments have informal statistics that lend themselves toward continuing the use of these methods while working on appropriate outcomes assessment tools. Instructors report that blogs allow them to reference and refer to very current resources, i.e. last week’s journal articles. The greatest strength of these technologies is their ability to provide more personal and interactive communication for recruitment, retention, and instruction. The weblogs and podcasts also reflect the college’s technological prowess. A weakness of the weblogs is that there is a substantial time commitment to authoring and updating the blogs. A weakness of the podcasts is the buy-in factor. Many faculty and staff don’t understand the appeal and impact of this technology; thus, fewer podcasts are being produced than might be optimal with full buy-in.

Transform: Implementing this technology allowed me to lead individuals and departments into the ownership, management and promotion of their own online content. As the technology becomes more accepted by faculty, I hope to encourage more of them to embrace this technology. Working with this technology allowed me to expand my weblog and podcast software and hardware skill set. Keeping abreast of the best practices in this area is an ongoing endeavor; one in which I look forward to experimenting with emerging media. Better podcast integration with RSS, Apple’s iTunes and iTunes-U is a planned for the future.