IPodcasting: An ally in curriculum design

Abstract

One of the major challenges facing South African higher education institutions is to deal with the learning preferences and styles of an increasing diverse student population. Although much research has been conducted on the identification of learning styles theories for classroom application, little attention has been devoted to the investigationof cultural influences on the development of individual learning style preferences, and how lecturers can use this information to diversify the way they teach in order to ensure the active participation of students in multicultural settings. In this article the author argues that learning utilising auditorial perception skills – thus listening skills – are often overlooked as a powerful way of learning. The role of the oral tradition and story tellingin learning, partially due to technologies that make use of high quality graphics, are often neglected. The author explores the use of podcasting in the learning process and discusses ways of integrating podcasting into the curriculum.