The Threaded Podcast Lets Talk About OnLine Discussions

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The Threaded PodcastLets Talk About On-Line
Discussions

• Frank Yunker
• Fulton-Montgomery
• Community College

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What is a Threaded Podcast?

• Combines the idea of podcasting with that of
  having a threaded discussion.
  
• It allows students to respond to podcasted
  lectures.

• Creates a threaded discussion

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Podcasting Basics

• Podcasting a term that combines "iPod" and
  "broadcasting."
  
• "iPod" a portable listening device (like a
  "walkman" or if you're old enough, then it's like
  a transistor radio) except that what you listen
  to comes not from the airwaves or a CD or
  cassette, but from a "computer hard drive" that's
  built into the iPod. The "iPod" is made by Apple,
  Inc. An iPod that holds 120 songs is about
  100.
• Note You do not need an iPod to listen to a
  podcast. All you need is a computer and an
  internet connection... and a free software
  package called iTunes.

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How Do Students Listen?

• iTunes is a free software package that
  coordinates the downloading and transferring of
  mp3 files to your iPod.
  

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Sample Case study Microeconomics and
Macroeconomics On-Line

• Module 2 postings (2nd week of the semester)
• Microeconomics Summer 2005 (written discussion)
  compared to Summer 2006 (threaded podcast)
  
• Macroeconomics Spring 2005 (written discussion)
  compared to Summer 2006 (threaded podcast)
  

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The Case study Student Participation Rates

• Microeconomics
• Topic Opportunity Cost
• Written Discussion 14 of 17 participated (82)
• Podcast Discussion 9 of 15 participated (60)

• Macroeconomics
• Topic Comparative Advantage
• Written Discussion 9 of 21 participated (43)
• Podcast Discussion 8 of 19 participated (42)

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The Case Study Initial Response Times (converted
to seconds)

• Microeconomics
• Written Discussion 36 second response average
• Podcast Discussion 60 second response average

• Macroeconomics
• Written Discussion 45 second response average
• Podcast Discussion 63 second response average

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How does a podcast work?

• A "podcast" is a scheduled download audio file
  (mp3 file).
  
• By default, it is scheduled every day. Depending
  on your settings, the iTunes program can look for
  new podcasts every hour, day, week or whenever.
  
• MP3 file a standard file format for an audio
  file.

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Student Comments (1 year later)

• at first I was skeptical, but once I became
  familiar with the controls and how to use
  podcasting, I feel that it enhanced the class.
  (Mark)
• It made an online course more social. (Marcie)
• I take online classes at Utica College now and I
  wish my professor used something like the
  podcasts (Victoria)

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Student Comments 1 year later

• After some other classes, where I had to do
  written discussions, I realized that it is easier
  to talk about something out loud than have to put
  your thoughts on paper. Out of all my online
  classes, Economics was definitely my favorite.
  (Leah )
• I haven't taken any online courses since your
  class simply because it requires more work than a
  usual class. (Rodrigo)

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threading it together

• Threaded Podcast combines the concept of
  podcasting with the concept of a threaded
  discussion on the web.
  
• Allows professors to lecture, students to add
  comments to the professor and other students'
  comments
  
• It all happens in an orderly way - like a
  threaded discussion.
  
• It also allows students to listen to the class
  discussion anytime and anywhere.

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Subscribe to the podcast
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Audacity a (free) software package that allows
users to create their own mp3 (audio) files.
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Adding your comments
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Upload your comments
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Check for updates in iTunes
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Technical Information

• iTunes connects to a website that holds an RSS
  file
  
• RSS (Really Simple Script) contains the
  information about the podcast, including
  publication date and where the MP3 file is located

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Technical Information

• The RSS file can be generated through server
  scripting (PHP) connected to a MySQL database
  
• A database query returns the most-recently
  published podcast

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Technical Information

• The publication date of each podcast can be in
  the format YYYYMMDDHHMMSS
  
• Each professor lecture can have 86400 responses
  (number of seconds in a day)
  
• A threaded podcast has 5 layers of response (24 x
  10 x 10 x 6 x 6)

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More Information?

• fyunker_at_fmcc.suny.edu
• http//www.threadedpodcast.com