Education

“I’m using my iPod for studying - really!”

Since January, about 100 Université de Montréal students have been walking around with digital MP3 players on loan from the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire sur les technologies émergentes (interdisciplinary research centre on emerging technologies, known by the French acronym CITÉ), which is affiliated with the Department of Communications. But please don’t disturb them – they’re studying! 

“We got permission from five professors to have their course content loaded as podcasts to complement their courses,” explains André H. Caron, the Director of CITÉ, holder of the Bell Chair in Interdisciplinary Research on Emerging Technologies, and head of this research study, the only one of the kind in Canada. That means the students in the study can concentrate on their studies whether they’re on the bus or the metro, in the cafeteria or anywhere else.

With funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the researcher purchased Apple iPod and Zen Vision: M from Creative MP3 players that can store hundreds of hours of video and audio files. The students recruited for the study will be required to keep a journal and attend focus group meetings to gauge the usefulness of this new tool. The professors will also have questions to answer once the experiment is over. “Before launching the study, we did some documentary research and found that universities like Berkeley, Duke and Stanford were already using podcasting this way, but there’s not much analysis of findings in the scientific literature. Our study will measure precisely to what extent these devices can help improve teaching.” 

Professors Jean-Louis Brazier and Daniel Thirion (pharmacy), Philippe Lemay (industrial design), Sorel Friedman (English studies) and Jacqueline Samperi (Italian studies) were given technical training to become familiar with the various possible uses of podcasts in a pedagogical setting. In some cases, all the students in a group will be equipped with MP3 players, while in others only part of the class will have access, for comparison purposes.
The scientific team put together for the project includes Rhoda Weiss-Lambrou and Diane Raymond, respectively the Director and Coordinator of the Centre d’études et de formation en enseignement supérieur (post-secondary education training and study centre, known as CEFES), Letizia Caronia, a professor at the University of Bologna and guest researcher at  CITÉ, and students Zeineb Gharbi (postdoc), Nicolas Bencherki and Denis Aubé (master’s students).

The Office de la langue française defines “baladodiffusion” – the French equivalent of podcasting – as follows: a means of transmission that lets subscribers automatically download radio, audio or video content to be transferred to a digital device for listening or viewing at a later time. Should the universities promote the use of digital devices as a teaching aid? Why not? But it’s important not to invest in inappropriate tools, as was the case when students were required to buy laptops that soon became outdated.

During a demonstration at CITÉ, our reporter was able to see the quality of images produced by the latest devices. “The videos can be used to support course content,” Caron explains. “For example, a professor of cardiology could include written notes and a video showing blood circulation in the heart. For language courses, the audio component would probably be the most used. Some professors will make their entire course available to students, while others will only offer part of the course.”