Group items tagged

Podcast lectures for uni students A lecturer at a West Yorkshire university has abolished traditional lectures in favour of podcasts. Dr Bill Ashraf, a senior lecturer in microbiology at Bradford University, says the move will free up time for more small group teaching. He told The Times Higher Education Supplement that first year biochemistry students would watch or listen to virtual lectures in their own time. Students will access the podcasts via their MP3 player, phone or computer. Text questions Students will ask questions about lectures via text message, which will be answered in Dr Ashraf's blog. The lecturer has also been putting his appointment times online so students can check if he is available or book a meeting without coming into the university. Dr Ashraf said the move would better suit the needs of distance learners, part-time students and those balancing studies with family and work. He said: "Some lecture classes have 250 students, so I question the effectiveness of a didactic lecture for an hour."

Podcast lectures for uni students A lecturer at a West Yorkshire university has abolished traditional lectures in favour of podcasts. Dr Bill Ashraf, a senior lecturer in microbiology at Bradford University, says the move will free up time for more small group teaching. He told The Times Higher Education Supplement that first year biochemistry students would watch or listen to virtual lectures in their own time. Students will access the podcasts via their MP3 player, phone or computer. Text questions Students will ask questions about lectures via text message, which will be answered in Dr Ashraf's blog. The lecturer has also been putting his appointment times online so students can check if he is available or book a meeting without coming into the university. Dr Ashraf said the move would better suit the needs of distance learners, part-time students and those balancing studies with family and work. He said: "Some lecture classes have 250 students, so I question the effectiveness of a didactic lecture for an hour."

This report will be useful to anyone interested in the current state of online American literature resources. Its purpose is twofold: to offer a sampling of the types of digital resources currently available or under development in support of American literature; and to identify the prevailing concerns of specialists in the field as expressed during interviews conducted between July 2004 and May 2005. Part two of the report consolidates the results of these interviews with an exploration of resources currently available. Part three examines six categories of digital work in progress: (1) quality-controlled subject gateways, (2) author studies, (3) public domain e-book collections and alternative publishing models, (4) proprietary reference resources and full-text primary source collections, (5) collections by design, and (6) teaching applications. This survey is informed by a selective review of the recent literature. Daphnée Rentfrow assisted in writing and editing the report. This 176 page report is also available from purchase for $30 from CLIR or the DLF. It is freely available in html or pdf formats from their web sites. This publication was deposited with permission of the publisher who holds copyright (Digital Library Federation Council on Library and Information Resources Washington, DC.).