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Will Podcasts Replace Professors?

by Lee Bains on February 27, 2009 at 08:12 AM



A recent psychological study suggests that iPods and podcasts might be stealing some thunder from collegiate professors and lectures, we've learned from Ars Technica.

Psychologist at the State University of New York in Fredonia, Dani McKinney based the report, entitled "iTunes University and the classroom: Can podcasts replace Professors?", on a study of 64 students. After being encouraged to take notes during a psychology lecture that was supplemented by a PowerPoint presentation, the students were split into two groups. McKinney and her associates provided the first group with PowerPoint printouts while they gave a podcast of the lecture, synchronized with the PowerPoint slides, to the second group.

When the students took a test on the subject material one week later, the podcast-supplied students wound up better off, with an average score of 71, while the PowerPoint slide-equipped students averaged a 62.

While these findings do demonstrate the benefits of using podcasts as study aides, we are -- truth be told -- far from foretelling the obsolescence of professors. Need proof? The highest-scoring group of students, averaging a grade of 77, were those who listened to the podcast and took notes during lecture. [From: Ars Technica]

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Tags: college, education, lecture, podcast, podcasts, powerpoint, professor, top, university

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