Podcasts: Another D&M
The recent emergence of user-friendly tools such as Audacity software in the market has made student-produced podcasting an accessible learning tool with enhanced opportunities for distance and self-directed learning, combining flexible provision and efficient, cost-effective teaching of oral presentation skills. Although based on a limited number of responses, questionnaire results from two student cohorts studying drainage-basin geomorphology suggest that student-produced podcasts appear to have achieved the project objectives to enhance engagement, competence in e-technologies, creativity, science communication skills and a broader understanding of the context of geomorphology studies. The formulation and delivery of the podcast created opportunities for student creativity in ways different to more traditional forms of assessment and provided a more intimate and engaging experience for the examiner. The need to speak to a broader audience in concise, non-technical language transformed a site-based study of geomorphic processes into an exercise in science communication and provided an opportunity to improve students’ understanding of the scientific and social context of geomorphology studies. Tangible benefits of student-produced podcasting to higher-level learning in geography are that it engages students familiar with blogging, podcasts and iPod technology, and may involve an element of group work that reduces self-consciousness and results in a more relaxed delivery. The exercise developed here focused students’ minds on ways to communicate scientific results effectively and engagingly and contributed to a range of assessment types which is more likely to overlap with different students’ learning styles and Q5 abilities. It also focused on Goudie’s (2002) call for geomorphologists to educate students in public outreach by demonstrating the direct application of geomorphology to understanding and dealing with global and regional issues, engaging students actively in the transfer of information in society and helping them to respond to modern challenges