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I guess I should speak up and defend myself, but I just can't.

I was sloppy in my phrasing and should have used the word  
"interactive" throughout my post. I was responding to Eric who was  
responding to an earlier poster who said

  "But I think the question was how do we incorporate an essentially  
lecture
oriented, but hip medium into science center world.  which is a great
question, but nothing is hitting me... how do we make pod casts
interactive?"

And I meant to say that Podcasts need not be interactive to be  
productive delivery mediums for Science Centers, and besides, there  
is nothing that says Podcasts can't be interactive and if you want my  
opinion, Science Centers are just the ones to do it.

Everyone who has taken me to task for my sloppiness is right.

Matt

On Mar 23, 2006, at 2:55 PM, David Smith wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology  
> Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related  
> institutions.
> ********************************************************************** 
> *******
>
> Mostly I agree with Matt, but I do have one issue with what he said.
>
> Matt said:
>
>>
>> 1. I agree that not everything we do need be interactive for the
>> reasons Eric mentions. Many science centers know this. Many science
>> centers and museums sponsor lectures, TV shows and books. Not
>> everyone wants inquiry based learning all the time. Does anyone?
>
> I disagree with the implied equivalence of inquiry and interactive in
> this statement.  A non-interactive event such as a lecture (or  
> podcast)
> can, in the right circumstances, lead to inquiry learning (by which I
> mean learning that is motivated by the need to answer a question and
> that is based on the collection and analysis of data - see the  
> essential
> features of inquiry discussed in the National Science Education
> Standards, etc.)  The problem is that a lecture can only lead to  
> inquiry
> learning if I bring to it the question it was designed to answer, if I
> am at the level of pre-existing understanding for which the lecture  
> was
> designed, and if it presents data for my analysis (as opposed to
> preformed conclusions presented as factoids).  The unlikelihood of all
> the learners in a lecture all happening to be at the same place in  
> their
> learning and working on the same question is what makes lecture
> generally a bad technique to use in group settings, such as  
> classrooms.
> In this vision of lectures, they are actually ideal for the single  
> user
> podcast through earbuds.  The person who downloads a content podcast
> has, by the act of downloading, already thought at some level about  
> what
> they know about a subject and what they want to know (what their
> questions are), both essential prerequisites to real learning.  I  
> think
> Matt is exactly right to equate podcasts with books - they fill the  
> same
> learning needs.  A book is thoroughly didactic and reading a book to a
> large class is hardly an effective technique, but no one would  
> question
> the educational value of the book itself.  It's all in how it is used.
>
> The bottom line, when judging educational tools, is their efficacy in
> prompting learners to challenge their pre-existing understandings and
> construct new ones.  That depends not just on the tool, but also on  
> the
> setting, including the learner herself.
>
> David L. Smith, Ph.D.
> Director of Professional Development
> Da Vinci Discovery Center, Allentown, PA
> http://www.davinci-center.org
> "Who will pick up where Leonardo left off?"
>
> ********************************************************************** 
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