My object based learning micro teaching session was a late add on as I had missed the previous sessions, I had taken part but not had the opportunity to present.
Object based learning makes up for roughly 30% of my teaching as I can only use the objects, such as cameras & editing software to a certain degree without stepping on the toes of the media delivery technicians. I work around this by encouraging my students to use the tools readily available to them, such as their mobile phones.
I created and delivered a 20 min session which included:
- Observational skills
- Visual literacy (ability to ‘read’ objects, to find meaning from them)
- Design awareness and knowledge
- Team working
- Critical analytical skills
- Graphic design skills
- Communication
- Aesthetic judgement
- Understanding of key concepts (e.g. branding, style, tone of voice)
- Research skills and confidence
- Inspiration
I started the session with a very basic explanation of what a podcast is, and how it can be used as an effective method of communication.
I then followed with: Why use a podcast?
At this point I explained that over 17.5 million people listen to podcasts last year in the UK with the 2 most popular being Joe Rogan and Steven Barlett
A study into Podcasting as an educational tool entitled: Pedagogy, Podcasts, and Politics: What Role Does Podcasting Have in Planning Education? published in 2022 by Thomas Moore provided many positive conclusions such as enhancing student engagement, stating that podcasts are argued to present “exciting prospects for authentic learning and assessment” situated in wider contexts relevant to the field of study. As well as overcoming issues around inclusivity. The paper also went on to cite that providing institutional support could overcome issues of unfamiliarity, access, and resource constraint that may affect student engagement. After adding academic reasoning I moved on to planning the podcast.
The students are then asked what kind of podcasts they listen to, and why? They are then prompted to start thinking about the kind of podcasts they would like to create.
The lecture then lead on to the planning of podcasts, including subjects, examples and episode planning. This would culminate into choosing one broad topic.
The subject of inclusivity was also approached as according the Black Podcast Listener Report 2.0 Released from Edison Research, SXM Media, and Mindshare USA, 43% of the U.S. Black Population are Monthly Podcast Listeners. Representation matters to Black podcast listeners: 75% of Black monthly podcast listeners frequently or occasionally follow or seek out content that focuses on Black stories and perspectives on podcasts.
Students were asked what they wanted to podcast about and given examples.
We then discussed the planning of the episodes, formatting and choosing a name. I shared one of the most crucial takeaways I have learned in my research
‘Your listener will take 5-10 seconds to decide if they are going to listen further so make sure they know who you are, what your show is about and what authority the guests on your show have to speak about the subject!
Using a basic intro script we tackled the above and then gave the students a task:
You are now going to record a 2 min podcast!
1.Pick a subject (1 min)
2.Create questions for your guest (2 min)
3.Record the podcast using the sample script (4 min)
4.Listen Back (2 min)
You have 10 mins in total!
I had brought professional podcasting equipment but also told students their phones were equally as useful for the exercise and articulated what they would need to record the audio into their phones to create podcasts.
Due to the varied and animated debates and interjections within our time period we didn’t get the opportunity to record the podcast but managed to cover the elements including publication of the finished podcast.
Feedback :
The positive feedback included really enjoying the ideas, the In-depth narrative and episode planning portion, which will help spur their own creative practice.
The feedforward raised some very interesting questions, such as, what was I looking for in terms of assessment? And what makes a good/bad podcast? This was included in the show format section (Re-added for the blog but removed due to time constraints from the session). I was also asked “Does my delivery include skills we have not taught, such as public speaking or presenting skills leading to a curriculum misalignment?”. In fact, this is something we will teach. Personal presentation skills are something we are integrating into our Fashion Journalism and Content Creation course, with every student required to present a portion of their video work on screen themselves.
I was also asked what do I leave in or take out? And do I have room for it? Again , this is integrated into the course and only removed due to the time constraint of the presentation.
Overall I thought the presentation went well and garnered a very broad and varied discussion on the subject. My own realisation that teaching a very practical course will need a lot more explanation and manipulation of my own teaching style and practice to shoehorn in academia.