Podcasting: successful educational tool

     

The word podcast derived from 2 words: iPod and broadcasting. As far as I could figure out from readings podcast is a type of Web 2.0 tool that includes video and audio files one can subscribe to. The “evolution” of podcasts started from 2004 and is dramatically increasing.

The readings proved that podcasts are a successful tool in education. The US colleges and universities have started to use podcasts for educational purposes. However, there are certain guidelines that need to be followed. Firstly, podcasts should be short and concise as the long ones will bore the listeners, secondly, they should be relevant to the course content and finally, they should not limit imagination or creativity.

I think one of the advantages of podcasts in learning environment was that it allowed students to have access to course materials 24 hours a day and they could download them easily and listen whenever they wanted. Even if students missed the classes they could listen to podcasts and catch up with the rest of the class. One major thread here was that the students would miss the classes but the opposite happened as students became more enthusiastic and interested in attending the classes so that they could take part in discussions and share their own experiences. Overall, learning via podcasting made students more enthusiastic, creative and ready to learn something new. Students could communicate with the course materials and offer their own interpretations on the topics discussed.

Thus, one of the articles talked about the main features of podcasting. One of them was learner choice and flexibility that podcasts offer. For instance, students could listen to a particular podcast several times whenever it was convenient for them. Another feature was to get the tacit knowledge of peers through various discussions. Tacit knowledge was the knowledge that one possessed through his experience or actions. Finally, the third feature was the sense of informality or friendly atmosphere that podcasts brought to academic learning.

A couple of years ago a research was carried out on the benefits of podcasting in undergraduate degree. The results showed that students were mainly positive about learning via podcasting and they improved their learning skills by engaging with listening materials and actively participating in exchange of ideas.

Moreover, podcasts focus on improving oral and aural skills of students both in classroom and outside the learning environment. Podcasting is some kind of “extension” of distance education as it could be implemented out of campus and students could listen to professors’ lectures and respond to these lectures by creating their own podcasts.

To sum up, podcasting has moved academic learning into the next level. It includes the following steps:

·         easy to access- can be easily downloaded and put in one’s iPod or mp3 player

·         access to course content and students can revise the materials before the exam

·         free of charge

·         interactive

·         includes a synthesis of different kinds of sources

·         stimulates creativity for real audience

·         connects informality to formal learning

·         students can be engaged in authentic activities