Ask the Techies
a podcast created by the computer learning lab, gives students the technology help they need without ever having to log off the message board.
The Academic Advancement Center's computer learning lab, located on the first floor of Alden Library, produces a weekly podcast giving up-to-date information on technology.
They're basically videos of software hardware how-to's
information
that sort of thing
with the hope of empowering people through technology
said D. Lee Beard, computer learning lab manager.
The idea of a podcast started with offering seminars, but when people couldn't attend them, the lab started receiving requests that the seminars be recorded. These videos eventually turned into Ask the Techies
an internet TV-show and a way for people to see how technology works first-hand, he said.
To truly understand how a computer works
sometimes you have to see it; words alone don't always convey the meaning
Beard said.
Ask the Techies is available online at the computer learning labs Web site, and airs nightly on CATVision. In one week, the podcast received more than 9,000 downloads and a segment was aired on G4techTV in June. People from 40 different countries view the podcast, but the biggest audience comes from Ohio.
Ask the Techies was featured in the Chronicle of Higher Education. It was also used as an example of podcasting on the Ohio Learning Network. E-mails from viewers have called the podcast entertaining and informative
and other universities have asked permission to link to the podcast.
We try to mix humor with geek knowledge to make it a little more interesting; we wanted to avoid this being a training video
