BostonBlog

What are the implications for association learning when students now in college are getting class lectures via podcast? In a July 11th story in the Boston Globe, it’s reported that Boston-area colleges are “pushing” their professors to create podcasts of their class lectures. One University of Massachusetts campus is going so far as to outfit ten classrooms, for a pilot project beginning this fall, to automatically record lectures and upload them to podcasts! There’s controversy, of course, as to whether this is a good idea; some fear students will stop coming to class while others see value in being able to review confusing lecture content.

Down the road, when these college students (and no doubt others from across the country) are members of your association, does this mean you’ll need to podcast all your educational programming? It could. Their expectations for learning opportunities will be quite different from what we’ve been used to. Sure, we’ve sold session recordings for years, however the idea of podcasting association learning on a regular basis could open up a whole new realm of possibilities. It could be pretty cool. Or could it be a boondoggle waiting to happen?

Many of the questions that come to mind are identical to those raised when computer-based and online learning options first entered the association world - options that are now commonplace. Would association learning-focused podcasts merely repeat the full content of live sessions the way audio recordings now do? Or could they supplement the learning, providing more content? Would members stop coming to face-to-face events or signing up for live virtual learning if they could download a podcast? Or could associations use podcasts as just another learning distribution system to provide members the content they need on their own terms?

You may be thinking about creating podcasts in your association…you may even be doing them already. But are you using them for member learning? The power in adult learning, of course, is the opportunity to engage with peers around content you're learning together. Will listening to a podcast supplant that engagement? I doubt it. That doesn't preclude, however, considering podcasting a part of our learning arsenals. We just need to find ways to use it that support, rather than supplant, peer-to-peer learning.