Background & Context

 

Why did you use this e-learning approach?

 

Podcasting allows students to see a series of images of archaeological sites or objects, and to listen to an 'expert' commentary made in the field. Images in books or articles are normally in black-and-white and do not always show the points that the lecturer wants students to understand. A podcast can allow the staff member to focus on a specific aspect of an archaeological site with a commentary to explain the issue. The project allowed the lecturer to use a series of visual images for teaching for which he owned the copyright. Podcasts provided students with an explanation of the images and therefore goes beyond a simple digital library.

 

What was the context in which you used this e-learning approach?

 

The material was prepared for use by both undergraduate and MA students. The level 1 module was on the Archaeology of the Greek World. Many first year students have not visited the archaeological sites concerned and find it hard to visualise the spaces. The course consists of 100+ students. The module covers the period from the Late Bronze Age Aegean (Crete/Thera/Mycenae) to the end of the 5th century BCE. It includes a range of 'type' sites, both well known (Olympia, Delphi, Athens) as well as sites that are likely to be unfamiliar (Karphi, Lefkandi). Students at level 1 will either be on degree schemes such as Ancient History or Classical Civilisation where there can be some previous knowledge (e.g. A-level Classical Civilisation) or they will be taking a degree in another discipline within the School of Humanities or the School of Arts. Walking through the Kerameikos (ancient) cemetery in Athens: http://davidgill.co.uk/movies/Lacedaemonians.mov.

 

Other material was used for the MA module on Greek and Latin Epigraphy (though it will have an application for the Level 2 module on Writing Ancient History where there is a project on epigraphy). I wanted to explore a topographical Greek inscription concerning a boundary dispute and present the information visually. For example for understanding the arrangements of the Ptolemaic naval base of Arsinoe-in-the-Peloponnese (on a peninsula opposite Athens and near the island of Poros) images were taken showing areas mentioned in the text: forts, tunny traps, possible area of slipways. These recordings and images were taken as part of a field project on the Ptolemies in the Aegean.

 

You can view the podcasts here  - http://learninglab.swan.ac.uk/heaexamples.html

 

The Arsinoe material has also been shared with colleagues in North America who are working on Hellenistic boundary disputes.  Prior to this students would have to reply on images supplied by the lecturer via PowerPoint or posted on the web.

 

What was the design?

 

This project has a focus on student-centred learning, encouraging a collaborative experience by using Podcasting with undergraduate (BA) and postgraduate (taught MA) students in the Department of Classics, Ancient History and Egyptology. The project encouraged reflective learning using material from archaeological sites and public collections of material culture. Students have already chosen to use 'Web 2.0' technologies to present information to enhance their assessed work. Podcasts would be used to develop the range of learning materials available to students. Staff members have also been using digital recordings alongside digital images as part of their archaeological fieldwork in the Mediterranean.

 

The project was designed to address key archaeological sites. For example the topography of the Athenian acropolis, deme sites in Attica, and Ptolemaic bases in the Aegean. Recordings and images were made on site.

 

The podcasting was added to existing modules. Some Level 1 students seemed to show a lack of awareness in recognising key monuments and sites. The podcast project aimed to fill gaps in their knowledge. The Athenian acropolis podcast was linked specifically to one of the seminars.  All material was prepared by the lecturer on the module.

 

How did you implement and embed this e-learning approach?

 

Podcasting was being used on a trial basis to support learning of Greek archaeology and Greek epigraphy. It supported some of the studies of on-line material used for Greek archaeology.

 

The podcasts were used as supplementary material for sections of the module on the Archaeology of the Greek World. The general use of the podcasts was evaluated through the examination where in 2006/7 there were stronger responses to the image recognition section of the examination paper. (It should be noted that a set of copyright free images had also been supplied in previous years.) The podcasts are linked from the topic folder within Blackboard so that students can find the relevant material as they progress through the module.

 

The Mac OS X software is fairly intuitive to use (unlike Windows!) so it was fairly easy to experiment with the creation of the material.

 

The challenge is to plan ahead during fieldwork to anticipate images and sound files that will be needed. However audio tracks can be created at a later date.  It should be noted that students do not need an iPod or MP4 player to access the podcasts.

 

Technology Used

 

What technologies and/or e-tools were available to you?

 

The audio recording in the field was made with a hand-held Olympus VN-960PC recorder which can be plugged into a PC (not Mac) via USB. This has a clip-on microphone and was easy to operate in museums and on archaeological sites. This recorder is compact and fairly robust - and it came with a recommendation from anthropologists.

 

Images were taken on a Canon Powershot (with 1 GB CF card) which were then transferred onto a PowerBook or an eMac.

 

Audio and images were combined on a Mac using iMovie Software. (The USB audio files were transferred from a PC and worked perfectly on the Mac via iTunes.) The software comes as standard on Mac OS X and there is an easy visual interface to align image and audio. The iMovie software has an interface with iTunes (for audio recordings) and iPhoto (for images) which assists with the compilation of the podcast.

 

Alternatively the podcast could be prepared - for non Mac users - on Moviemaker for Windows.

 

The podcast could then be uploaded onto either Blackboard, iTunes or a commercial server. iMovie allows the creation of webstreaming or DVD quality files but these are considerably larger.

 

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.

 

Lessons Learned

 

Summary and Reflection

 

Students have been responding to staff podcasts with the creation of their own pieces. An example, drawn from a level 2 Egyptology module where the students were working on an object from the University's Egypt Centre as part of their continuous assessment was posted on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDcFeECBKeI

 

This case study first appeared in the JISC publication Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning.

Gill, D., & Hall, C. (2008). Use of podcasting in Archaeology. In Exploring Tangible Benefits of e-Learning: Does investment yield interest? : JISC infonet.