An evaluation of the impact of formative feedback podcasts on the student learning experience

Abstract

Abstract Podcasts have become an accepted one-way channel of communication between teacher and student within higher education and academics continue to explore how they can be used to enhance student learning experiences. This paper presents the findings from an empirical study that sought to evaluate students’ perceptions of the potential of podcasts to deliver formative feedback and the impact on their learning experience. The research identified that most students perceive that podcasts have a positive impact on their academic performance when used in this manner. As such, podcasts can be an efficient way to provide formative feedback. However, not all students have the same perception of podcasts and some experience difficulties when using them. The research identifies four key considerations for academics when using podcasts for academic purposes. Keywords: podcast, formative feedback, student learning experience Introduction The nature of the higher education (HE) landscape has changed remarkably over the last two decades. Massification and internationalisation in particular have served to create larger class sizes and greater diversity among student populations (Becket & Brookes, 2006). As a result, educators are faced with two key challenges: how to do more with less and therefore increase efficiency, while at the same time ensuring a consistently high learning experience for students through effective approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. Technology is frequently viewed as an effective medium to achieve these dual and sometimes conflicting challenges, and blended learning has been embraced, developed and adopted within higher education institutions (HEIs) as a result. Blended learning is commonly used to describe the combined use of traditional approaches to learning and teaching with supplementary resources through a virtual learning environment such as WebCT or Blackboard (Sharpe, Benfield, Roberts, & Francis, 2006). The popularity of podcasts as a blended learning tool has grown phenomenally since their first introduction in the US in 2004 (Frydenberg, 2006). In its truest sense, the term podcast refers to the use of audio broadcasts accessed through iPods (McLoughlin & Lee, 2007) and the term was born by combining the words iPod and broadcast (Buffington, 2008). However,