Exploiting the Educational Potential of Podcasting

Clearly, podcasting can be a huge benefit for schools. I can think of a few applications right off:

• Classes (obviously)
• School announcements
• Teacher reports to the parents
• Guest speaker presentations
• Internal School news magazine
• Faculty development

But in what ways can the podcasting phenomena be exploited within education? In reality, there are so many possibilities and, ultimately, the creativity and imagination of teachers and learners will drive the educational podcasting agenda in future. However, there are three areas where the potential of podcasting could be realised within schools:

• Devising a cross-curricular activity;
• Providing alternative teaching approaches;
• Promoting and using personalised learning.
  

The potential of using audio material to support learning has been around for some time. Podcasting can not only build on the range of existing material that exists in other formats, but can also be tailored for specific in-house topics and learning activities in many curriculum areas.

Broadly, the advent of podcasting provides teachers with the potential to employ alternative approaches to teaching and learning by:

• building and extending existing audio methodologies (tapes, CD, on-line);
• providing bespoke content linked directly to class topics and curricular activities;
• creating additional materials to extend the "gifted and talented" and supporting those with specific learning needs;
• supplying instructional content to reinforce particular curriculum tasks or activities;
• presenting additional materials to support independent learning for revision and homework.

For some time, teachers in primary schools have used audio tapes to provide children with material to listen too. Often, these are associated with the development of language skills, particularly at Key Stage 1. For older children in primary and young people in secondary schools, such materials are also used to supplement the teaching of foreign languages. The advent of podcasting is already being considered by some on-line publishers as another medium because it naturally builds and extends the existing approach for audio books into the realm of "on demand", at anytime and anywhere.

Creating materials that are tailored specifically for the more able learners or those needing additional support has always been a challenge to teachers. Podcasting may also provide another option to consider when presenting certain material to different groups. There is scope for involving support staff in the development of such materials, particularly where the activities may, of necessity, be repetitive in nature. One such example is instructional activity - such as conducting an experiment in science. Another is revision, an area that frequently challenges young people, their teachers and parents alike! The on-line Bitesize series produced by the BBC takes curriculum content, breaking it down into more "manageable chunks".

Could a series of podcasts provide material that links directly (or otherwise) to learning in school? For the learner there are some advantages - they are listening to the "wisdom" of somebody they already know and likely to motivate and inspire the extra effort! Its the scaffolding and the expert other that is highlighted here!

The potential uses are limited only by the imagination, time and resources that are available and the relevance of the activity.

Podcasting is not, of itself, a magic solution, but could complement other teaching methods and enrich the quality of learning, particularly personalised learning.

Increasingly, interest in podcasting for educational purposes is increasing, particularly in the USA. However, as with any emerging media, careful selection of material is an important criterion, especially as some of the podcasts published on the Internet contain adult content.

Podcasting has the potential to offer the following for personalised learning in schools:

• creating audio material for learning "on demand", at anytime and anywhere;
  
• using differential materials that can be matched to the abilities, needs and motivation of identified children and young people;
  
• engaging in curriculum activities grounded in an emerging technology and integral to the worldwide communication revolution;
  
• providing curriculum-related teaching and learning in a wide range of contexts and in different locations both within and away from school.

As with all technologies, podcasting has the potential for releasing the imagination of children, young people, their teachers and parents/carers.

Russell Educational Consultancy & Productions

Although podcasting can be seen as a great and new wonderful tool to use within our classrooms...is it really? To be successful, it seems to me that we have to rely on so much being 'just so'. Although I know of plenty of children [within the schools that I have been to on practicum] have access to iPods, mp3 players and the like; there are plenty of children that do not have this access. They have parents that mayhap cannot afford them, don't see them as relevant, or even know nothing about them. I still have come across children that have no access to a computer or internet access after school ends. Whats the school meant to do in this case? Dole out iPods to all its students on the first day of school? i can't see this happening. Although children may get a kick out of creating a podcast, and I do believe they have their place and have a high educational value, I sometimes think we are getting to optimistic about incorporating all the fancy gadgets and tools within the education of our students.
I also wonder how many older students would not only download lecture notes to revise, but actually listen to them? So would it help? I think most students would be in the same situation as they are now...download the notes early, sure, but never get round to reading them until the assignments due or an exam is looming.
Yes, podcasting opens the door in education to really think outside that elusive square, but the reality in fact is...are we as teachers really interested? We already have within schools, the few teachers who are known as the 'ict teachers'...the ones who know how to do 'stuff'. while the remaining teachers don't bother to upskill until it is absolutely necessary. Won't the same happen if we introduce podcasting? The same few teachers will get behind the new technological wave while the others 'leave it up to them' to take care of. Students and teachers alike then miss out on the opportunity to be productive and creative.
These are only some of the barriers that schools and the education system will have to face as the age of technological tools comes to the fore. I personally can't wait to use some of these ideas, I can see the benefits as well as the downside. The downside will have to be dealt with eventually, but from what I have seen so far...the more eventual, the better for some!