podcastingk7

On 30 January 2007, our research team presented a conference presentation at the Teaching and Learning Forum about our podcasting project so far. The feedback was positive with approximately 30 people attending the presentation. Discussion followed the presentation about the difference between audio files and podcasts, how students can create podcasts and how podcasts could be integrated into assesment design in higher education contexts.

In December 2006, our team administered a questionnaire to students in EDL1101, ICT1100 and MPE2100. Information was sought about students' understanding of podcasts, their use of podcasting equipment, their ideas about podcasting in education and their suggestions for future use of podcasting in their K-7 university units.

The following email was sent to ICT1100 students today:

Hello everyone,

I'm pleased to announce that the podcasts (sound files on the internet) that we have prepared to assist you with preparing your second assignment are now available from within iTunes. You can access these from your computers at home also. There are two interviews with previous ICT1100 students (more to come) that can be listened to or downloaded from iTUnes. See the instructions below.

If you are not an iTunes user, these interviews will also be made available on BlackBoard under the Assignments button.Happy listening.

Regards,

-Maria Northcote
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Instructions for accessing the ICT1100 podcasts from within iTunes:
Step 1) Open iTunes
Step 2) Select "Advanced" from the menu along the top of your screen within iTunes and select "Subscribe to podcast"
Step 3) Copy and paste the following text into the URL box: itpc://podcast.osx.ecu.edu.au:16080/weblog/mnorthcote/?flavor=rss2

OR, try this:
Step 1) Open iTunes
Step 2) Go to this website: http://podcast.osx.ecu.edu.au:16080/weblog/mnorthcote/
Step 3) Click on the RSS podcast button at the bottom right of the screen (this should take you into iTunes and iTunes will start downloading the ICT1100 podcasts).

If you have any trouble or questions, please contact me at m.northcote@ecu.edu.au or phone (08) 6304 5957
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Last week Maria added a podcast to the ICT1100 podcast area in iTunes - an interview with one of the previous students in ICT1100. The interview was based on the previous student's experience of completing her website assignment. The podcast is about 10 minutes long and included advice from last year's student to this year's students.

This week Linda added a podcast to the MPE2100 podcast area in iTunes - it is a compilation of four students' questions about the unit, the assignment and the exam. Linda, Paula and Maria answered the questions. Then, the students' questions and our answers were combined to form a podcast.

This week, we met as a group to discuss our plans for future publications related to this project. Here are some of our ideas about where we are heading:

Eva is drafting an introduction paper for the group on the following topics:

• Getting started with podcasts
• Staff, students
• Resources
• Purpose of using podcasts
• Stats re use

Linda and Paula drafting paper for the group about the problems and solutions about our project on the following topics:

• What problems we had in the transition process
• Early days
• Transition from BlackBoard to Podcasting
• Transition from intermittent use to regular use by students and staffUse of blended/hybrid delivery platforms (e.g., mixture of face-to-face, online, print, etc.)

Maria is drafting a paper about student involvement in the project for the group on the following topics:

• How students use podcasts
• Mixture between personal/social and academic use
• Reflection
• Revision
• Backup for lectures (Plan B)

We plan to publish in one of the following journals and/or conferences:

• Teaching and Learning Forum 2007 in Perth. Refereed papers due Oct 06.
• Educational Computing Journal
• AARE 2007
• HERDSA 2007

With help from Trevor Bennett, we have our first podcast in iTunes. It is a short explanation of Assignment 1 in ICT1100: Learning with Technology. At present, the podcast is available in iTunes from within the ECU network. We hope that this podcast as well as others that we plan to add in the future, will be available outside the ECU network soon.

Today the following invitation was sent to ICT1100 students. As a result of this invitation, we hope to have a few students share their expertise about making websites and evaluating websites. The students in the unit who have not yet created or evaluated websites may be able to access these websites to enhance their development throughout the unit, especially in relation to their second assignment which involves making a website.

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Hello ICT1100 students,

As part of your involvement in ICT1100 this semester, we are planning to record a few podcasts (audio or video internet files) throughout the semester. The first two podcast topics we would like you to be involved in are as follows:
(1)how to create websites; and
(2)how to recognise a good website when you see one.

We hope these podcast resources will assist other students in the unit and give some of our more competent ICT users a chance to demonstrate some of the knowledge and skills they already have.This is not an essential part of the unit but if you are interested, please email me at m.northcote@ecu.edu.au or speak to your tutor.

Regards,
-Maria Northcote (ICT1100 Unit Coordinator)

A set of audio files was created and sent to Trevor Bennett with a short 9-slide PowerPoint demonstration for the purposes of creating a podcast about the first assignment in the unit ICT1100: Learning with Technology. This podcast has been designed for the purposes of providing students in the unit with an alternative method of interpreting the assignment specifications.

Last week, Maria met with Trevor Bennett at ML campus to ask for assistance with uploading audio files as podcasts. Trevor suggested that the members of the team create an audio file (with lecturers and/or students' voices) which he could then prepare as a podcast. Trevor has also volunteered to assist us in inserting music and some graphics into the audio files.

Our next task is to record some files and then contact Trevor about how to upload them as podcasts.

Monday 26 June 2006:
Here is a brief summary of the meeting we had about the project:

• So far, we have met with Trevor to gain some advice about how to upload podcasts at ECU. Trevor advised us to keep recording our audio files and including them in BlackBoard and to encourage the students to use iTunes. In second semester, Trevor expects that ECU may be able to offer us a facility to support uploading of audio files so that they can be used in the true sense of podcasting.
• During Semester 1, we have been experimenting with using audio files via BB (a modified version of podcasting) in the following ways: 1) Eva has been recording and uploading audio files of her lectures in the EDL unit; 2) Paul has been reviewing unit material by answering review-type questions about the exam for MPE3200; and 3) Maria has been providing summary lectures for her tutors in EDL3300
• In the next semester we plan to: 1) have a literature review completed on the project by Paul; 2) purchase Paula an iPod; 3) continue using audio files within BlackBoard for our students in EDL, MPE and ICT units (e.g., gathering questions from students after lectures as the basis of lecturer provided podcasts); 4) continue gathering feedback about how these audio files are used by tutors and students; 5) write some conference papers and articles about the project; 6) continue to keep in touch with Trevor Bennett to find out if we can upload our audio files via an RSS feed on the ECU server to provide live podcasts to our students.

March- June 2006 (Semester 1):
Implementation of some of the grant's aims including recording and broadcasting audio files through BlackBoard software in three Bachelor of Education (K-7) units:

• Eva Dobozy recorded lectures and uploaded audio files for students in EDL1100;
• Paul Swan recorded review questions for exam preparation and uploaded files for students in MPE3200; and
• Maria Northcote recorded lecture overviews and uploaded audio files for tutors in EDL3300.

February - April 2006:
Collected information about podcasting on internet and from conferences about current podcasting projects

May 2006:
Consultation with Trevor Bennett, Educational Developer, regarding podcasting within ECU.
Online publishing of project details on iPods@ECU website: http://isp.ecu.edu.au/ipod/uses.html Attendance at Apple seminar on Podcasting in education

June 2006:
Attendance at Apple Podcasting in Education seminar.

Feburary 2006: Application for CSaLT Small Grant by Maria Northcote, Linda Marshall, Eva Dobozy, Paul Swan and Paula Mildenhall.
Project title: Podcasting as a strategy for helping students become reflective practitioners

March 2006: Approval of grant.