Using publicly available podcasts and vodcasts in the accounting curriculum: suggestions and student perceptions.

Zelin, Robert C., II ; Baird, Jane E.

INTRODUCTION

Podcasts are a relatively new phenomenon. Over the course of the last six years, the number of podcasts has grown exponentially. Similar to Internet sites, not all podcasts are credible or educational. However, a plethora of credible podcasts from national news sources, foundations, and educational institutions does exist. Podcasts can also be produced by instructors or students. The podcasts can be a primary or supplementary source of material for a class. Podcasts allow for learning to take place anytime and anywhere because they are portable. That is, they can be downloaded to a portable device such as a laptop computer or a MP3 type device. That portability can make them an attractive, convenient learning source for students. The purpose of this paper is to examine student perceptions of the effectiveness of podcasts and vodcasts as a supplemental learning tool in an Accounting Information Systems class and a Managerial Accounting class.

WHAT IS A PODCAST?

Podcast and podcasting are relatively new terms. Campbell (2005) reports that a September 2004 Google search on the word "podcasts" yielded 24 entries. In May 2005, the search yielded 4.46 million entries. By August 2005, the number of entries increased to over 60 million. The number has continued to grow and now stands in excess of 269 million entries (Google, 2010). Many definitions of a podcast have been proffered. The definitions mainly differ on technical aspects. The New Oxford American Dictionary (2006), which declared podcast to be the "Word of the Year for 2005," defines a podcast as "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player." The Oxford Dictionaries Online (2010) defines the term as "a multimedia digital file made available on the Internet for downloading to a portable media player, computer, etc." Meng (2005) offers a more technical definition that defines podcasting as "the process of capturing an audio event, song, speech, or mix of sounds and then posting that digital sound object to a Web site or "blog" in a data structure called an RSS 2.0 [Real Simple Syndication] envelope." Wikipedia (2010A) states that a podcast can have an audio form or a video form. Others, including Wikipedia (2010B), call the video form a VODcast (Video on Demand) (Meng, 2005). The online encyclopedia also mentions that podcasts can be heard on a mobile device or personal computer. Mobile devices include a smartphone, a basic cell phone with Internet capability, an iPod, a Zune or any MP3 player.

The word podcast is a combination of two words: iPod (an MP3 player manufactured by Apple Computer Company) and broadcast (Meng, 2005). A broadcast typically is single source (i.e. television, radio) at a broadcaster-specified time, whereas, a podcast can be heard either online or off-line at any convenient time or in any location (Wikipedia, 2010A).

PODCASTS AND VODCASTS FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC

Wikipedia (2010C) catalogs various uses for podcasts: public services (cultural tours, information dissemination, crime prevention, and literary purposes), education and academia (mobile learning (m-learning), mobile knowledge transfer, academic journal digests, professional development, and tutorials), entertainment (comedy, television commentary, radio series, sports, and fiction), news (television, radio, Internet-based, and print-based), music, politics, religion, publicity and marketing, health and special interests. Podcasts can be entertaining, such as ESPN Daily Radio, or serious, such as the University of California podcast on heart attack and stroke prevention (Grossman, 2010). A recent viewing in September 2010 of the Podcast section within the ITunes Store revealed several major sections. The sections within the Podcast menu included: arts, business, comedy, education, games and hobbies, government and organizations, health, kids and family, music, news and politics, religion and spirituality, science and medicine, society and culture, sports and recreation, technology, and TV and film. With all of this information available, the challenge is to find a way to harness relevant podcasts and use them to enhance learning in higher education.

