1. Copyright Copyright Timothy F. Brown, 2007. This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

2. “Do iWant iPod iNformation?” Using Podcasts in a General Speech Course Tim Brown, Ph.D. - University of Central Florida timbrown@mail.ucf.edu

3. Problem Are students willing to accept academic information in different forms? –Will audio supplements be used? –Will students see them as mobile learning? Why or why not? –What other methods are more accepted, or more effective?

4. Scenario Supplements = Audio and corresponding written material for large introductory speech course Supplements designed to help students with speech assignments Students from two semesters access material from open web site Researcher surveys students on their use of supplemental material and their opinions

5. Results - Users 169 respondents (53% response) 53% of those reported using supplement –47% used all or mostly written –39% used all or mostly audio 65% of written users said “it was easier to read than to listen” 79% of audio users listened only on computer

6. Results - Non users 47% of respondents reported not using supplements (audio or written) 44% of those said they didn’t have time (supplements up for three weeks before assignment due) 35% said they didn’t think they would need it or didn’t think it was important –65% of non users didn’t talk to anyone who used supplement

7. Potential reasons - Categorizing Media Fun/ Relaxing UsefulnessFashion/ Status MP3/iPod4.12.3 Computer3.94.62.6 Internet Pass time - 4.0 Relax - 3.25 4.52.6 Scale: 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest) Respondents see MP3 players as relaxing, not useful to education Computers bridge gap - prepare papers/chat online

8. Of Interest Two correlations stood out: –“Supplemental information helped me” and “Listening to information appeals to me” (r=.81, p<.001) “Listening to information on the way to class does NOT appeal to me” (r=.73, p<.001)

9. Meaning Students are willing to use supplemental material, and even willing to listen to it But their time is their own time, and they don’t want to use their relaxation time or devices for instrumental uses

10. Suggestions for Future More study into relationship between media classification and use Focus on “infotainment” - though with much debate

11. Suggestions for Future Determine value of supplements in first place Encourage students to develop their own guides to distribute as they see valuable timbrown@mail.ucf.edu