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Maximising learning for minimum cost: iTunes U as an example Fernando Rosell-Aguilar ocTEL, 4 th June

Outline Personal experience of podcasting Podcasting as a learning technology Teaching strangers The OU on iTunes U Survey of iTunes U users Results So what?

Personal experience Interested in teaching and learning Innovation Geek Create videos – transferred to iPod 5 th Gen Research

Potential for learning Convenient and easy to use format Attractive Motivating (“Not feel like studying”) Easy access Portability Value for money Publicity / Face value © Matthew Martin (The Times 5/5/2006)

Embedding podcasting in teaching Self access Directed learning – In class – Out of class

Taxonomy of learning podcasts Self-developed – Teacher-developed: for own established audience – Student-developed Using existing resources – Authentic materials – Specialised “courses” – Other people’s self-developed materials

Previous research Liked – novelty? Supplementary to main teaching Low level of transfer to mobile devices Perceived as academic activity Contradiction of potential benefits of podcasting vs actual use: Context Difference internal / external learners

iTunes U Launched in 2007 (US & Can) June 2008: Australia, NZ, Ireland, UK Jan 2009: France, Germany, Switzerland 2013: 1 billion downloads Oxford University 60,000 downloads in its first week

OU on iTunes U Over 62 million downloads Over 8,402,400 visitors downloaded files 434 collections containing 3,422 tracks (1,630 audio, 1,792 video). 97% of the tracks have transcripts (in PDF format) 423 OpenLearn study units as eBooks (ePub), representing over 5,000 hours of study 79 iTunes U Courses Different type of resources: chunking

iTunes U resources = OER? Making materials available as podcasts fits with the principle of using technology to provide educational resources © mainly remains with the providers. No permission to modify or repurpose the content. This is changing: Oxford University, Stanford and MIT now offer some of their materials under (CC) licences.

BUT Teaching strangers – Don’t know who’s listening – Don’t know what they do – Don’t know what they think

Survey Link on all OU on iTunes U pages 21 months between responses collected 1891 analysed (ticked “use for learning”) – Profile of OU on iTunes U users – Use of resources – Interest in the resources – Listening habits – Rating of materials

Here comes the interactive bit! Male or female? Age? Under 25/25-55/55 over Where are they from? UK/Rest of Europe/US/Asia OU students? Why interested in OU iTunes U resources? Personal interest / work / relevant to studies Transfer to mobile device? – listen on the go?

My own hypotheses Gender: more males / difference by subject Age: teenagers, older users Employment status: students (few OU) Mobility: despite previous research - YES Rating: good Paying: no Enrolling: no

User profile: age

User profile: gender 56% Male / 44% Female

Profile: where they live Language learnersNon-language learners

Profile: occupation

Profile: OU students?

Why interested in OU resources?

A mobile technology? Transfer to mobile device

A mobile technology? Where do they listen?

Rating for OU on iTunes U resources Quality: Do they think they’re learning: 97.2% YES

The future of our teaching? 45% of respondents would consider paying for the content. 69.1% would be interested in taking some form of assessment (for a fee) leading to a qualification based on a fuller version of the current content on iTunes U at the OU.

My own hypotheses Gender: more males than language courses Age: teenagers, older users Employment status: students (few OU) Mobility: despite previous research - YES Rating: good Paying: no Enrolling: no

So what? First ever large scale study of iTunes U learners Personalising the stranger: information on the type of user, what they do, and what they think Some as expected / some surprises Differences between subjects Difference internal and external learners Mobile learning Casual learning

So what? Replicability: difficult Applicable to external learners from other institutions If you know your audience, you can make informed decisions: design, delivery strategy Not research: enrolment, brand, exploring new revenue generation Still unanswered: learning outcomes, measurable results, engagement… BUT DO WE NEED MORE?

Podcasting for teaching and learning Proliferation of resources Personalised learning (high / low brow) Up to date Convenient / just in time learning Place and pace Low cost BUT: digital literacy, appropriate level, quantity, quality, format

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