M-learning is the new black at university

University of Otago students are watching or listening to many more of their lectures through podcast transmissions, as a big trend towards "mobile education" gathers momentum on campus.

However, despite the growing popularity of podcasts, students are still attending university lectures in the usual numbers.

Students are using the podcasts, involving a series of digital media files which they often download to their laptop computers, to refresh their memory about classes, or to help out if they have missed a class through illness.

Students can also transfer lecture materials to other mobile devices, such as MP3 players.

This enables them to listen to lectures over their earphones while walking.

"It doesn't replace a lecture, but rather is another tool students can use in their learning," Information Technology Service (ITS) teaching and learning facilities manager Emerson Pratt said.

Since the service began podcasting some lectures in 2008, the number of podcast downloads by students a semester has more than trebled, from under 100,000 then to 299,408 in the second semester last year.

Total downloads a year exceeded 330,000 in 2009 and reached 514,224 last year.

They are expected to grow further this year.

Mr Pratt said it was "always gratifying" to see work put in to a project coming to fruition.

About 95% of Otago students had portable laptop computers, and most used their laptops in downloading podcast material.

A recent survey showed the proportion of students also owning another internet-linked mobile device, including smart phones, had risen from 17% in 2008 to about 49% last year.

Dr Jacques van der Meer, who co-ordinates the university's Student Learning Centre, said "a major new move towards mobile learning", often termed "m-learning", was taking place on campus.

This would be a growing trend, given students wanted to "communicate 24/7" and such approaches offered "new opportunities for learning and teaching".

"Learning doesn't stop at 5pm when they leave the class," he said.

ITS organisers said podcasts were initially audio only, but more video podcasts had been added.

This semester, material from 84 university papers is being offered via podcast, mostly in lectures.

Among the papers accessible via podcast are two large first-year health science courses involving 3963 students.

The podcasts mostly involve authenticated access, meaning only students taking the respective papers can access the material.

But in another milestone, the university last month also released its 500th publicly available podcast.

Members of the public can access these podcasts at the university internet site www.otago.ac.nz.

Dr Erika Pearson, a senior lecturer in the university media, film and communication department, said there were still some significant factors limiting the further growth of mobile communications technology in Dunedin and elsewhere in New Zealand.

The cost of mobile devices, including tablet computers, remained significantly higher in New Zealand than in North America, Dr Pearson said.

Visitors to this country who were used to operating in a context of "ubiquitous" wireless computer technology in the United States were also often frustrated when they found that Wi-Fi wireless access was effectively limited to a series of hot spots rather than being continuously available, she said.