I found a great article that explains how RSS feeds were incorporated into the design of an online management class. The class used a blended approach. While the first class of the course was classroom style, the remainder of the course was designed so that podcasts were sent to adult learners using RSS feeds. The first class was primarily used to ensure that students felt comfortable with all of the technology that would be utilized within the course.
The school is Athens Technical College and the article by Randall J. Hollandsworth details how this hybrid approach to learning Principles of Management.
Even though the article is a bit dated, it really explains the overall rollout and design of the course. The design included many of the technologies that we are reading about in our course (i.e., iTunes, podcasting, RSS feeds and aggregators, and iPods). All classes by the instructor or guest speaker were pre-recorded and then attached to an RSS feed so students could pick up content through iTunes. Interestingly, the student feedback on the course is also included, and it's very positive.
Here's the article: http://www.scribd.com/doc/39823389/Rss-Feeds-at-Athens-Tech
Reference: Hollandsworth, R. (2007). A Hybrid Approach for Online Lectures in the Business Classroom. TechTrends, 51(4), 39-44. doi: 10.1007/s11528-007-0054-4
Podcast Reflection
I am so humbled by the two podcasts I reviewed on assistive technology. I watched the lady from Paris who has an office in her house and works, I think she said, full time. And, I also watched the young boy from Charlton, NY who uses InDesign with his Mac. The most striking thread in both was that technology gave them a new lease on life. The reading just does not do this group of people who have found a lifeline in technology justice. You need to watch the podcast to appreciate their situations. This also highlights the power of using a podcast as the medium to learn. Wow!
Mickey,
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting to hear about. I like how they had the first part of the class take place in the classroom in order to clarify the expectations and make sure everyone was comfortable with the technology. I think that I would enjoy a learning experience like this.
hey Deborah, i thought that this was very useful. i like the class sitting. i do wonder how it would effect learning by spliting the group up and try to teach the same thing but on class room setting and the other through podcasting
ReplyDeleteMickey Lord, Thanks for the article provided! What I am interested in is how we can use RSS Feeds in classroom and this is a very good example.
ReplyDelete