Podcasts to Enhance Learning in Online Degree Programs at AIU Online
December 1, 2006
Podcasts to Enhance Learning in Online Degree Programs at AIU Online
AIU Online, the virtual campus of American InterContinental University, is now using podcasts to supplement learning for time-challenged students studying for online college degrees.
In airports and on planes, not all of the people with earphones on are listening to music. Instead, they may be students learning. If they are enrolled in the online college degree programs through AIU Online, they may be listening to specially tailored multimedia content that supplements their online courses with the University. By making podcast content available that the student can download and listen to whenever time is available, AIU Online has solved the students’ dilemma of how to make the best use of downtime imposed by travel and other job and family-related activities.
AIU Online provides students in online degree programs with virtual classrooms that are multimedia-rich learning environments. These virtual classrooms are designed to support the learning preferences of the University’s population of adult learners. For students who learn best by listening, there is audio content. For others who prefer to read or interact with course materials, there are texts and interactive course materials available. The podcasts make the audio content from one class session each week portable. By simply downloading the audio and listening to it whenever they have time, students can continue learning when they are offline. For students who prefer to listen and read, a text of the audio content is also available for download. This provides the adult learner two learning modalities – audio and visual.
According to Dr. Alan Drimmer, President of AIU Online, “because AIU Online is focused on the needs of time-challenged adult learners studying online for their university degree, we are using podcasting to supplement and accelerate the learning process. Students in our online degree programs use the podcasts to add another layer in the learning experience. We have not developed them as substitute for the traditional classroom, but rather as an enhancement for the virtual classroom.”
About AIU Online
AIU Online (http://www.aiuonline.edu/) is the web-based virtual campus of American InterContinental University, an international university with residential campuses located in Atlanta, Georgia; Los Angeles, California; South Florida; Houston, Texas; London, England; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates (The American University in Dubai).
AIU Online's mission is to provide for the varying educational needs of a culturally diverse and geographically dispersed student body with the goal of preparing students academically, personally, and professionally for successful careers. The degree programs offered through AIU Online allow students the freedom to study online anytime to achieve their Associate's, Bachelor's completion or Master's degrees in an ever-expanding range of degree programs.