In a previous post on this blog, I described a seven-step process I have developed to create this podcasts using Skype.  I also use Skype to create guest lecture podcasts that students can listen to in three to four minutes directly from our course-management software (we use Moodle) or they can download the podcasts.

Rather than develop a script, as I do for producing microlectures, guest lectures are based on an interview guide.  The interview guide typically contains five or six questions that relate to the learning objectives of the online course I am teaching, the answers to which I believe my students will find interesting.  I ask the person I plan to interview to select two or three questions that they can answer in about one minute each and outline their responses to those questions.  After making sure they have Skype, we agree to my recording the interview, and the specific questions they will be asked.  I then make an appointment to call them and conduct the brief interview.

There is a great plug-in for Skype called Pamela that I use to record my Skype call.  When my guest answers my Skype call, the Pamela application informs my guest that I would like to record our conversation and asks their permission to begin recording.  I then introduce the person I’m interviewing by reviewing that portion of their background that is relevant to the questions I will ask them.  Next, we cover the two or three questions and answers followed by my thanking them for agreeing to be a guest lecturer.  The entire interview process should only take four or five minutes.

There are several free or inexpensive applications you can use to edit your interview audio file and create your guest lecture podcast. I like to keep my podcasts simple, but you can add extra tracks for background music and other features.  The guest lectures can really be any length, but keeping them around three or four minutes makes it easier to find persons to interview and more likely your students will take the time to listen to them.

Let’s face it; students sometimes are distracted during lectures by random thoughts when lectures become a bit boring.  Other times you’re not really sure what the professor just said or he did not keep an important slide or graphic visible long enough to take a complete note.  You can not pause, rewind, and rewind portions of a lecture – but you can if you are watching a podcast of the lecture.  By reviewing key portions of a lecture several times, you can take better notes and more thoroughly understand the concepts discussed.

Perhaps the most effective solution is a combination of live lecture and a podcast version that is made available to students later.  The vast majority of students participating in this research indicated they preferred attending lectures, but wanted the podcasts to refresh their memory and adjust their notes taken during the lecture.

I feel I miss too much of the presentation if I try to take notes while the presentation is being made.  So if I knew a podcast was going to be made available, I would concentrate on enjoying the lecture and take notes from the podcast afterwards.