New Scientist, RWW and Ars have caught onto a one shot study, published in (doi:10.1016/j.compedu.2008.11.004) published in Computers & Education (Volume 52, Issue 3, April 2009, Pages 617-623) that suggests that for one class, it might be better to skip class and listen to the podcast. I say it is interesting because it is a one off, and while it supports the use of podcasts and microlectures, it does not seem to take into account the type of students who were in each group and what impact the gift card motivation had on the results. The comments on the various reporting sites do seem however to take a broader look at the Pandora’s Box that ‘casts may be. Open Education has had to address some of this on some of this on their site after posting about this as well.
At the end of the day, the magic of podcasts, and their taped lecture ancestors is one thing and one thing alone – it allows students to review the content they are begin presented at their own pace.
“So, far from being able to replace professors, the podcasts might give students the benefit of being able to listen to the lecture more than once, and the ability to get the notes more accurately.”
Leave a Reply