New Ways to Use Podcasts

Sue Altmeyer, Electronic Services Librarian, sue.altmeyer@law.csuohio.edu | November 11, 2009 – 19:55

A recent article by Suffolk University legal writing professor Kathleen Elliot, What’s on Your Playlist? The Power of Podcasts as a Pedagogical Tool starting at page 19, discusses some unique uses for podcasts in a law school setting. A podcast is simply an audio recording which is uploaded to the Internet.

1. The “think aloud” podcast, where the professor walks the students through her thought process while she reads a case. A particular case is selected as an example, maybe one which the students were recently required to read. The professor can pick out the important points, summarize the facts, hypothesize about issues, note when to look up an undefined term and show how she resolves a confusing point.

2. Sample good memorandum podcast. This could also be a sample good law school exam podcast. The professor discusses why the memorandum or exam was good. He can also mention common problems in memo or exam writing. The sample good memorandum or exam, as well as the podcast, can be made available on the professor’s course page, .

3. Using podcasts as a personal critique of a student memo or exam. These files would be emailed to the student, not posted on the web.

Some of our faculty already use podcasts for exam reviews and to record classes. The library has easy-to-use voice recorders, which faculty can check out. The library staff will upload the recording to your course page.

Image: ‘hypnoradio‘