I’m trying something new this spring that I hope will work out well.
In my World Lit course, I’ve created a podcast for several of the challenging texts students are required to read. The idea is that students will have the podcast ready as they read the text. I’m organizing the podcast in such a way so that if it’s loaded on an iPod, students will see the line numbers for the work. If they have questions when they read Hesiod’s Theogyny, for example, or the Babylonian creation myth Enuma Elish, they will have a podcast “at the ready” they can listen to. I’m hoping this creates an additional layer of context and meaning for them.
To combat the “I’m distracted by the podcast as I read” possibility, I’m asking that they scroll on their iPod to see the line numbers where I have commentary and that they mark these lines in their text PRIOR to reading. This way, they can read as they usually do, only that they can pause when they get to certain lines to hear my commentary.
I think of it as one of those DVD bonus tracks--the director commentary. I just hope students find it useful.
Terry
