Week 14: Podcasting, Webcasting, and Coursecasting

According to Lane (2006), many universities all over the world have been paying attention to using technologies such as podcasts to meet students’ needs. This article is about how course podcasts help students learn better. Some of key findings are as follows:

• Students are inclined to listen to podcasts on their computers rather than using MP3 players.
• Students are using podcasts along with other online resources, such as lecture notes or PowerPoint slides.
• Podcasts assist students to catch up when they miss class, to understand difficult concepts that discussed in class, or to fill in gaps in their notes by providing students access lecture content.
• Many students and instructors expressed concern that providing course podcasts would lead to higher rate of absenteeism; however, most students reported that the access to podcasts had no impact on their attendance.
• It is difficult to catch visual materials or class discussion by listening to podcasts.

It was interesting to see the result indicating that mobility is not the most important factor for student to choose device to listen to podcasts. This may be because most students used podcasts as supplementary tool to catch up class, to define difficult concepts or to prepare for assignments or exams; they would take notes by listening to podcasts on the computers rather than listening to podcasts using MP3 players while they are walking or moving.

Now, we can listen to lectures from Stanford University or UC Berkley or many other universities through podcasts. It may benefit many people who want to take courses but cannot or students who are taking those courses for better understanding of course content.



Reference

Lane, Cara (2006). UW podcasting: Evaluation of Year One. Retrieved on June 25, 2010, from http://catalyst.washington.edu/research_development/papers/2006/podcasting_year1.pdf