Podcast: learning to listen

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Podcast: learning to listen

In an article written by Tayna Roscorla, she writes how some students may benefit from listening to their iphone or ipod, thanks to wonders of podcast.  With advances in communicational technology, podcasting is becoming a more renowned form of listening to radio and know a tool for learning. So what is a podcast?

                Podcasting is online audio content that is delivered via an RSS feed. Many people liken podcasting to radio on demand. However, in reality, podcasting gives far more options in terms of content and programming than radio does. In addition, with Podcasting, listeners can determine the time and the place, meaning they decide what programming they want to receive and when they want to listen to it.

Podcasting can be used for:

1. Self-Guided Walking Tours - Informational content.

2. Music - Band promotional clips and interviews.

3. Talk Shows - Industry or organizational news, investor news, sportscasts, news coverage and commentaries.

4. Training - Instructional informational materials

In the article she mentions “In fall 2009, the university's Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning studied a world history class of 262 students to find the answer.” And goes on by saying “But the answer isn't yes or no — the answer depends on the student's learning style, gender and motivation.” The study did not find any statistical difference between the performances of students who used the text than listening to an audio from a podcast.  In subgroups, podcast did make a difference

Three results that director of instructional design Yianna Vovides found interesting include the following:

1. Podcasts grab attention and maintain it.
2. Students conceptually understood the content, not just remembered it, and the scale of understanding seemed to tip toward the podcasts.
3. The students who said they weren't that motivated at the beginning of the class scored higher on the test when they listened to the podcasts.

Also these three results that are fascinating:

1. Guys improved their results from the pre-test to the post-test more with the podcasts. But the women's results showed no difference.
2. From the beginning of the research to the end, the number of students who preferred podcasts nearly tripled, jumping from 21 to 62.
3. In general, no one saw a dramatic uptick in results with the text or the podcasts. If they did the work, they did better on the test, he said.

    So it worth it?

It’s hard to say if the podcast gives students are better understanding of concepts or ideas to help them study rather than reading from a book. However I would like to test this idea with a younger audience than college level students. I do believe it’s all up to the student if he or she really “get” the material , however podcast are fun and a convenient way of listening to a speech, idea or a story.

 

references:

http://www.centerdigitaled.com/classtech/Podcasts-George-Washington-University.html