Abstract:

This paper reports on the eLearning institutional podcast project of the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The project represents a pioneering attempt by UWC being amongst the first of its kind to be rolled-out to large classrooms in South Africa. A qualitative approach was predominantly used. The case study methodology was uniquely applied in this paper because it was used in collaboration with documentary analysis, observations and surveys to highlight the achievements and challenges encountered in the implementation of the project. This large scale podcast project targeted both lecturers and students and aimed to enable learners to create podcasts; edit the recording via open source software - Audacity; export the podcast as an MP3 file; and upload it into the online environment. These eTools skills training processes are directly linked to the students’ fieldwork within their respective disciplines. The authors highlight the benefits of the project in terms of practices in various disciplines; communication skills and the use of eTools. Furthermore, specific challenges related to implementation processes with regards to roll-out to the large student populations are uncovered and lessons of experience explored.

Keywords:

podcast, eTools, eLearning, training, teaching-and-learning.