Friday, September 5, 2008

Podcasting experiments

I was reading a student essay on podcasting and while I was had a number of thoughts for experiments. 

1. Use of enhanced sound in podcasting. 
How much do students remember in a podcast? does the kind of information they retain change in a podcast vs written word. It is asserted (Shlosser & Burmeiser/Warbutern) that audio leads to greader understanding and clarification of concepts but with a reduction in 'facts' retention compared written text.  
Pod casts it is said can carry over some of the 'feel' and atmosphere that pure text cannot. 
Experiment: Create two identical podcasts (content wise) first one is a straight audio content ( speeach) the second one includes more 'atmosphere' (sound effects, use of imagery?) . Compare retention.

2. Blended education (Porter 2006) this asserts students need to pull information together and that modern learning methods imply the student is doing more than passive listening. 
Experiment: To identical podcasts but one keeps asking the student to do something ( look up in wiki or follow the podcast and type in what is said). She which has best retention.

3. Isolation ( Lee/Chan 07). The use of voice is suggestive that students form a stronger link to teacher and so less isolated and less likly to drop out. 
Experiment: Two pod casts again Use both enthusiastic and dull voice to see which students are more likely to stop listening too and when.  

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