PUHI — Students registering for classes at the Kaua‘i Community College now have a new option toward getting to know the instructors of the class.
“Signing up for classes has always been like a blind date,” said Patrick Traller, a Kaua‘i Community College student, and the producer of Class Act podcast series. “You never know what is going to show up on the other end of the table. This is why we wanted to create an opportunity for students to get to know a little bit about professors before taking their class. In a way, it’s like adding a profile picture and biography to an otherwise blank profile.”
Class Act, created, produced, hosted, and edited by student workers in the Kaua‘i Community College marketing department is a podcast series where professors are interviewed about their classes, their teaching styles, their personality, and their passions and interests.
Working under the guidance of Marketing Director Gary Elwood, the student-based series allow students to know more about the classes led by the featured educator as they set out to select classes for the upcoming fall semester that starts on Aug. 24. The final day to add courses for the semester ends Sept. 1.
“This is an incredible way for potential and current students to get to know instructors on a deeper level,” said Ticannaf “Teak” Ruby Ano, the podcast’s designer and host. “You get to hear directly how they teach, what classes are really like, what they love about teaching, and how their path in life got to where they are. It is so interesting and wonderful to hear the different stories from people that make Kaua‘i Community College truly the best community college on the planet.”
Students heading for the fall semester can choose from 14 faculty from programs that include English, fine arts, Hawaiian Studies, hospitality, marine sciences, physical science, theater and music, health studies, history, languages, and early childhood education.
“It was incredible to get to know these instructors outside of the formal classroom,” said Katie Jones, the director and editor for the video promotions. “I loved hearing about their passions and reasons for teaching on Kaua‘i. They were all so much fun, and interesting. With the high production level we created, there is the added strong professional feel to the videos.”
The podccasts are hosted on YouTube and Anchor, and are accessible on Spotify, Pandora, iHeart, and iTunes apps as well as on the Kaua‘i Community College website at www.kauai.hawaii.edu.
The project has been promoted using videos produced and shot by the student team, and shared on the college’s Instagram and Facebook accounts as well as on the college’s webpage.