USES FOR PODCASTS AND VODCASTS IN EDUCATION

Podcasting in higher education has become more prevalent in recent years. Podcasts from large universities, such as Ohio State University and the University of Minnesota, and smaller institutions, such as Bowdoin College, can be found on iTunes U within the iTunes Store. Podcasts can be made available to the general public or can be restricted to current students through controlled access. There are many ways that podcasts can be used in higher education, including recording and disseminating news, classroom lectures, meeting and conference notes, oral histories, interviews, sporting event information, recruiting information, and student projects (Meng, 2005). Several papers have addressed the ways podcasts have been used to date. Hew (2009) performed a literature review of the use of audio podcasts in kindergarten to higher education. The author limited his literature review to thirty articles on the subject of audio podcasts in education. A vast majority (93.3%) of the articles addressed podcasting in higher education and included the following content areas: "engineering and sciences (e.g., electrical engineering and biology), computing and information technology (e.g., computer science), language (e.g., English as a foreign language), business and law (e.g., marketing), education and other" (Hew, 2009). Two thirds of the studies were in the engineering and science and computing and information technology areas. Business and law related to 13.3% of the studies. The author found that a significant majority of the audio podcasts were either recordings of an instructor's lecture or recordings of supplemental learning material.

Podcasts and vodcasts can only be useful as learning tools if students actually use them. If they do not find them interesting or perceive them to be useful, they likely will not take the time to listen to them. Therefore, several studies have looked at student attitudes and reactions to their use in the curriculum. Student surveys have revealed that most students prefer to listen to the audio podcast on their personal computer (94% in the Copley (2007) study and 81% in the Lane (2006) study). Though student response results can vary, the majority of students seem to prefer to listen to podcasts in the five to ten minute range (Anzai, 2007; Chan & Lee, 2005; and Muppala & Kong, 2007). Students also felt that audio podcasts aided them in understanding content covered in class and/or helped them to prepare for an examination. (Anzai, 2007; Clark et al., 2007; Sutton-Brady et. al., 2009 and Scutter et. al., 2010). In the Scutter et. al. (2010) study, ninety lectures on medical radiation were made available to 160 students. Half of the students completed a questionnaire that asked about what they found to be the most helpful in regard to podcasted lectures. Their responses revealed that the most useful aspects were: "Being able to hear the lecture again (70%), Flexibility of where I can listen to the lecture (61%), Revision for exams (59%), Clarification of issues or questions (50%), Can just listen instead of also taking notes in lectures (49%) and Means I don't have to go to lectures (14%)." (Scutter et. al., 2010, 184). Sutton-Brady et. al. (2009) also reported that students appreciated the flexibility of location feature.

Several articles have been written about the use of both podcasts and vodcasts. Parson et. al. (2009) found that students felt that podcasts and vodcasts were beneficial to learning the course material. However, the students felt that the material should supplement their learning and not serve as a substitute for a traditional classroom experience. Shantikumar (2009) found that students felt that a vodcast improved the value of the supplemental learning tool as opposed to an "audio only" podcast. Additionally, students reported via a questionnaire that a podcast or vodcast was helpful in the reviewing process for an examination and expressed the desire for more podcasts or vodcasts in the curriculum. Dupagne et. al. (2009) conducted an experiment in which all students, in both a control group and experimental group, viewed twelve videos in class. The twelve videos were made available to the experimental group in the form of a vodcast. In contrast, in the control group, students were only able to view the videos in class. The authors reported that the students who were able to view the vodcasts outside of class (experimental group) did not outperform students in the control group on examination questions that related to the videos. The authors reported low viewership in the experimental group which ranged from 21.8% to 58.6% on the twelve videos. When asked about their viewership, students reported that they had already viewed the video in class and had adequate notes, they did not have enough time to view the vodcast or they experienced technical difficulties with the vodcast. Consistent with other findings, the students felt that the vodcasts served as a helpful supplemental learning tool. Unlike other studies, McKinney et. al. (2009) conducted an experiment to determine the actual learning benefit of podcasts rather than looking only at student opinions. Students participating in an extra credit psychology experiment were assigned either to a lecture only condition or a podcast only condition. Students in both groups received the same lecture either live or via podcast/vodcast (podcast for students with a mp3 player that did not have video capability). The students in both conditions were supplied with a copy of the PowerPoint slides on which they could take notes. After a week of studying the material and recording their study time in a journal, students in both conditions completed a fifty item examination over the material. Analysis of the resulting scores indicated that students in the podcast/vodcast condition who took notes while listening to/viewing the podcast/vodcast scored significantly higher on the examination than those in the lecture condition.

