“What happened when I started to implement podcasts is that students felt much more comfortable, were much more willing to engage in dialogue, and felt like it was a practice that they could continue to do after leaving the university because it was something they could find on their own for free.”²

Learning Intention

Podcasts have the potential for increasing student engagement “by providing a good introduction to the online material; helping to organize weekly learning activities; helping to stay focused on the course; developing positive attitudes towards the lecturer, making formal learning more fun and informal; supporting independent learning; enabling deep engagement with learning material; enabling access while being mobile.”¹

Overview^1,3

Podcasts can introduce new class topics prior to a class meeting, provide summaries of classes, or provide supplementary information. Podcasts can be 10-minute introductions or reviews, or focus on specific knowledge, longer case studies, or in-depth analysis. Using podcasts can enable instructors to use a flipped classroom instructional strategy which can, “free up valuable class time for more engaging (and often collaborative) activities.”

Teaching Students to “Read” Podcasts as Texts

“Because students are accustomed to taking notes or possibly highlighting when preparing for a class, I found that they are not sure how to come to class prepared for discussion after having listened to a podcast.”²

To address this problem, Dr. Ferreras-Stone created a reading analysis guide² that asks students to.

The reading analysis guide asks students to:

1. Identify and summarize three to five ideas that stand out to you as important.

2. Develop two or three critical questions to stimulate analysis about the content and its connections to teaching.

3. Identify an area conveyed in the podcast that they either did not agree with or only partially agreed with.

4. Identify ideas to investigate further and a relevant resource.

5. Explain how/why/what they learned from this podcast is relevant for their profession.

Strategies¹

• Podcasts can be good to use in larger classes. For example, one instructor taught a GIS class to 200+ students and used podcasts to provide guidance on laboratory techniques.

• Podcasts can be used to get students up-to-speed when students in a class may have a wide range of prior knowledge about the subject.

• Have students generate their own podcasts to develop reflective and active learning skills.

Considerations

• Use podcasts as a way to supplement course texts: “Studies have shown that transmitting information via audio-only forms of communication is not very effective...The researchers suggest that podcasts might be useful as a course supplement of enrichment.”⁴ Ensuring a transcript is available can partially address this concern.

• Use of podcasts can increase learning: “Even as a supplement, 10 years of anonymous course evaluation data showed that a majority of students (76%) who listened regularly noted that listening to the podcasts helped them learn.”⁴

• Record your lecture: Consider posting recordings to a classroom site so students can still listen if they were unable to attend class or need to review a concept covered in class.^3,4

• Consider student disabilities: If using podcasts in the classroom, consider how students with auditory disorders may be affected and build in alternative models of learning. Some podcasts include transcripts students may be able to read alternatively.

References

1. Edirishingha, P., & Salmon, G. (2007). Pedagogical Models for Podcasts in Higher Education. Beyond Distance Research Alliance. Available at: https://lra.le.ac.uk/bitstream/2381/405/3/EDEN%202007%20EdirisinghaSalmon%20Podcasting%20in%20HE%20paper.pdf

2. Ferreras-Strone, J. (2019). Using Free Podcasts to Engage Students in Multicultural Discussions. Innovative Teaching Showcase. Published online by Center for Instructional Innovation and Assessment, Western Washington University.

3. Kamel Boulos, M.N., Maramba, I., & Wheeler, S. (2006). BMC Medical Education, 6(41). Available at: https://rdcu.be/bE1yp

4. Hew, K. F. (2008). Use of audio podcast in K-12 and higher education: a review of research topics and methodologies. Educational Technology Research and Development, 57(3), 333-357. Available at: https://rdcu.be/bE2eS

5. Miller, D.B,. & Zhao, A. (2017). Opening Up Higher Education with Screencasts. In: Jhangiani, R.S. & Biswas-Diener, R. (eds). Open: The Philosophy and Practices that are Revolutionizing Education and Science. Pp. 125-138. London: Ubiquity Press. Doi:https://doi.org/10.5334/bbc.j License: CC-BY 4.0.

6. Milman, N. B. (2014). The Flipped Classroom Strategy: What Is it and How Can is Best be Used? Distance Learning, 11(4). Available at: https://books.google.com/books?id=NgYoDwAAQBAJ

7. Pacansky-Brock, M. (2017). Best Practices for Teaching with Emerging Technologies. New York, NY: Routledge.