The Power of Podcasting

Link to Article: The Power of Podcasting

          There are countless benefits of using interactive, educational podcasting between teachers and students in the classroom. Although podcasts are not necessarily considered as “new” technology, all of the benefits it offers when integrated into learning and the classroom are still being discovered. The use of podcasts in the classroom has great potential because they help differentiate learning, provide additional support to students with specific learning needs, and they help foster a sense of inclusivity and belonging to the learning community. The best and most effective way to incorporate podcasts into the classroom is by “chunking” the delivered material into five or six single casts, rather than just recording an entire lecture in one. This is most effective in the classroom because if the podcasts are supplemented with related examples and activities, the students are more likely to remain engaged and motivated in the lesson.

          Other benefits of podcasting related to students include the ability to access podcasts at home or on the go, the ability to engage with the content by taking written notes, the opportunity to repeat podcasts to retrieve information, clarify issues, and/or highlight knowledge gaps, and they give students the opportunity to help manage their own learning by encouraging student autonomy. All in all, although podcasting is innovative and technologically advanced, and its future in the educational setting is immensely strong, the main focus and final result must be on the potential to positively impact and effect the student experience and enhance student learning.

          Although I have never personally used podcasts to enhance my teaching in the classroom, after reading this article I can definitely see its benefits. While I’m not sure if I would completely alter my teaching style and revert to the “flipped classroom” teaching method per say, I really like how the article mentioned the ability of using podcasts for delivering feedback to students. The article reported that students are 10 times more likely to open audio files when compared to written feedback. I thought this was very intriguing because I’m only used to giving my students written or verbal/face-to-face feedback in the classroom. However, I can now see the benefits of using a combination of feedback avenues – both written and audio and want to consider how to positively incorporate this into my classroom in the coming years.

 Resources:

Maher Palenque, S. (2016). The Power of Podcasting: Perspectives on Pedagogy. Journal of Instructional Research, 5. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1127626.pdf.