Saeed et. al. (2009) conducted a study that examined the effect of students' learning styles on their attitudes toward Internet technologies. The authors administered the Felder-Soloman Learning Style Inventory to 204 undergraduate and graduate students who were majoring in information technology. The 44 item questionnaire provides an individual with a score on each of four different scales (active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, visual/verbal and sequential/global). The authors then matched various avenues of Internet technology with the various learning styles. The authors found that podcasts were preferred by individuals whose learning styles were reflective, verbal and sequential in nature and the vodcasts were preferred by individuals whose learning styles were visual in nature.

These studies indicate that podcasts and vodcasts can be useful supplemental learning tools for students in higher education. Many of these studies utilized instructor-prepared podcasts, such as lectures. The current paper differs from the earlier reports by using only publicly available podcasts obtained from major news outlets and an internationally recognized university. The design of a podcast/vodcast assignment for an Accounting Information Systems class and for a Managerial Accounting class is discussed. The paper also reports student attitudes toward and perceptions of the podcasts and vodcast, solicited via a student questionnaire, to determine if students find them to be useful supplemental learning tools in Accounting courses.

THE ASSIGNMENT

A podcast/vodcast assignment was selected because a large amount of credible, relevant and informative business-related material is available. This material can be used to augment what is covered in class lectures, textbooks, and assignments. Podcasts and vodcasts can serve as a new and exciting medium for engaging students in the learning process. Podcasts and vodcasts offer students 24/7 accessibility to learning materials. If a podcast is downloaded to a MP3 type player or cell phone, the student can access learning material anywhere in the world without the added weight of a textbook or computer.

In designing the podcast/vodcast assignment it was important to take into consideration the content of the course and the demographics of a particular class. The Managerial Accounting class mainly consisted of management and marketing majors. An attempt was made to find podcasts that incorporated management and marketing principles and also possessed a managerial accounting component. The primary audience in the Accounting Information Systems class was accounting majors with a few finance and management majors. For this audience, it was important to select podcasts that dealt with technology, internal control and business. Additionally, for both classes, it was important to find podcasts/vodcasts that the students would find interesting so that they would be motivated to learn the material.

Apple's iTunes was utilized in the selection process. First, the top 100 podcast/vodcast sites were reviewed for business content. Next, key word searches were performed within iTunes. After listening to several podcasts and viewing several vodcasts, it was determined that most applicable selections came from BusinessWeek (Cover Stories and Technology and You), The Wall Street Journal Report and Harvard University. The selections, along with the source, the length of time, and class utilization can be found in Table One.

The first two podcasts were selected for business content and for student interest. Most college students seem to be interested in or are very familiar with MTV (Music Television) and tend to be involved in a social networking system like MySpace. It was hoped that these selections would especially appeal to the management and marketing majors in the Managerial Accounting class.

The vodcast from Harvard University's Extension School's Computer Science E-1 course entitled "Understanding Computers and the Internet" was selected because the lecture on computer security centered around phishing and cookies- items that impact every computer user. The vodcast was almost two hours in length. In order to keep the assignment to a reasonable length, students were instructed to watch only the first twenty one minutes of the vodcast.

The remaining podcasts were selected based on applicability for the Accounting Information Systems class. Two of the podcasts were of a general computer security nature and were offered to the Managerial Accounting students as an extra credit assignment.

