1. Introduction to Rocks and Minerals for Env Sci and Geography students
Dr Clive Roberts
School of Applied Sciences
University of Wolverhampton

2. WOLF Wolverhampton On-Line Learning Framework
Similar to Blackboard
Not all modules have been “Wolfed”
Some reluctance amongst staff
BUT – ideal for podcasting

8. The students Typically local to the West Midlands
Significant number have been relatively low achievers at school
So low esteem and low confidence
Also some mature students, who have been out of the system for a while
Need lots of support and reinforcement
Tend to “forget” baseline knowledge
Time is at a premium – conflicts of work

9. The Idea
Geological skills are need by a wide variety of students on different Awards
Not too much time devoted to geology
“Holism” rules OK
High percentage of fieldwork
Basic identification of rocks and minerals
Required on several modules
Identification in the field needs practice
1 Lab practical at the moment
Podcast could be used to re-visit concepts

10. The Podcast Could easily sit in WOLF
Would be a combination of video clips, photos, microscope images and flowcharts
Supplemented by audio
2 separate podcasts
Mineral identification
Classification of rock types

11. The Problem No experience of podcasting!
Several staff in other Faculties have used podcasts
But some are Mac-based (Garage?)
Must be Windows-based
Low budget
Could form the basis of a pedagogic paper
Good news for the Dean!