IMPALA Informal Mobile Podcasting and Learning Adaptation

Literature

Research into students' experience of Podcasting is understandably in its very early stages. Few studies exist of the impact on students' learning of the newest learning technologies (Littlejohn, 2004). Literature on Podcasting is limited to descriptions of small projects and positive but informal accounts of user satisfaction in small trials. Issues in using Podcasting in formal higher education await examination.

The core content medium in Podcasting is audio, not new to education. Durbridge (1984) identified audio's educational advantages as its ability to influence cognition through clarity of instructions, and emotional aspects of learning by conveying immediacy and a connection with the teacher (see also Bates, 1981; Laaser, 1986; Power, 1990; and Kates, 1998). Tutor-initiated audio embedded into email messages yielded increased student participation in group activities, and added a sense of online community and satisfaction with the overall learning experience (Woods and Keeler, 2001). We will investigate such potential benefits in 21st Century distance and campus-based learning, mediated by VLEs.

Chan and Lee's (2005) pilot study on Podcasts for 28 Australian undergraduates shows that informal, short audio clips may help address students' anxieties and concerns about the course and assessment while offering a flexible medium, with portability and social acceptance of use in public settings (Clark and Walsh, 2004). Chinnery (2006) discusses bringing an authentic cultural experience to students learning foreign languages, but such studies are seldom evaluative.

Studies of other mobile technologies (PDAs, Smartphones and Tablet PCs) point to their pedagogical potential: support of learning activities (Sharples, 2001), specific needs and cognitive abilities of diverse learners (Kukulska-Hulme and Traxler, 2005; JISC, 2005), situated and authentic learning experiences (Sariola and Rionka, 2003) and the personal nature of learning through mobile devices (Plant, 2001). Evaluation of learners' engagement in large scale mobile learning environments ('MOBILearn'; JISC, 2005) has drawn researchers' attention to unique experiences that mobile learning environments can offer. Taylor et al (forthcoming), McAndrew, Taylor and Clow (forthcoming) and Scanlon, Jones and Waycott (2005) emphasise that the capabilities of mobile devices combined with their advantages to a learner on the move can create opportunities for learning activities impossible in conventional leaning environments or through other learning technologies. They emphasis the relevance of activity theory, as expressed by Engeström (1987), to unravel the learning experience offered in a mobile learning environment. Sharples (2000) proposes that PDAs can provide the learner with flexibility and freedom to learn from any location as well as tools to engage in lifelong learning.