Soil Fertility and Beyond: Podcasting to Increase Student Interest.

The rapid development of communication technology can be integrated into standard teaching methods to enhance learning and increase student interest in the subject matter.  Podcasting, or the systematic posting of audio/video files to the internet via RSS feeds, is one of these emerging technologies.  The objective of this study was to determine if integration of audio podcasts increased student learning and interest in an undergraduate soil fertility course.  Audio podcasts were developed with the objective of illustrating the applied aspects of course material.  The podcasts were mainly recorded interviews with professionals in Agronomy.  The podcasts were made available through RSS feed and a standard website throughout the semester.  At the end of the semester, a student survey was used to investigate student preferences for accessing and listening to the podcasts as well as the impact of the podcasts on their learning and interest in soil fertility. Methods of integrating podcasting into the course and results of the student surveys will be presented.