Jenny is a lecturer in the Humanities department at South East Technological University where she teaches on the BA Arts programme. In addition, she teaches modules on narrative and communications across two other Schools in the University. She has presented and published papers on the intersection of Deleuzian theory and film studies (which was the subject of her PhD). She is currently interested in digital storytelling as pedagogical practice.
Rob is a computing lecturer in SETU and is the program leader for the BSc (Hons) in Computer Science. As well as professional computing experience, he has lectured at both undergraduate and postgraduate level on topics such as programming, digital media and computer science.
Becca
Jenny and Rob O’Connor shared with us their epiphanies on using podcasts in teaching which led to a few epiphanies of my own.
The first is thinking about podcasts as a way to disseminate research. Tools like altmetrics are helping us broaden our understanding of how peer-reviewed articles teach their audience by considering news outlets, readers, and reposts through social media, so that we don’t only rely on the number of citations made to indicate impact. We also need to consider the limits of disseminating peer-reviewed literature. Having conversations about what we’re discovering is impactful, so maybe podcasts can be an important form of sharing ideas. It brings a different kind of pleasure to listen to discussions and share in the laughter, joy, and other emotions that come through these social interactions as we share our work. Rob mentioned that some academic podcasts are even being peer reviewed.
This led me to think about how teaching track faculty at UW engage in scholarship, and they have the freedom to use a much broader array of dissemination techniques than tenure track colleagues, including blogs and podcasts. That is a step in the right direction. However, with so much misinformation being distributed through social media and disreputable outlets claiming to be news sources, I worry considerably about the lack of peer review. I value the idea that everyone can create knowledge–and I structure my classes so that students can make discoveries–but I also see the dangers of folks in power who spread misinformation and consequently are gaining more power. I write this the day after Robert F Kennedy Jr. is confirmed in the US as the next Secretary of Health and Human Services–someone who’s pushed false narratives about vaccines, queerness, Blackness, etc. (see here for a commentary by Keesha Middlemass in Brookings about some of the lies that Kennedy propagates).
These questions bring up another idea that the O’Connors mentioned: that of legitimate knowledge. From my quick review, this is a phrase used to question the presumption of elite experts who don’t listen to people’s real experiences–for example, when academics center white male experiences over those of a Black immigrant woman (Goitom 2019). Legitimate knowledge centers decolonial ways of knowing.
How do podcasts, as a medium, open up opportunities for sharing legitimate knowledge? How do podcasts become a way to champion social justice? Jenny and Rob explore these questions in their podcasts The Nerve, The Machine, 9Plus, and TEaCH CoLab.
Thanks for visiting, Jenny and Rob O’Connor!
Sarita
Listening to Jenny and Rob enthusiastically share their podcasting epiphanies helped me process some of my own thoughts around podcasts. While podcasts are such a great tool for disseminating learning and offer more than the written word, the sound of another human – talking, laughing, sharing – makes podcasts more relatable. Jenny and Rob also discussed silos in education and how the use of the 9PLUS podcast was a way for them to share ongoing research at SETU.
The discussion that followed their epiphanies was illuminating. We discussed that while creating podcasts requires time, effort and resources and although they are listened to more widely than within the confines of academia, they are not valued as much as published articles given that podcasts are not peer-reviewed for the most part.
If the goal of academia is impact and public good, how can creating podcasts count in scholarly hours? How can researchers be supported to share their work in the form of podcasts and have this be considered as scholarly work?
Another conundrum we discussed was the definition of a podcast, as some podcasts are videos. Rob shared that audio content may perhaps be a defining feature of podcasting.
Jenny and Rob also discussed using podcasts for building social and critical consciousness. Thus podcasts become the medium that helps them promote critical consciousness in their work with their students.
Thank you, Jenny and Rob, for sharing your podcasting journey and all the amazing work you are doing with students and colleagues at your institution!
A few resources shared by Jenny and Rob:
Todd
How wonderful to see these two again. The last time I saw them was in Ireland 🙂
When there, we got a tour of Rob’s studio where he has some nice soundproofing and equipment for radio/podcasting. A good microphone can make a difference in audio recordings.
Aside from the professionalism they both have as presenters, they are very literate in both teaching strategies and the world of podcasting. That is evidenced by the various podcasts they have been involved with. I am intrigued by the move to video for them and how they see that as an extension of the words. To that end, and the references to accessibility with the sign language, I am interested in where all this will end up. Expressing ideas in a variety of formats has long been a valuable UDL vision. Our barriers are not just technical or monetary. Simply knowing that all this can happen, should happen, is where we need to start. What does it look like in an online class? Have you ever seen it done well? Honestly, I would be hard pressed to say I have. But it is where we should be headed and finding those examples of what it looks like is really important. Jenny and Rob shared a wonderful start to that journey.
I know I was reminded, in one of the student podcasts, just how valuable the human voice can be and how expressive it is. The sound of someone laughing is so amazing. Capturing it is different from a smile in a photograph. Not better, just different.
