Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 1 Virtual Lecturing using Screencasting and Podcasting... Sandy Winterbottom, University of Stirling

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 2 Screencasting and Podcasting… Screencasting… is a digital capture of a computer screen which can include audio (e.g. powerpoint presentation) Podcasting… Delivery of a digital audio or digital video file over the Internet using RSS feeds, or… Can refer to the digital audio or digital video files

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 3 Aim… The aims of this project were to: explore the student experience of learning content delivered electronically as opposed to learning via traditional lectures, and determine the most appropriate and popular delivery formats for online lectures.

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 4 Background… 2 nd Year Environmental Science Module (Earth and Landscape Evolution) 105 students 20 lectures, 5 practical sessions First 8 lectures delivered electronically replacing face-to-face lectures Additional introductory lecture provided with instructions

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 5 Capture Software… Camtasia Studio Adds capture toolbar to Powerpoint Can record slides, slide titles, audio and web cam image. Opens Camtasia software at end of presentation for editing and production

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 7 Delivery formats… High resolution Screencast (Camtasia) Low Resolution Screencast (Impatica) Zipped Screencast for download MPeg4 file (Video Podcast) High resolution audio (MP3) Low Resolution audio (MP3) Powerpoint Slides as PDF

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 8 Delivery Formats…

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 9 Delivery… Embedded into WebCT VLE 2 lectures released per week Students all ed on release day Students seen face-to-face in practical during first week Online exam at the end of the e-lecture series Detailed questionnaire at end of e-lecture series

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 10 Feedback… 94 respondents to the questionnaire 86% watched High Res Screencasts 58% watched these on campus, 40% watched off campus through broadband Of those that downloaded the MP3 / MP4 files 90% accessed high resolution MP3 or MP4 So… downloading large files is not an issue

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 11 Feedback… Did they like the e-lectures? 86% Yes 8% ambivalent 7% No Would they like more lectures delivered in this way? 76% Yes 17% Not sure 7% No

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 12 The Upside… “The flexibility was great as my little boy finishes nursery at 6 so I didn’t have to attend the 5 – 6 lecture” “I even managed to do one of them during my lunch break at work one weekend when I was really busy and hadn’t had time during the week.” “I liked being able to pause and rewind bits so I could write down notes. I really struggle writing notes in lectures” “You could take your time, go back over things as many times as you liked and you could use the Internet as you worked for research on topics.” “It is certainly the best revision aid you can get … your whole lecture all over again.”

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 13 The Downside… “It was easy to put off doing a lecture, as you knew you could do it later and this could lead to leaving it to the last minute and cramming.” “I found I was writing every detail down which took forever whereas in the real lecture you write key points you need to know.” “Not being able to ask what something meant. Not being able to ask fellow students if they understood a lecture i.e. in the same boat as each other therefore reducing your confidence. Not being able to mix with other students and get to know how everyone is doing with regards to assignments etc.”

Dr Sandy Winterbottom School of Biological and Environmental Sciences Slide 14 Lessons learnt… Students reported that they learned more from this style of delivery (needs further research to confirm) Students liked the flexibility, BUT Need an incentive to watch / listen to e-lectures on a regular basis Need face-to-face sessions (tutorials, practicals, discussion sessions, etc) to maintain contact between lecturer and students and between the students themselves. Students need guidance on taking notes from e-lectures.