Caroline Leung Podcast on Collaboration

This was a most enjoyable podcast, that took a rather hackneyed topic and made it very interesting.

The sound quality on this podcast was generally good, although towards the end there was some interference which interrupted the concentration.

The structure of the podcast was very sound - nicely introduced and structured, with a good summary at the end. The signposting on this podcast was far superior to the two 'official' files that I reviewed, and encouraged me in my conclusions that a clear structure is very helpful for the listener.

Several points of view were considered, with arguments for and against a number of approaches to engendering student collaboration. Several academic sources were referenced, as well as making good connections to H808. This gave the content good authority.

The length of just under 5 minutes was excellent, and meant that attention was held very well.

I found my interest held by the subject matter, which surprised me a little, as Caroline's voice was rather restful, as opposed to being dynamic. However, although restful, she herself conveyed her own curiosity in the subject matter, which made the delivery compelling for the listener.

This has given me pause for thought on my previous conclusions about the best style of delivery for a podcast. I had begun to conclude that the speaker needs an engaging tone of voice and needs to convey dynamism. I think Caroline's example shows that this dynamism can come from the interest of the speaker not just their tone of voice.

The only suggestion I have for improvement would be to double check the quality of recording before publishing the podcast. Otherwise, I think it was very good.

I would advertise this podcast as a critique of the use of collaboration as part of student learning, including suggestions about how to structure and support collaborative activities to generate more and more meaningful participation from students.