Questioning the Student Use of and Desire for Lecture Podcasts.
By Laura A. Guertin, Matthew J. Bodek, Sarah E. Zappe and Heeyoung Kim.
Abstract
The use of audio files, specifically podcasts, has become more visible and accessible to students in higher education. Despite a lack of pedagogical research on the benefits of podcasting, several universities have adopted the technology of using audio for instruction outside of class and sharing of information. Although institutions and instructors have embraced the technology, have the students?
A professor in an introductory geoscience course for nonscience majors recorded the audio from classroom lectures and made these audio files available through the university’s online course management system. Student accesses of the audio files were tracked. The students were surveyed about their knowledge on how to utilize the audio files and if they believed the audio to be of some use.
Although percentages were not high in terms of student accesses to individual lectures, and a little over half the students were aware of how to access and utilize the files, all of the students reported a perceived value to having lecture podcasts available.
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Source: The MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching (JOLT)
Reschooling Society and the Promise of ee-Learning: An Interview with Steve Eskow
By Chad Trevitte and Steve Eskow
By Chad Trevitte and Steve Eskow
In this article, Chad Trevitte interviews Innovate guest editor Steve Eskow about the concept of ee-learning and the promise it holds for revitalizing higher education. Eskow defines ee-learning as a combination of the electronic technologies employed in online learning ("e-learning 1") and a pedagogy of experiential learning rooted in real-life settings in the world outside the university classroom ("e-learning 2").
As he discusses ee-learning in the context of previous philosophies of educational reform, Eskow argues that this mode of pedagogical practice seeks to bridge the gap between theory-based instruction on the one hand and practical application on the other. Eskow also addresses the ways in which ee-learning offers an alternative to the traditional view of the university as a self-enclosed space of learning, while still supporting the development of conceptual and propositional knowledge that educators typically value in the setting of the campus classroom. By allowing students to pursue their work in specific, authentic, contextualized settings while consulting with instructors and peers online, ee-learning offers a pedagogical approach that aligns knowledge and experience in a reciprocal, mutually enhancing fashion.
Source: Innovate