Weekly Update 7

This week I worked on my master project proposal, the IRB application, and finalizing my literature review.
For my method section my first idea was to search for different podcasts and catalog their different qualities. One problem is that in order to protect the intelectual property of faculty's lectures many universities only allow access to files to students registered in a specific course.
Because of this I decided that for my method I would identify podcasting implementation projects. With this i'm able to collect information about an institution's decision to implement pdcasting, describe the implementation methods, courses selected, distribution strategies, and future uses for the technology. This way I can select three institutions and share my findings with experts in order to analyize how all of this contribute to the effective implementation of podcasting in higher education.

Here is my master project application

http://echabolla.tripod.com/masterprojectapplication.pdf

Weekly Update 6

This week I worked on better organization of my literature. I created an excel file with the articles and how each covered topics in my subsections, this helped me realize that I needed to collect more literature because I think that what I have right now cannot completely describe podcasting. This week I plan to have my introduction and more than half of of my literature review done.

Weekly Update 5

This week I spent a lot of time in the library searching for literature in regards to my other topics. I found literature in regards on effective learning with audio, as well as effective communication in education with use of different media, and finally literature that dealt directly with how to effectively select media for instruction. This is a new section I added to my research, as I feel is important to know what is the process of selecting the correct media to meet your goals and if the universities that have been implementing podcasting take this into account.

Also, I started to write the lit review but I'm still trying to orginize my literature. In reading the other blogs I found out that using excel to create a list is helpful, I have been working on that and hopefully it will make the writing process a bit more effective. Below is my updated thesis, it is not much but I'm almost done with organizing my literature and will be reposting before we meet on Thursday.

http://echabolla.tripod.com/thesis.htm

Weekly Update 4

During this week I conducted a specific search for better literature in regards to podcasting. Many of the articles showcase what universities are doing, but not many that include better research in regards to implementation of this technology. I have been trying to setup my thesis and have had trouble in regards to determining topics and subtopics.