[Yr7-10it] virtual vrs real lectures

[stephen at melbpc.org.au]

Podcast trumps lecture in one college study 

Researcher: Students who listened to a lecture via iTunes U outperformed 
those who attended in person.   By Dennis Carter, Assistant Editor 

http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=57612

Students who watched a lecture on iTunes scored nine points higher than 
peers in a classroom lecture.  
 
The ability to pause and rewind podcast lectures gave the upper hand to 
college students in a recent study that compared the performance of 
students who attended a lecture in person and those who viewed it from 
iTunes University.

The study, "iTunes University and the Classroom: Can Podcasts Replace 
Professors?," was conducted at the State University of New York Fredonia. 

It called for some introductory psychology students to watch a recorded 
lecture available online and others to attend a traditional classroom 
lecture.

Students who watched the lecture podcast--available from the iTunes U 
online video library--scored an average of 71 percent. Students who sat 
through the 30-minute classroom lecture scored an average of 62 percent, 
according to the study..

Examining the notes taken by students who participated in the study, 
McKinney said it was clear many students took advantage of the pause and 
rewind buttons.

"People stop the podcast as they go along," she said, adding that 
professors often go too quickly through lecture slides, giving students 
little time to jot down notes. "When I lecture, I don't stop unless you 
ask a question. … A lot of professors act like it's a race to get through 
those slides instead of a learning experience."

Most Fredonia students did not "take advantage of the mobility of the 
podcast," according to the research. Only about 20 percent of students 
said they watched the podcast lecture on a mobile device, while 80 
percent watched the iTunes download on their laptops. Five percent of 
participants had listened to a podcast before, and no one had ever 
listened to a lecture podcast, according to the study.
--

Cheers,
Stephen