Using Podcasting to Support Student Learning

Crispin Dale, SSPAL

Outline

Suggest some of the benefits of using podcasting in L&T

Suggest strategies for using podcasting within L&T

Reflect upon student experiences of using podcasting in a level one module

What is Podcasting?

Podcasting involves “the authoring of, and subscription to, audio and/or video files on the internet for downloading to the user’s personal computer” (Lim 2005)

“enables users to quickly and easily download multimedia files, including audio and video, for playback on mobile devices including iPods and other MP3 players” (Bausch & Han, 2006).

Benefits of Podcasting

Enhances social networking and collaborative learning (Alexander 2005, Ratctham and Zhang 2006)

Generates greater inclusivity (Cebeci and Tekdal 2006)

Meets different learning styles (Lim 2005). “bite size” instrumentalist approach to

learning (Dale and McCarthy 2006). Enables time-shifted learning (Chan and Lee

2005).

Benefits (cont)

Develops key skills (Huann and Thong 2006) Enhances student engagement and reflection

(Baird and Fisher 2006) Students experience higher satisfaction with

those courses that use audio recordings that accompany course material (Miller and Piller 2005).

Alleviates anxiety levels of students to the subject matter (Chan and Lee 2005).

Student Group

Level 1 UG Module (The Tourism Society)

Introduces students to the key concepts and approaches to understanding tourism

Core module for Tourism Management students

Can be chosen as an elective Diverse multi-cultural student group

The Podcasting Process (Huann and Thong 2006 adapted)

Content Creation Phase

Publication Phase

Subscription Phase

Authoring of Podcast

Publication to RSS Feed/Hosting website

Use of aggregator software (e.g. iTunes) to capture podcast Synch with music player (e.g. iPod)

http://web.mac.com/crispindale1/iWeb/Site/Podcast/Podcast.html

Strategies for Effective Podcasting (Dale 2007) http://www.hlst.heacademy.ac.uk/johlste/vol6no1/practice/50155.html

Learning issues Engaging the listenerIntroduce theory graduallyUse chapters to guide the listenerDeveloping deep learning

Technical IssuesAudio and visual qualityEnsuring copyright (www.tourismimages.org.uk) Technical support

Student Experiences

Impact on Learning and Teaching– Significant for international students

“It was good for me because sometimes I didn’t understand what you were saying in the lecture

but when I can hear it more than once I can understand better”

“I was referring back (to the podcasts) and picking up ideas slowly, it was really good it helped me a lot in

my assignment”

Student Experiences

Design and organisation“you had given us links which were related to our assignment and I gained a maximum of

information from that”

“there could have been more activities because that would have helped us know whether we understood what you had gone through in the

lecture”

Student Experiences

Guidance and resources

“Students need further information on how to access the podcasts. I thought it was only on

WOLF, I didn’t know about iTunes”

“There should may be a session on how to use them”

Areas for improvement

Greater understanding and support on how to use the podcasts

Improvement in software resources (i.e. iTunes, WOLF)

Linking podcasts to formative assessment tasks

Conclusions

With a changing, diverse, increasingly demanding student body who have higher expectations of the learning experience

Using podcasts presents a great opportunity to meet the learning needs of the “iPod generation”