Capítulo 14 - Podcasting-educational opportunities and implications

Elmira Bancheva, Ph.D
New Bulgarian University-School of Management

 

1.  INTRODUCTION

Mobile learning can be defined in many different ways. For some, «mobile learning» connotes PDAs and cell phones; for others, iPods and media players; and even digital cameras and USB keys. In general, however, most people seem to associate mobile learning with the latest portable gadgets. The mobile learning’s links to the «just enough, just in time, just for me» model of flexible learning, (Peters, 2005), and endorse one of the reflective outcomes of the 2004 European MobiLearn project: «it is the learner that is mobile, not the technology» (Sharples, Taylor & Vavoula, 2005).

These form the «Four R’s» of Net Generation learning (Prensky 2001a, 2001b; Brown, 2002) and reflect the current sociocultural shifts in thinking and learning for an increasingly mobile twenty-first century. Defined from a learner-centric viewpoint, these are:

• Record. The learner as a gatherer and «builder» of new knowledge.
• Reinterpret. The learner as an analyst of existing data to discover new knowledge.
• Recall. The learner as a user of existing information and resources.
• Relate. The learner as part of a social context and a network of knowledge.

2.  THE PODCASTING STORY

Some facts:

• Up to 5 million people currently listen to podcasts (Yahoo estimates).
• Over 80% of college students in the US own at least one device capable of downloading and playing recordings (MacNewsWorld, 25 March 2006).
• The Pew study also found that 29% or around 6.4 million of the 22 million American adult owners of MP3 players had downloaded podcasts for later listening.
• A more recent study by Nielsen/NetRatings (2006) revealed that 6.6% of the US adult online population (9.2 million users) recently downloaded an audio podcast. Web users between the ages 18 and 24 were almost twice as likely as the average user to download audio podcasts, signalling that adoption should continue to grow.
• 22.5% of UK adults in the 15-24 age group own a digital media player (Mintel-BMRB Survey, March 2005).
• In Europe, more than 7% of the population owned and used a dedicated portable music player in 2006, compared with 2% in 2004 (Screen Digest cited in BBC, 2006).

The term «podcasting» was first applied in 2004 when the use of RSS (Real Simple Syndication) technologies became popular for distributing audio content for listening on mobile devices and personal computers (RSS-Wikipedia 2007).

The New Oxford American Dictionary selected «podcast» as the Word of the Year for 2005. What is this new language and who is «the podfather»? Adam Curry (nicknamed «the podfather»), says Campbell (2005) has done much to popularize the medium through his Daily Source Code podcast, which continues to be an inspiring example of what can be done with podcasts. Adam Clark Curry was a broadcasting and Internet personality well known for his stint from 1987 to 1994 as a video jockey on the music video channel MTV. In the mid-1990s, Curry was a World Wide Web entrepreneur and one of the first celebrities to personally create and administer a Web site. In the 2000s, he helped pioneer podcasting, and is often called the «Podfather» because of his efforts. And «podagogy» (Wikipedia 2009) looks at the design of the podcast as an effective learning experience to achieve the desired learning outcomes.

Podcasting is a subscription-based «push» technology with potential to push any file type on the Internet with low cost implementation tools. A systematic integration with the online pedagogy results in effective student teaching and learning simultaneously challenging us to reflect on McLuhan’s¹ statement «The medium is the message» Is it?

Podcasting originated from the so-called Web 2.0 that depends on push technologies to deliver content. Push technologies is terminology used to define the breadth of technologies used to send out information to users, whether or not they are tuned in. The updating process is usually an inconspicuous one. With that in mind, Podcast creators can have their content delivered to subscribers as soon as it becomes available, without typing a URL to download the information. Students can subscribe to podcasts and have the content delivered automatically to their device management software. This allows for the asynchronous delivery of content, much like TiVo for TV (Dixon, 2006). Many have compared podcasting to Tivo or a DVR (digital video recorder) because of it’s «time-shifting» ability (Meng, 2005). In some aspects it is similar, but it is also different in that the recorded content is delivered in its final format to a portable device that is independent of the recording device.

The use of podcasting for educational purposes is a rather new idea and opportunity for higher education and its potential is still to be exploited: several universities have set up podcasting services, but the literature is still poor of case studies and evaluations. Nevertheless, the current lack of quantitative data about the effects of podcasting on education, many educators consider podcasting as an exciting learning paradigm of impressive pedagogical potential (Brittain, P. Glowacki, J. Van Ittersum, and L. Johnson, 2006; Cambell, 2005; Cebeci, and M. Tekdal, 2006; Lazzari, 2007).

3.  WHAT ARE THE PEDAGOGICAL JUSTIFICATIONS OF PODCASTING IN EDUCATION?

Within Knowledge Construction Paradigm (constructivist pedadogy-knowledge is always «constructed» in group conversation and within the context of an older, ongoing «conversation» known as a «community of practice.» Interactivity is a key difference between a behaviorist and a constructivist approach to learning (Lombardi, J., McCahill, M., 2004).

According to the behaviorist approach to interaction– the learner is largely «self-contained» and left to work with web-based resources; interaction occurs almost exclusively between the learner and the learning resources. While the constructivist approach focus on the quality of interactions between and among learners as they communally explore and interpret learning resources.