After the podcast/vodcast selections were made, an informative PowerPoint presentation on the topic was designed. The PowerPoint presentation included a section defining a podcast, a vodcast, and a podcast receiver (software for reading or subscribing to a podcast), also known as a podcatcher. The next section of the PowerPoint presentation contained a disclaimer that stated that the professor did not endorse any podcast receiver products and that the professor did not encourage the students to purchase any product from the podcast receiver sites. Furthermore, the disclaimer stated that the podcast/vodcast exercise was strictly for educational purposes. The third section of the PowerPoint presentation demonstrated how to download iTunes (the most popular receiver) onto one's computer (every student in the class owned a laptop computer). Additionally, students were instructed how to search for and download podcasts/vodcasts. The final section of the presentation highlighted the exact location of each podcast/vodcast assignment.

During the class period following the PowerPoint lecture on podcasts and vodcasts, students were required to show if they had downloaded a podcast receiver to their personal laptop computer. As an incentive, one bonus point on a future examination was offered to the Managerial Accounting students and a homework grade of two points was offered to the Accounting Information Systems students. Email reminders were sent the night before the assignment was due. Ninety-five percent of the Accounting Information Systems students and fifty-seven percent of the Managerial Accounting students downloaded a podcast receiver by the due date.

The podcast/vodcast assignment was posted on the course web page for each class. Students were given in excess of two weeks to complete the entire assignment. For each podcast or vodcast assigned, a series of multiple choice, true/false and essay questions were designed. The questions appeared within the quizzing function of an online classroom management system, Desire2Learn. The multiple choice and true/false questions were automatically scored. The essay questions were evaluated by the instructor.

THE SURVEY

Following the assignment, students were given the opportunity to complete a questionnaire about their use of and attitudes toward podcasts and vodcasts. Students in both the Accounting Information Systems class and the Managerial Accounting class were offered the opportunity to earn three extra credit points upon completion of the questionnaire. In the Accounting Information Systems classes, ninety-seven percent (60) of the students completed the survey and in the Managerial Accounting class, eighty-six percent (30) of the students completed the survey. The questionnaire addressed the issue of podcast receivers, modes of podcast/vodcast delivery, podcast/vodcast versus other modes of delivery, interest in and amount learned from each podcast/vodcast, future use of podcasts/vodcasts and demographic information.

SURVEY RESULTS

Every student participant, except for one, used iTunes as her/his podcast receiver. Two-thirds of the students reported that they already had a podcast receiver stored on their computer prior to the assignment being issued. However, only six (6.7%) reported that they had ever listened to a podcast. It can be inferred that the students most likely used their podcast receiver to listen to music or watch videos. All but one student listened to the podcasts or watched the vodcast on their computer rather than on a MP3 type device. This finding is consistent with other studies previously cited.

When queried about whether they would rather listen to a podcast or watch a vodcast, students were almost evenly divided, with 47.7 percent preferring a podcast and 52.3 percent preferring a vodcast.. However, when asked whether they prefer listening to a podcast or reading a textbook, 84.1% of those responding indicated that they preferred listening to a podcast. When given the option of reading an article in a magazine or listening to a podcast, 65.5% of those responding preferred listening to a podcast. The final comparison involved listening to a live speaker or listening to a podcast. Almost 52% of those responding preferred the podcast.

When the student participants were asked whether they preferred to watch a vodcast or read a textbook, 89.7% of those responding preferred the vodcast. When a comparison was made between reading a newspaper or magazine article and watching a vodcast, once again the vodcast was favored by 76.1% of those responding. Finally, when asked whether they preferred listening to a live speaker or watching a vodcast, 56.3% of those responding preferred the vodcast.

The next section of the questionnaire involved asking the respondents about their podcast/vodcast interest level and the amount that they learned from each podcast/vodcast. A seven point Likert-type scale was used with one representing "Not Interesting" and seven representing "Very interesting" on the interest query. For the amount learned query, one represented "Nothing" and seven represented "A Great Deal." The resulting mean scores are reported in Table Two.

Students were next asked two questions relating to the likelihood of listening to another podcast or watching another vodcast on any topic or on a business topic in the future. Once again, a seven point Likert-type scale was utilized with one representing "Never Again" and seven representing "100 percent." A mean response score of 4.77 was found for the question about any topic and 4.54 was found for the question about a business topic. When asked about the optimum length of a podcast in minutes, approximately 61 percent of the responses fell between ten and fifteen minutes and 72.3 percent of the responses fell between ten and twenty minutes. When asked about the optimum length of a vodcast in minutes, 28.9% indicated twenty minutes, 26.7% indicated fifteen minutes and 17.8% indicated ten minutes.

