Last week I spent a day at the Organic Farming School at Kalø where we looked at how to use Powerpoint in a more pedagogic and interactive manner as well as the potential for podcasts. I am doing this under the auspices of a Social Fund project so this means that I am learning as well as the participants. I tried to ensure that each session was a learning by doing session but even so the evaluations tell me that the technology is still a big barrier and tends to block out the pedagogical considerations.
The Powerpoint section included for example an interactive (PPT) quiz about pedagogical considerations when preparing presentations as well as illustrating the possibility for using Powerpoint for something other than a presentation. It also demonstrated that using ready prepared templates can take some of the hard technical work out of the equation.
When it came to the podcast section I had prepared a series of activities through a series of five podcast posts on Podomatic and we ended by making a recording which could then be uploaded. But I now know that next time there is a podcast session, we will start with the recording (planning and execution thereof) and play with the tool later if there is time. One thing we all learned that day is that mobile phones do not all make recordings in mp3 format. Certainly there are sections of this student population who would benefit from the chance to produce something as audio rather than written work as there are many foreign students and many of the lessons are given in English, a second langauage for everybody. There is also a significant section of the classes who have reading difficulties so that is also a relevant target group. And finally I would guess that someone wanting to work in agriculture would appreciate the opportunity to get out of the classroom to carry out an assignment.
The best option would be for the teachers to have a lesson idea which I could then help them to carry out in the classroom by providing the technical help while they concentrate on the learning. I wonder if anyone will take up the challenge before the project period is over in March.
Keywords: organic farming, podcast, powerpoint, Social Fund
