According to the Urban Dictionary, Steez is simply style with ease. I am here today to offer you a way of learning with style and ease. In a world that fights to the death for your attention, you just might need to enhance your methods.
what we do… we update our formulas
Guru, “You Know My Steez”
So with that, I present to you EZ Learning: Audio Books with Beats. This might be a silly idea no one digs, but it works for me. I tried it out on the Open University’s wonderful Innovating Pedagogy Report for 2023 and enjoyed the process. You can hear the results here. Now without asking anyone else if this was a good idea or not, I thought I would continue along and do it bigger: An entire open textbook that I wanted to read. Thank you for the gift of another show space on VoicEd Radio, Stephen Hurley!
Show description:
Get ready to experience learning-while-lying-down like never before with “EZ Learning.” This podcast series combines the power of technology, knowledge, laziness, and creativity to deliver a learning experience that’s informative, engaging, and truly for the laid-back learner. Let the learning come to you in this synergy of educational content and captivating beats which transform your learning journey into a more sedentary one (when you need it). Learning has never been this easy. Each season will be a chapter by chapter robot-voiced recording of an openly licensed text book, article, or report paired with some also-openly-licensed instrumental beats.
SEASON 1: The Theory and Practice of Online Learning. (An open textbook Edited by Terry Anderson, published by Athabasca University Press)
Each episode is an audio recording of a chapter and includes background beats from the Free Music Archive: Brown Lounge Volume 2 DJ Mixby Letherette. This project has no quality assurance so if please let me know if you find yourself listening to dead air lol.
If you want to do this silliness yourself, here is what you can use to make it happen:
- An openly licensed textbook. You can find plenty of them at https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/
- Some openly licensed instrumental beats. Try the Free Music Archive
- An audio recording and editing tool like Audacity. and you will want to know how to get Audacity to record your computer’s sound rather than your microphone.
- A place to share them if you want to take it that far. You can add them to the EZ Learning show page if you like, just let me know and I will work with you on it.
You know my steez.
(featured image created by DALL-E)