Students were queried about whether or not they would recommend the podcast/vodcast assignment for future classes. The vast majority of the students, 96.7%, felt that the assignment should be used for future classes.

DISCUSSION OF THE RESULTS

The analysis of data from the survey yielded some interesting results. Students preferred listening to a podcast or watching a vodcast over written forms of communication, such as a textbook or magazine article. The notion of finding the written word not as appealing is not surprising given that students often comment about not reading or not enjoying reading their textbooks. However, the magnitude of preference was surprising. Also surprising was the fact that students preferred vodcasts over podcasts by only a slim margin. Most students tend to be visual learners instead of verbal learners (Felder & Spurlin, 2005). One would have expected the vodcast percentage to be much higher. A possible explanation could be that the students only viewed one vodcast and it was of a classroom lecture. If more vodcasts were required in the assignment or if the vodcast would have been a professionally edited production with multimedia components, then the preference for vodcasts may have been higher.

It was also interesting that over half of the students would rather listen to a podcast or watch a vodcast than hear a live speaker. The convenience factor may have come into to play with this preference. Podcasts and vodcasts offer time flexibility, whereas a live speaker is tied to a specific date and time. Also, the students can listen to the podcasts or watch the vodcasts as many times as necessary to learn the material, whereas with a live speaker they must absorb the entire speech the first time through.

The finding that students were interested in and learned from the podcasts and vodcasts is encouraging. It is important to select podcasts from credible sources. A more difficult task is the selection of the podcast. It was initially thought that the podcast about MTV would score the highest in the interest category. Instead the podcast about MTV fell in the middle of the interest rankings.

Students provided reasonable estimates for the optimum length of a podcast or vodcast. It was thought that students might opt for short time lengths, like five minutes (a song or a music video is typically four to five minutes long). Instead, the vast majority fell within the ten to twenty minute span.

It was encouraging to note that students, on average, indicated that they would listen to a business-related podcast or watch a business-related vodcast in the future. Listening to podcasts produced by credible sources like BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal may aid the students, or faculty members for that matter, in their awareness of business issues and in their ability to solve business-related problems because of increased knowledge. Since podcasts can be downloaded along with music to a portable device, any amount of free time could be transformed into a learning event.

Overall, students were pleased with the podcast/vodcast assignment. The overwhelming majority indicated that the assignment should be used in the future. In the Managerial Accounting class an additional extra credit podcast assignment was designed because students had verbally expressed that they enjoyed the required podcasts.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Incorporating podcasts into the accounting curriculum can produce positive results. Podcasts can be played on devices (computers, MP3 type players, cell phones) that students typically own. Instructors do not have to produce their own podcasts and vodcasts to make use of the technology. Many credible business sources are producing podcasts that can supply students with current and relevant business knowledge. In addition to sources discussed previously, iTunes U can be a valuable source for materials.

ITunes U was developed by Apple Corporation in 2007. iTunes U allows educators to disseminate information to interested parties, namely students, via any device, typically a computer or a smartphone, that allows access to the Internet. If the podcast or vodcast, is downloaded to a computer, the content can be transferred to a mp3 type device, such as an iPod or Zune. When a mp3 device is used, the learner is not constrained by Internet access and can learn material in an anytime/anywhere environment. In order to be an iTunes U content provider a university or college must go through an application process. Within the application process, a university or college must choose whether to be an internal access provider, a public access provider or both. If a university or college desires to be an internal access only provider, then all content will be password protected. If an entity chooses to be a public access only provider, then entity's content is available to everyone (iTunes U A, 2010).

