Week 2, Applications and Multimedia Resources

For this week’s blog entry, I must select two applications and multimedia resources that have the potential to enhance adult education.  The first application I selected is Ning (www.ning.com). I was first introduced to this multimedia resource through my son’s French III class last year.  The site mimics other social networking sites but is based on networking for a purpose and is moderated by a teacher.  In adult education, Ning can have similar effects and since it can be moderated and closed to the public is a much safer communication tool than standard social networking sites (Richardson, 2010).  The second application that I discovered that can enhance adult education is podcasting.  There are countless applications and software available to begin podcasting but Podbean is one of the easiest to use and the price is right (http://www.podbean.com/start-podcast?sourceid=bing_01).  Podcasting allows instructors or learners to record ideas or lessons that can be played and referenced at the users’ convenience.  My wife actually utilizes podcasts from a few of her internet instructors while in college; she can download them from home and listen to them wherever she likes making the concept very appealing for adult education since most learners are pressed for time.

Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.