Automated tool to make iTunesU lectures … will it kill lectures as we know them?
AppleInsider | Apple filing takes Podcasts to the next level
Technologically this makes a lot of sense, and it will be a hit among Universities. Watch for a iTunesU boom. Ironically, tools like this can eventually kill the lecture as we know it.
A student in my lecture received a D last semester because he never showed up in lectures or discussion sections. He relied pretty much exclusively on the PowerPoint slides I posted and perhaps also notes form fellow students. He did respectfully in all 3 exams, but got hardly any points for participation and lost half of the grade for the final project because of misunderstandings of requirements.
The point is that he actually was able to master about 80% of what I had to say, on his own, with my slides. I guess he’d have got 90% or more if I had done the iTunesU thing. If I were 20 years younger I’d have done the same — assuming developmental psychology was not his passion. I learned what I needed to know about geography, history, linguistics, neurons, and Jesus from numerous iTunesU lectures. And I can always go back and/or explore other resources if I needed more. Talk about the joy of learning.
I know discussions and experimentations along this line have been going on for ages, and this won’t be the end of anything. But I saw the face of the student — who came to see me after the grade was posted — when I stumbled on this news. Maybe it was my fault not doing video-podcasting?