4.  PODCASTING-POSSIBILITIES AND CURRENT APPLICATIONS IN EDUCATION

Nowadays, podcasting has been introduced in many universities across the world as an e-learning and teaching tool and impacts all areas of education from distance learning to adult learning. The pedagogical use of podcasting is into areas of lecturing, tutoring, and remediation (Morales & Moses, 2006). Podcasting is used in education to provide recording of lectures, dissemination of course content, class discussions, instructor feedback, study support, interview with external resources, self learning opportunities, richer interactive learning environment, re-mediation of slow learners, aid to multilingual education, audio video development brochures for prospective students, laboratory training instructions, and assessment of learning.

Podcasting offers instructors opportunities to integrate more interesting and challenging content on the courses, and opportunities to interact with colleagues, staff, and students to discuss about the role of technology in education. The «push» nature of podcasting helps students feel connected to the learning community and creates opportunities for social networking and interaction amongst students as well as instructors.

Podcasting helps educators in the fields of language, literature, and culture by providing access to multimedia materials and contacts with experts in other institutions thus enhancing classroom interaction and student exposure to authentic language and culture (Earp, Belanger, & O’Brien, 2006). Podcasting helps in revising large amount of content easily and quickly by listening to key concepts again. Podcasting is used to address the needs of students who have specific learning disabilities, and non-native speakers of English and is also conducive for those students who take a «bite size» instrumentalist approach to learning (Dale, 2007).

Podcasting can be viewed as a learning process comprising of three phases namely, content-creation, publishing, and subscription with opportunities to engage students in meaningful learning activities in all three phases (Huann & Thong, 2006).

The technology infrastructure for creating and distributing podcasts is evolving rapidly. As well as just audio-only podcasts, there are currently two other forms of podcast available: enhanced podcasts and video podcasts.

a) Enhanced podcasts may include chapter marks, images that change at predetermined times when the podcast is played and hyperlinks to websites.
b) Video podcasts are the very latest in podcasting and provide a full visual and audio experience for the user.

5.  EXAMPLES FROM UNIVERSITIES WHICH INTRODUCED PODCASTING AS PART OF THEIR TEACHING AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Podcasts are actively being used and trialed in leading academic institutions in the US such as Stanford University in California, which has given free public access to audio content. The University has partnered with Apple Inc’s iTunes™ to make available faculty lectures, learning materials, and music and sport information (Stanford on iTunes U, 2007). Duke University first introduced iPods™ and podcasting for all its first year students in 2004. Podcasting was used to achieve and promote innovative and effective teaching, curriculum enhancement, infrastructure development, and knowledge sharing (Earp, et al., 2006). Brandeis University uses podcasting to have students in anthropology classes produce museum audio guides (Hartigan et al., 2006). Georgia College and State University uses iPods™ and podcasting to have students create, and share oral presentations in literature and history classes (Apple iTunes U, 2007). Apple Inc’s iTunes U™ is a free, hosted service for higher education schools and universities that provides easy access to audio and video content such as lectures, web demonstrations, and language lessons (Apple iTunes U, 2007). Podcast directories that enlist podcast content and programming relevant to educators, instructors, and students in one place, such as «educate» (RECAP Limite Hartigan et al., 2006d, 2007) and «Education Podcast Network» (EPN, 2007) also exists to help universities introduce podcasting.

The future of podcasting appears to be promising within the education sector, with many UK universities adopting this information source. UK Institutions, several universities are utilising podcasts for a variety of purposes, however, those universities who have adopted the podcasting feature into their education system include: Leicester, Birmingham, Bradford, Kingston, Nottingham, Bath, Leeds, Warwick, Southampton, etc. (Gajasinghe, S., 2007). One of the pioneers of educational Podcasts in the UK is Geraint Johnes, Professor of Economics at Lancaster University. He offers syndicated Podcasts to support learning on some of his economics courses.

Currently in Europe, podcasting in education is largely the domain of enthusiastic students and teaching staff who have combined their imaginations and technical skills and the wider developments will be realised only if podcasting moves out of the realm of the individual enthusiast and becomes an institution-wide practice as it is beginning to do in US universities.

6.  PODCASTING: ISSUES FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION

Much as the so-called Web 2.0 is evolving, the use of podcasting in universities continues to adjust to these changes. And this is normal, because some authors consider the key traits of today’s learners as being digitally literate, mobile, experimental and community oriented. Some have argued that those born after 1982 are digital natives; they have grown up with exposure to the internet and mobile devices. This millennial generation stays in contact through SMS, mobile phones, chatrooms, and email, whilst simultaneously playing computer games, watching television and listening to music.

Nevertheless, and despite the capability and user acceptance of the technology, podcasting resources will only be accepted if they provide value as a reliable tool for the learners.

There are still questions, which need further exploration and research study about:

• The kinds of pedagogical applications which can be developed for podcasting for students’ informal use within formal HE modules that work to enhance their learning.
• Human and technology infrastructure needed to support podcasting in education.
• The nature of inter-institutional and inter-corporate partnerships in the emerging m-learning model in order to address the ways podcasting could impact and challenge the net generation.

Issues that need to be addressed also include the need:

• To increase organizational capacity by acquiring expertise and technology enablers to ensure product quality and production efficiency, and
• To provide opportunities for educational staff to enhance their podcasting skills and competencies.

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