Session 5: Listen to Podcast Interviews

Interview Podcast 1 - Podcast for Teachers
WEBSITE LOCATION: Click Here!

FORDHAM UNIVERSITY REGIONAL ED-TECH CENTER

PODCAST DESCRIPTION: Dr. Kathy King and Mark Geroul continue their ongoing weekly educational debate. This week’s podcast discusses whether the Video Revolution has truly gone mainstream, asking the question, “Why aren't there more examples in education?” Podcast for Teachers Episode 41 (June 5, 2006), debuts its first virtual interview titled, “From Buadpest to the Bronx and Beyond”.

PODCAST DIRECT DOWNLOAD LINK: Click Here!

This interview with John Steinmetz from Nation Master and Statemaster.com reviews these two websites that list statistical data on all fifty states and introduces the listener to free educational resources found on the two sites. The discussion continues on how these websites can be used across grades and content areas within curricula. Free lesson plans are offered to the listener. These lesson plans deal with current events and statistics of items in the news today and can be used with a mapping application called GeoLab and a site resource titled Stats in the News. Other instructional materials include an online community posting of student perspectives about statistics. There are also searchable and illustrated ways for both the student and teacher to search for national flags, demographics, economics, and populations of the world.

State Master Website
Nation Master Website

PODCAST REVIEW: The Interview At the beginning of the podcast, both hosts introduced themselves and outlined what the podcast would include. Then again, at the interview open, both hosts introduced themselves, the interview subject and the reason for the interview.

The interview was conducted via the internet (voice over IP) so there was no face to face presence for the host and hostess to visualize physical cues from the interview subject. In this type of location scenario the hosts’ attempts to establish a natural connection to the audience through the subject’s personal interests came halfway through the interview and didn’t work.

The interviewers did encourage the subject to share his story and experience with the topic as well as anticipating the listeners’ questions. At the initial part of the interview, simple questions were asked. Most questions started with “how”, “where”, “why”, and “what kind of” in order to acquire more than a yes or no answer. Most questions were short and clear. The hosts asked questions that were open-ended and didn't provide choices for the respondent. This forced a natural response from the interview subject to explain something and not answer yes or no.

It seemed that a small amount of research was conducted by the interview team on the subject matter. The hosts effectively listened to the subject but inconsistently used follow-up questions. The interviewers did relate personal experience as educators byasking how the software could help them in their own teaching. The interview was focused and at times provided a detailed connection for the listener. For example: the interviewers reviewed features of the websites and asked about the development of the resource and how educators can utilize the website in their instruction. The follow up question was “how can students use the site?” This opened another area for discussion on how student portion of the site offers the student direction in seeking and finding statistical information.

During the interview there was annoying audible feedback from the hosts (ahs, hums and o.k.). The podcast concluded with a quick review of the interview content and a thank you to the interview subject for being interviewed on the podcast. The hosts promoted the next podcast, identified themselves, and said goodbye. The podcast music played for 5 seconds and concluded.

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Interview Podcast 2 - J. Merrow Education Podcast
WEBSITE LOCATION: Click Here!

PODCAST DESCRIPTION: John Merrow, an education reporter for over 30 years and correspondent for The News Hour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, profiles significant issues in k-12 and higher education. This podcast episode titled “Expecting Less...and Getting It”, Podcast #33 (Time 35:57) is a conversation with a college professor who seems to accept student mediocrity as inevitable. Political science professor Paulette Kurzer, at the University of Arizona discusses how she deals with students who don't pay attention or do the work. She states that only 10-15% of an average 225 students do the work.

PODCAST DIRECT DOWNLOAD LINK: Click Here!

PODCAST REVIEW: The Interview A produced program opener is used that contains intro music - 5 seconds strong then fades under the announcer’s voice for 2 seconds, then fades out. After the interviewer introduces himself he reviews the subject matter of the interview and a short excerpt from the interview is heard. Music begins which cues the listener that the interview is about to begin.

Once the interview begins, it is noticeable that the interview takes place out of the studio because of the differences in production quality between the produced introduction and the locale where the interview was recorded.

The interviewer carefully controls the dialogue with a particular pace and direction. The interviewer had specific groups of questions. This seems to allow for a smoother transition between subjects or related issues. This also allows the interview subject to identify that a transition was about to occur and for the subject to react accordingly. This is followed with probing follow-up questions which provided additional information. For example: the interviewer continues to provoke responses by delivering pointed accusations by introducing the word maybe:

• Maybe some of this is your fault.
• Maybe you’re not stimulating them enough.
• Maybe you’re not challenging them.
• Maybe you’re not making it real enough.
• Do you ever question yourself?

The interview subject responds in a non-threatening manner by reviewing her approach aloud about reconsidering students’ perspective on the amount of time to complete the assignment.

When the discussion leads to students being passive about their course work grades the interviewer provides excellent follow-up questions that relate to the content of the interviewers answer. Also, the interviewer provokes a response from the interview subject by accusing the professor of being boring when teaching students.

Research prior to the formal interview is obvious as the interview countered some of the subject’s statements. The interviewer uses his eye-witness accounts of what he saw and experienced to pin the subject down and counter the subjects answer. This negative approach is effective and produced energetic responses from the professor. For example: the interviewer conducted pre-interview research by sitting in and listening to several University professors’ lectures. The interviewer used this research to bridge back to the way the professor teaches, stating that he didn’t hear any of the professors whom he sat and listened lectures from, ask students if what was taught was clear, or if the students had any questions? In this scenario the interview subject gave an ample amount of time to respond. A short moment of silence is allowed, giving the subject time to think and answer the pointed question and accusation. The subject answers, at which time the interviewer calmed some of the interviewing tension by restating what the professor stated.

The interview concludes with a 10 second music cue. Then a pre-produced program closer is heard. The interviewer voices over with identifying the name and title of who was interviewed. The interviewer then bridges the interview with a promo of his book titled, “Declining by Degrees; Higher Education at Risk". The listener is then informed of a website to visit in order to purchase the book. He then spells out the website address. The producer of the podcast is announced by name. The interviewer announces “We’ll be back next week with another podcast. I’m John Merrow. Thanks for listening”. There’s 10 Seconds of music and audio ends.

This podcast reveals that it has a good script, threaded with effective presentation. The interviewer displays an understanding of his podcast audience and uses his voice in fluctuation to command productive interview techniques.

LINKS:
Recent Reports and Publications
PBS Website: Declining by Degrees: Higher Education at Risk

BOOK: Declining by Degrees; Higher Education at Risk

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