Author: David Gill, d.w.j.gill@swansea.ac.uk

Author: Chris Hall, c.m.hall@swan.ac.uk

JISC e-Learning Activity Area: Learning Resources and Activities

Higher Education Academy Subject Centre: History, Classics and Archaeology

This case study illustrates...use of podcasting, an effect on learning, an effect on exam results, an effect on student personal development, student satisfaction with e-learning, innovation in learning and teaching, staff satisfaction with e-learning, staff personal development, a positive effect on recruitment, a positive effect on retention, an influence on policy, use of resources, modifications to learning spaces, management of learning assets, an effect on social equality

Tangible Benefits

What tangible benefits did this e-learning approach produce?

The project exposed students to an 'eye-witness' account of specific archaeological sites in Attica and the Peloponnese. It allowed the lecturer to integrate research / fieldwork in the Aegean as part of the undergraduate scheme showing students how the subject was developing and exposing them to research questions from the first year.

Students felt that they were engaging with the fieldwork of the lecturer concerned.

The resources can be shared with colleagues in Swansea and elsewhere who may be addressing similar issues.

Podcasts enable students to experience archaeological sites from different locations and by downloading resources onto their iPods and MP4 players. Students seem to engage with the sites and artefacts in a more meaningful way when there is a commentary. For example, the relationship of the Kerameikos cemetery to the Panathenaic Way and the Athenian acropolis becomes very clear when the 'walk through' podcast is used in conjunction with site plans of the ancient city of Athens.

There seems to be a growing interest for students to visit the archaeological sites. There were several applications to attend the summer school at the British School at Athens, and other students (undergraduate and postgraduate) have been awarded departmental travel grants to follow up their studies. The optional Swansea departmental trip to Greece in March 2007 for 10 days (8 nights) cost £550 pp (including travel from Swansea to Heathrow, hotels, bus in Greece, meals). Podcasts could help students prepare for visits to sites and museums; but with an MP4 device they could use it to explore certain features. For example, podcasts could explain the use of starting gates in the stadia at Olympia, Nemea and Isthmia so that students could understand the archaeological remains on the ground.

Students with mobility difficulties could find it hard to gain access to some archaeological sites in Greece (though there is now a lift to the Athenian acropolis). Podcasts could provide them with visual access to sites which they may otherwise be unable to visit.

Formal anonymous student feedback for the module seems to be positive and there is a growing trend for students to pursue classical archaeology modules as part of the Ancient History or Classical Civilisation undergraduate degree schemes. The level 1 module is providing a sound foundation for further study at levels 2 and 3. The statistical analysis for 2006/7 is not yet available but the initial personal analysis is for an upward trend in the mean. The present pass mark for the module is c. 89%.

Feedback includes the comment that students appreciate 'out of the norm stuff' which goes beyond PowerPoint: this includes podcasts as well as other digital material. There are numerous student comments that the Blackboard site contains plenty of useful information which supports the teaching. Several students noted that they had 'enjoyed learning' on this module.

There is a benefit for the staff member who is forced to think through the complexity of an archaeological site in the field. This allows him/her to make audio notes and to take photographs that will explain issues to the students. This improves personal observations and enhances the research agenda.

The ability to produce podcasts to explain a point in a lecture - or indeed to enhance an issue - means that the lecturer can respond to specific queries coming from students. So for example, a student who does not understand the relationship between different areas of the city of Athens could be given a tailormade podcast to explain the point - and this would become a resource for all students on the module. This develops the use of the online discussion board within Blackboard to add audio and images.

Did implementation of this e-learning approach have any disadvantages or drawbacks?

Field recordings do not always include everything you want to say about a site - though they do add 'authenticity' to the podcast. In the future they would need to be enhanced with 'office-based' recordings.

One of the main drawbacks is that there is a time investment to put together a series of images and combine them with a soundtrack. Synchronising images and audio text - and adding in effects - can be time consuming. A three-minute podcast probably takes about 1 hour to produce the compilation. Students need to have Quicktime plug installed. Although the podcasts were tested across Mac and Windows platforms, it was noted that they were particularly stable over Safari (Mac and Windows) and Firefox (Windows).

There has been an issue about transferring the podcasts onto an iPod. The output size needs to be correct when converting formats.

How did this e-learning approach accord with or differ from any relevant departmental and/or institutional strategies?

Podcasts help:

• To maintain a learner centred approach to support university level learning and teaching provision.
• To embed excellence in e-learning within the learning & teaching of schools and departments.
• (Swansea University E-Learning Strategy, 2006)
• Accessibility

The Disability Discrimination Bill 2005 came into force in December 2006 and as the Disability Rights Commission states; the bill will 'place a duty on all public sector authorities to promote disability equality'.

Additionally the Swansea University e-Learning Strategy states - Students should have equality of access to e-learning materials and resources. No students should be disadvantaged by the introduction of e-learning elements in a course. All e-learning materials should be easily available and tools should be accessible to all students.

Therefore as podcasting is purely an audio medium, additional resources must be provided for people with hearing difficulties. Transcripts will need to be provided for each podcast.

This accessibility section has been approved by the University's Disability Working Group.