Podcasting in Instruction: Moving Beyond the Obvious

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Podcasting in Instruction: Moving Beyond the Obvious

6/25/2008

By Ruth Reynard

The Educause Web site provides the following definition of podcasts:

Podcasting is a mobile technology. It is portable, either through personal computers or mobile devices (MP3 player, handheld, cell phone, or laptop). It also enables just-in-time, 24 x 7 access to information. Traditional podcasts deliver only audio, while enhanced podcasting may be multimedia, incorporating images or video.

Podcasts are increasingly used to deliver information and events for a variety of purposes and uses, including religious sermons, personal journals, tourist logs, and political campaigning, among others. Additionally, uses for instruction vary and include most commonly content delivery, such as lectures, discussions, debates, and research projects. Increasingly, podcasts are being integrated into personal and professional digital portfolios and can provide another method of authentic assessment for students in the form of personal journals, commentary segments, and presentations.

The challenge remains, however: Can more be achieved with podcasting in the context of student authorship and academic collaboration that would heighten student engagement and maximize knowledge building in instructional contexts? Can we move beyond the obvious in their use?

Certainly the mobile nature of this technology, when used in more innovative ways, has the potential of moving beyond familiar constraints of coursework and promoting a level of networking and input never seen before. Additionally, the potential collaborations beyond existing and immediate peers would mean that the application of learning could become immediately more profound and legitimate.

Student Engagement Through Authoring
In a 2005 article, I wrote the following about blogging:

The blog, however, provides a context in which personal voice can be "published" by the student, which means that attention is given to content, relevancy, and connection with learning outcomes to a higher degree than a traditional journal submission. The idea that more than one person will view the work is quite powerful in promoting a sense of ownership from the student.

The significance of this concept regarding podcasts is that with the mobility and compact nature of podcast technology, capturing and publishing student voice becomes even more powerful for students as a publicly accessible and multidimensional representation of that voice.