Do Podcasts Help Students Learn – Maybe This is the Wrong Question

Dwayne Harapnuik —  November 9, 2010 — Leave a comment
http://www.convergemag.com/classtech/Podcasts-George-Washington-University.html

Do Podcasts Help Students Learn? via kwout

When I see a title like “Do Podcasts Help Students Learn” in an article, paper, blog or any other location I know for certain that I will see some variation of the following statement in the document:

Overall, the study found no statistical difference between the performance of students who used…

In this article the “no significant difference” statement came just a few paragraphs into the piece. Anyone who has more that just an Introduction to Psychology or Educational Psychology course should know that measuring learning is a very challenging task. It is much easier to measure the factors that contribute to an effective learning environment like, engagement, motivation, time on task etc. and fortunately some of these factors were included in the article. While the researchers in this study found no statistical difference between the performance of students who used podcasts over those using text it did reveal the following:

1. Podcasts grab attention and maintain it.
2. Students conceptually understood the content, not just remembered it, and the scale of understanding seemed to tip toward the podcasts.
3. The students who said they weren’t that motivated at the beginning of the class scored higher on the test when they listened to the podcasts.

So the students who used the podcasts were more engaged, understood the concepts better and were more motivated. While we aren’t sure if podcast help students learn they do contribute to the factors necessary for effective learning environments. The study also reveals that the men who participated in the study increased their post test scores and general the students like using the podcasts.

If we step back from the fact that this is an implementation of a relatively simple to use technology and look at the pedagogy we will see that condensing information into a 10 minute summary enhanced by audio and video, is there any wonder that students preferred these supplements and were more engaged. If we just look at the learning the title of the piece could have been “Do Effective Instructor Class Summaries Help Students Learn.” But that doesn’t increase hits or solicit reader responses…

In Learning ,
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How Micro-blogging and Social Networking Are Replacing Blogging

Dwayne Harapnuik —  November 8, 2010 — Leave a comment
http://technorati.com/blogging/article/who-bloggers-brands-and-consumers-day/

WHO: Bloggers, Brands and Consumers – Day 1 SOTB 2010 – Technorati Blogging via kwout

Technorati’s annual state of the Blogosphere points to some significant trends. The most significant is that the corporate world has recognized the impact of Blogs and are now focusing a great deal of effort in this space. The hobbyist blogger is no longer posting as much as they had in the past choosing to spend more time with family or use micro-blogging and social networking instead.

Is the move by the leading edge hobbyist toward twitter and social networking surprising? Of course not, nor is the fact that the corporate world is embracing a technology just when the leader edgers are moving onto the next big thing.

This is a phenomenal report filled with easy to follow charts and lots of valuable information and is a must see.

View full report…

In Social Media , ,
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Mindset for the Class of 2014

Dwayne Harapnuik —  November 5, 2010 — Leave a comment

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2014.php

Beloit College Mindset List via kwout

A student in my EDUC 652 class posted a link to the Beloit College College Mindset list for the Class of 2014. Since 1998, Beloit College has released the Beloit College Mindset List. It provides a look at the cultural touchstones that shape the lives of students entering college this fall.

The list include 75 items in addition to a generous description of the student who will graduate from College in 2014. The following is only the first 5 points:

For these students, Benny Hill, Sam Kinison, Sam Walton, Bert Parks and Tony Perkins have always been dead.

  1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
  2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
  3. “Go West, Young College Grad” has always implied “and don’t stop until you get to Asia…and learn Chinese along the way.”
  4. Al Gore has always been animated.
  5. Los Angelenos have always been trying to get along.

This is a really good reminder of how important it is to really get a good understanding of where are learner are at. Unless you grew up at the same time and in the same conditions your cultural attitudes will be different. I am not saying that we need to bend to our young learners whims and unrealistic expectations, we just need to be aware of why they assume and expect what they do and take this into account when we create learning environment in which they can flourish.

In Learning , ,
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10 things to look for in a tablet computer

Dwayne Harapnuik —  November 3, 2010 — Leave a comment
http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=1921&tag=nl.e101

10 things to look for in a tablet computer | 10 Things | TechRepublic.com via kwout

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Apple’s iPad has become the new standard in what a tablet computer should be. Right now there are very few other options. The Tech Republic article by Debra Littlejohn Shinder lists the 10 key things that a user should look for when purchasing a tablet. The list includes:

  • Size
  • Storage
  • Battery Life
  • 3G or WiFi Only
  • Open or Closed (OS)
  • Input
  • Price
  • Camera
  • Apps
  • Compatibility

Due partially to the lack of competition in this space the iPad satisfies all but the Camera requirement. The iPad is the clear winner when it comes to apps and if history is any indicator the OS with the most Apps generally wins. The past 15 years of Windows domination is clear example of this fact. Perhaps when the Windows and Android tablets start hitting the market in 2011 Apple will introduce their upgraded iPad that will address the lack of camera. Competition is good for Apple’s iPad and the more of it there is the better.

Read the full article…

In iPad ,
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Learned Helplessness – A Reality Check

Dwayne Harapnuik —  November 1, 2010 — Leave a comment

A few weeks back I ran across a blog post called Learned Helplessness and I am realizing that I should have addressed this topic as well in my blog.  The author starts out with a Papert qoute:

What you ought to be learning at school is that you don’t need to be taught in order to learn.

The reason I am addressing this now is that I have been in a conversation with a student in a graduate course I am teaching that focuses on using Disruptive Innovation as a catalyst for change and we are are discussion the challenging notion of creating an environment where our colleagues are willing to embrace the notion that they should not require extensive formal training on how to use technology. I am all for orientation on new technologies, just in time instruction and other forms of informal instruction to help people adjust to new technologies but am against the notion that one shouldn’t be expected to adopt a new technology until has had the formal training. This is learned helplessness.

The reason I didn’t include this in my blog earlier is that even though it is true it is a hard pill for some to swallow and I have been working at catching flies with honey as opposed to vinegar. I have been so careful over the past while not to offend or challenge folks too much that I may be doing them a disservice. Sure, I have pointed to video clips and other blog posts that relay this challenging message making them “the bad guy” by pointing to their hard to swallow doses of reality.

Perhaps I have to challenge my colleagues and peers every once in a while if I really genuinely care about them and the learning. I think we need to find a balance between supporting and encouraging our colleagues while still holding them accountable with respect to their attitudes and actions toward learning.

In Learning
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