1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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%

6. 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…)

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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.

12. 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

13. Evaluation Information
Talking Points
Where to find evaluation report and information on other catalyst research projects My
Now will let panel talking of ongoing developments in podcasting.