Difficulties in learning through Podcasts

I have been listening to a lot of podcasts these days. There are podcasts that are mere entertainers and a few others, educative. However I found the following factors playing a critical role in making Podcast an effective learning medium.

1. Voice: Not all experts have a great voice to listen to and not all voiceover artists can pronounce technical words the right way or sound natually knowledgeable!

2. Time: Any educational podcast that runs for more than 8 minutes (average) starts to sound boring (my observation, and I don't want to debate on this).

3. Continuity: The experts who do a good job really don't find time to complete their series. Most of the podcast series hang right in the middle of some part of an episode for want of time!

4. Takers: I'm still not too sure if the learners would find the podcast interesting unless I get some feedback from them. So choosing the right set of audience for the podcasts is a very important factor.

Race to use podcast for training

I read a report on Bersin & Associates on how organizantions have started using Podcasts for training. Here is a gist of what I read in that article.
1. Karen O’Leonard, a principal analyst with Bersin & Associates, says that companies in the US are using podcasts to train their sales forces.
2. Podcasts are used to provide regular updates and company news to workforces and customers.
3. Podcasts are also used as supplements to online courses.
4. Employees in companies that have adopted Podcasting have expressed positive feedback about the intiative.
5. Leonard says that the podcasts should be kept within 15 to 20 minutes and also provide an online help for people to download and listen to the content.

Visit the following link to read the complete report. - courtesey, Bersin & Associates news letter.
http://www.elabs2.com/functions/message_view.html?mid=29281&mlid=73&siteid=15988&uid=568149cdf2

Podcasts to improve communication skills

I consider podcasts to be a really effective medium for learning when it comes to improving communication skills. I listened to ESLpod episodes and prescribed it to a few others who had genuine difficulty in expressing their thoughts. I received fabulous feedback from them.

The hunger to improve communication skills is incredibly high, especially in the rural Indian youth. I get to see so many of them lately. Most of them suffer from constipation of words. But all of them beam with enthusiasm when asked to deliver a talk before a crowd.

I have been experimenting on creating some simple podcasts on communication skills in the last few weeks. The series has been a hit and people have been posting messages asking for more on the podcast site. I think podcast is the right medium to deliver content that requires learners to listen.

I'm back

I just could not pardon myself for not being regular in posting my thoughts on this blog. I have been far from being orderly these days. However, this is my attempt to bring that enthusiasm back in me. I have added one more parameter to my PQI defect chart (will talk about that sometime). I shall blog at least once in two days. That's my promise.
Catch ya