The Why and How of Using Podcasts for Educators

Listening to podcasts on mobile devices could cognitively scaffold learning, converging students’ social and entertainment spaces into the learning space.

Ng’ambi & Lombe, Centre for Educational Technology, University of Cape Town

Over the past decade, podcasts have increasingly grown in popularity. Podcasts tend to serve many purposes: entertainment, education, community building and much more. Due to their affordances, there are plenty of opportunities to use podcasts in educational settings.

• Podcasts are free,
• Podcasts are portable,
• Podcasts make information personal,
• Podcasts are an on-demand technology, and
• Podcasts are a time-efficient communication tool.

But, how convenient is it for educators to create podcasts? Below are some insights from educators.

Supanakorn-Davila & Bolliger (2014) highlight some benefits of podcasts created by instructors. For example, podcasts are helpful in:

• Building a connection between students and instructors,
• Fostering student motivation,
• Personalizing the learning environment, and
• Offering an alternative teaching and learning approach.

Not only can podcasts facilitate student learning (Ng’ambi & Lombe, 2012), but they can also be used for professional development. The following sections present the key ideas about the affordances and challenges of podcast creation.