iTunes U Proves Better than Going to Class

研究全文刊登在Computers & Education 52 (2009) 617–623
http://www.fredonia.edu/department/psychology/pdf/CAE1263.pdf

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/itunes_u_proves_better_than_class.php
Written by Sarah Perez / February 25, 2009 7:01 AM / 17 Comments

Skip the lecture, download the podcast. That's probably not what university professors tell their students, but perhaps they should. New psychological research conducted by Dani McKinney, a psychologist at the State University of New York in Fredonia, shows that students who only listened to podcasts of lectures achieved substantially higher exam results than those who attended class in person.

To find out how much students can learn from a podcast, McKinney's team created one for a lecture from an introductory psychology course. The podcast contained both audio and video of the slides used in class.

Half the students (32 of 64) skipped the class and listened to the podcast only. The other half attended in person, where they also received a printed handout. A week later, the students were tested on the material.

Podcast Listeners Did Better

The students who downloaded the podcast alone averaged a C (71 out of 100) but those who attended class averaged a D. And those who listened to the podcast and took notes did even better - their average was 77.

Before university classrooms empty out, it's important to note that this is only preliminary research. McKinney's study involved only a single lecture. Also, motivation may have come into play as well. Her experiment didn't count for class credit, so students were encouraged to participate with iTunes gift cards. The high scorer from each group was awarded a $15 gift certificate for use in the online store.

McKinney now plans to further study podcasts in the classroom over the course of an entire semester, instead of just one class. She wonders if students might find podcasts more useful early on in a class, when the material is still new. Still, McKinney is a big believer in the power of technology and its impact on education. "I do think it's a tool," she says. "I think that these kids are programmed differently than kids 20 years ago."

iTunes University

http://itunes.stanford.edu/

http://itunes.berkeley.edu/

http://web.mit.edu/itunesu/

蘋果展開iTunes U計畫＿蘋果日報 March 4,2006

陳宜君╱綜合外電報導】

美國蘋果電腦公司憑其iPod數位影音播放器和iTunes音樂網站，稱霸數位影音市場，現在又展開擴大版圖最新行動，廣邀全美各大學與教育機構加入其iTunes U服務，將課程講授內容的podcast聲音檔案及其他教育資料，上傳到各校在iTunes的子網站，供人下載。

蘋果2001年推出iPod至目前，已售出逾4千萬台。該公司1年多前就和史丹福等6所美國大學合作，展開iTunes U（U為大學university的縮寫）計劃。學校利用網路教學，並非創舉，不過隨著數位影音檔案下載的普及，將手持式影音播放器應用於教育，已成為數位時代的新潮流。

為各校量身訂做網站

　　將教師授課內容數位化供學生下載，有助複習課業，但部分教授擔心，這會讓學生產生鬆懈心理，導致缺課率越來越高。

　　蘋果提供針對各校量身訂做的軟體與子網站，方便各校師生將podcast、有聲書和影像檔案等資料，上傳到由蘋果負責維護的伺服器內儲存，並讓各校將過去使用的系統與iTunes子網站整合，俾便師生沿用原有的身分識別代號與密碼登入專屬iTunes子網站。校方可自行決定各檔案是否限定特定人士下載，抑或對一般大眾開放。


學生可隨時隨地複習
　　密蘇里大學新聞學院去年夏季加入iTunes U之前，就已開放師生透過校內網站上傳或下載課程的podcast檔和其他教育資料；加入該計劃後，其師生可利用蘋果提供的免費軟體與服務，連結至該學院的專屬iTunes子網站，下載需要的資料。密大新聞學院表示，多數學生早已熟悉iTunes的使用介面，應用成效良好。

　　密西根大學牙醫學院去年秋季加入iTunes U計劃。該學院副教授強森（Lynn Johnson）表示，將課程內容數位化的構想來自學生，錄下教師授課內容並製作成數位檔案的工作也由志願負責的學生一手包辦，計劃推出至今相當成功，學生可隨時隨地複習上課內容。


iTunes U服務
●費用→免費
●對象→與蘋果電腦合作的全美各大學或教育機構，目前已有6所大學，包括︰
　◎布朗大學
　◎史丹福大學
　◎杜克大學
　◎威斯康辛大學麥迪遜分校
　◎密西根大學安納堡分校牙醫學院
　◎密蘇里大學哥倫比亞分校新聞學院
●內容→參加學校可設置各校的iTunes網站，將課程內容的podcast數位聲音檔案及其　　　　他影音檔，上傳至各校網站，並決定檔案是否有下載資格限制。各校師生可透過蘋果電腦的免費軟體，連結自校iTunes網站下載檔案。

資料來源：綜合外電、蘋果電腦www.apple.com