Online Learning Module: Teaching with Audio
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but RadioLab is my all time favorite program on my local Public Radio station (KERA - which you can listen to/donate online). For me, it is the prime example of how to teach with audio, and I am now trying to replicate some of the strategies that they use in my own ways. Now, the trick is verbalizing my thoughts. 
The final product will be four to five online modules on our district Blackboard servers that attempt to teach teachers how to teach using audio - specifically, using the free software - Audacity. My big question, though, is how to do this effectively. We have all seen the step-by-step paper handouts, but they don’t bring to life how to actually do something in a real, live classroom setting. Many of us have participated in online courses - ineffective and boring - where we are forced to discuss and respond twice to non-relevant concepts. And, sitting down to watch a video that simply feeds you information doesn’t get those neurons triggering to the point where the connections truly last and have an impact on teaching for more than a day or two. So, what does RadioLab do differently?
Darren Wilson pointed out how listening to a conversation (to learn a topic) is much more engaging than being fed information. I immediatley brought up RadioLab as the two hosts of the show are always in some form of dialogue about any given topic. However, it isn’t really an inteviewer vs. interviewee type of exchange. No, it is a teacher vs. learner dialogue… one of the hosts is clearly ‘trying’ to understand the topic at hand while the other has done research or interiviewed an expert that answers the learners questioning. THEN, the tables turn - the roles switch when the topic is tweaked and the learner has the greater knowledge and begins to teach his co-host. Finally, interspersed in-between this continual boucing back-and-forth are stories (well told stories!) that support the learning exchange. The stories always have more than one perspective (narrator, additional characters, topic experts) and always have multiple levels of audio (sound effects, music placed at the right times to allow the brain to pause and reflect).
So, now the trick is to figure out how this approach can benefit my online modules - how do I work in:
- Teaching/Learning Dialogue
- Storytelling
- Multi-Layered Audio
And how do I do that in an environment that feels like an online course/online learning module. The thoughts are rolling…
