Podcasting at UW: An Evaluation of Current Use Cara Lane, PhD Research Scientist Catalyst Research & Development Talking Points: Introduce myself I’m going to provide some context today’s panel discussion

Podcasting Partners Classroom Support Services Computing & Communications Catalyst UW Libraries Health Sciences Academic Services & Facilities Educational Outreach School of Law Talking Points Pilot began in Autumn 2005 Original partners CSS, C&C, Catalyst, Libraries, then joined by HSASF and others Pilot project to install automatic podcast recording equipment in Kane hall, expanded to other large-lecture classrooms. Now in 23 classrooms

Evaluation Details Quarters: Autumn 2005-Spring 2006 Sample: 7,003 students in 23 courses Respondents: 98 (Autumn 2005) 123 (Winter 2006) 167 (Spring 2006) 388 Total Response Rate: 5.5% Talking Points: Evaluation conducted during the previous academic year Survey developed to capture student experience Online survev, with no incentive for participation, resulted in low response rate Heard from 388 students, which does allow us to identify key trends, since results were consistent across quarters Findings not representative, but useful Also conducted instructor survey in Spring 11 of 20 instructors responded

Talking Points Definition—”podcast recordings” recordings of individual course sessions No one consistent listening pattern across respondents. Largest number listened to less than 25% But…36% of respondents listened to over 50% Similar division in how students listened. Some listened to entire recording others skipped to particular sections

Talking Points 76% of students reported owning an iPod or MP3 player One statistic that had most pronounced shift over quarters. Jump in iPod and MP3 ownership over time. In autumn 64%; in spring 78%

Talking Points Despite high rates of iPod/MP3 ownerships, 87% listened to podcast on a computer Mobility does not appear to be a driving factor in podcast use Hypothesis (based on open response questions) that students were listening to podcasts while accessing other online resources (ppts, lecture notes, video, etc…)

Talking Points Added questions in spring to test hypothesis Figure shows online resources students reported as available in courses with podcasts 74% reported lecture notes available 87% reported ppt slides available Data analysis pulls out interesting pattern: For students that listened to podcasts and had resources available 73% said they reference online lecture notes while listening to podcasts 86% said they references powerpoints while listening to podcasts New hypothesis: podcasts may be more valuable in coordination with other online resources, rather than on their own.

Talking Points: We also asked students to share information about their experience using podcasts They found podcasts very easy to use They could easily access them, download them quickly, and understand the audio

Talking Points Podcasts were less satisfactory in the following areas Understanding classroom discussion Making sense without visual aids Connecting podcast to visual aids Cannot easily capture entire classroom experience

Talking Points 79% of student respondents said podcasting had no effect on their attendance 16% said it made them more likely to skip class Instructors on observed shifts in attendence—fewer students in class Not all saw this as a bad thing Quote: “The MP3 recordings encourage slackers to cut class. However, giving such students an opportunity to cut is not entirely a bad thing for the rest of the class. Sometimes only 50% of my students were in attendance—far lower than without podcasts—but those who were there were truly present.” Our study is not conclusive on issue of attendance. Needs more investigation

Talking Points Students see podcasting as more valuable for larger classes than for smaller ones The same was true for instructors 10 of 11 instructors said they would teach with podcasts again. 11th skipped question Encouraging to see strong interest in continuing podcasting—95% of students think it should be used in classes with over 100 students and only 1% think it should not be used at all. Current use of podcast is limited—one approach, recording of lectures. Other uses of podcasting may be more useful in smaller classes.

Podcasting Link http://www.css.washington.edu/blog/ List of current podcasts List of equipped classroom Request form Talking Point This portal has list of current classes that offer podcasts, updated list of classrooms, and a request form for services

Evaluation Information http://catalyst.washington.edu/research_development/ cgiacomi@u.washington.edu Talking Points Where to find evaluation report and information on other catalyst research projects My email Now will let panel talking of ongoing developments in podcasting.