Why I Think Audio Is The Future Of Higher Education
In the first lecture I delivered last year to a group of mostly second-year students from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson U), I asked the students to raise their hands if they had a smart phone.
Everyone who could be bothered raised their hand.
Then, I went in with my follow up: “Ok, how about a podcast app on that phone…how many of you have one of those?” I asked, holding my iPhone up.
Only a small handful of them raised their hands. Many reached for their phones and did a quick search.
About half the class stared at me blankly, so I clarified: “You know, like Spotify, or Apple Podcasts, or GooglePlay.”
This time some more people nodded along…right, Spotify does that too.
And then I asked them to raise their hands if they had listened to a podcast that day. Out of a class of around 80 students, less than eight raised their hands.
How about in the last week? A few more hands…what about the last month …one or two more hands.
How about ever? I asked, hoping to lower the bar so that more of these students would feel included. A few hands went up, some tossing from side to side, as in, maaaaybe.