As of September 2010, the iTunes U web site states that over 600 universities and colleges are active iTunes U providers. A count of public access providers that are affiliated with a college or university on iTunes U revealed 330 providers worldwide. Content within iTunes U includes class lectures (audio only or video with audio), class-related documents (stored as PDF files), slideshows, audiobooks and tours (iTunes U B, 2010). A recent search (September, 2010) within the iTunes Store revealed 549 entries within iTunes U that contained the key word accounting and 888 entries within the podcast category that contained the key word accounting.

It is apparent that there is a plethora of choices of podcasts and vodcasts for accounting instructors to use in the classroom. The biggest challenge may be choosing the appropriate ones from the vast array available. The results of our survey, as well as previous surveys, suggest that the podcast or vodcast should ideally be 15-20 minutes long or less and should be relevant as a supplement to, but not substitute for, other learning materials. Students appreciate the ability to participate in a valuable learning experience anywhere and at any time. If students have their way, podcasts and vodcasts will be the wave of the future in the accounting curriculum.

REFERENCES

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Campbell, G. (2005). There's something in the air: Podcasting in education. Educause Review, November/December, 33-46.

Chan, A & M. Lee (2005). A mp3 a day keeps the worries away: Exploring the use of podcasting to address preconceptions and alleviate pre-class anxiety amongst undergraduate information technology students. Proceedings of the Student Experience Conference, 58-70.

Clark, S, C. Sutton-Brady, K. Scott, & L. Taylor (2007). Short podcasts: The impact on learning and teaching. Proceedings of the mLearn Conference 2007, 285-289.

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Felder, R & J. Spurlin (2005). Applications, reliability and validity of the index of learning styles. International Journal of Engineering Education, 21(1), 103-112.

Google Search Engine (2010). "Podcasting". http://www.google.com/#hl=en&source=hp&q=podcasts&aq=f&aqi= g10&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=CWZ7JBfKDTLfSE4qINoyZ9JIGAAAAqgQFT9D- jyA&pbx=1&fp=9471436a38449abf viewed September 2010.

Grossman, W. (2010). Prevention: Reducing your risk of heart attack and stroke. Retrieved September, 2010 from http://www.uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=18548.

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Robert C. Zelin II, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Jane E. Baird, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Table One: Podcast and Vodcast Descriptions

Title                 Source              Time             Class

Can MTV Stay      BusinessWeek      15:18             Mgr-Required
Cool?                                                 AIS-Required

The MySpace       BusinessWeek      23:20             Mgr-Required
Generation                                            AIS-Required

Understanding     Harvard           1:50:00 in total  Mgr-Required
Computers and     University        21:00 Required    AIS-Required
the Internet-     Extension
Computer          School Computer
Security-         Science Class
Vodcast

Net Privacy       BusinessWeek-     8:11              Mgr-Extra Credit
                  Technology and                      AIS-Required
                  You

Is Privacy a      Wall Street       15:00             Mgr-Extra Credit
Thing of the      Journal Report                      AIS-Required
Past?

An Update on      Wall Street       6:36              AIS-Required
Sarbanes-Oxley    Journal/
                  Virginia Tech
                  MBA

Secure about      Wall Street       7:44              AIS-Required
Security          Journal Report

Table Two: Mean Scores for Interest in Topic and Amount Learned
from Topic

                                              Interest   Learned
Title                         Source            Mean      Mean      N

Can MTV Stay Cool?     BusinessWeek             4.73      4.37     90

The MySpace            BusinessWeek             5.09      4.64     90
Generation

Understanding          Harvard University
Computers and the      Extension School         4.90      5.08     90
Internet- Computer     Computer Science
Security- Vodcast      Class

Net Privacy            BusinessWeek-            4.59      4.56     86
                       Technology and You

Is Privacy a Thing     Wall Street Journal      4.98      4.84     86
of the Past?           Report

An Update on           Wall Street Journal/     3.98      4.23     60
Sarbanes-Oxley         Virginia Tech MBA

Secure about           Wall Street Journal      4.62      4.53     60
Security               Report