Educational Podcasts Research Articles

Podcasting as a novel way to communicate with medical school applicants.

Podcasting in medical education is becoming more widely used and may be a useful tool for communicating with applicants to medical school. Given recent trends in the popularity of podcasting and mobile media, we created a podcast to communicate more effectively with applicants to our medical school as well as with the broader premedical community. The purpose of this study was to characterize the listening habits and motivations of our audience and compare the podcast’s benefits to those of other resources. We additionally sought to understand patterns by which our podcast was consumed by a premedical audience. We surveyed medical school applicants who interviewed at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine for matriculation in 2013. Forty-one percent of those surveyed had listened to the podcast prior to their interview. Only 12 % of listeners accessed the podcast using a mobile device. Ninety-two percent of listeners felt that it faithfully represented the medical school, and 81 % felt that listening would encourage the decision to matriculate. A majority of listeners responded that the podcast was more helpful than other traditional resources. This is the first use of podcasting in medical school admissions and represents a novel way to communicate with prospective students. Our findings demonstrate that podcasting can be an effective tool for communicating with applicants to medical school and highlight its usefulness in recruitment. This method of communication could be adopted by other medical schools to enhance the ways in which they inform their own prospective medical students.

Supporting physiology learning: the development of interactive concept-based video clips

the accommodation of diverse student learning approaches and maintenance of good academic outcomes are often difficult to achieve in university courses, particularly where large classes are concerned. These issues become even more significant when dealing with first-year students in science courses

Evaluating Preceptor Perception of Support Using Educational Podcasts

After their initial training, preceptors report a lack of ongoing support specifically in dealing with preceptor-identified areas of unsafe practice: the inability to demonstrate knowledge and skills, attitude problems, unprofessional behavior, and poor communication skills. The purpose of this staff development study was to test the use of educational technology in the form of podcasts, demonstrating how a preceptor could constructively approach difficult situations using caring behaviors to engage novice nurses and to examine the relationship between preceptor support and role commitment. A correlational research design was used to examine the effects of the podcasts, continuously available through common web sites. Findings include a significant increase in the preceptor's perception of support especially among participants who had less training or experience with precepting. A strong correlation between the preceptor's perception of support and commitment to their role was also demonstrated. Preceptors suggest development of additional podcasts for ongoing educational support.

Efficacy and perceived utility of podcasts as a supplementary teaching aid

The advent of newer technology and students' growing familiarity with it has enabled information providers to introduce newer teaching methods such as audio podcasting in education. Inclusion of audio podcasts as a teaching aid for undergraduate medical or dental students could serve as a useful supplement to make reviewing more convenient and to enhance understanding and recall of the subject matter. To assess the efficacy of podcasts as a supplementary teaching and learning aid for first-year dental students of Manipal.To study students' attitudes towards audio podcasts and perceived utility of podcasts. This study was conducted at the Manipal College of Dental Sciences, India. The participants were first-year dental students. Live lecture classes were conducted for the students (n=80). The students were then divided randomly into two equal groups of 40 each. Group 1 students (n=40) had a study session followed by a multiple choice question (MCQ) test. This was followed by a podcasting session. Group 2 students had a study session along with an opportunity to listen to a podcast, followed by the test. Following this both groups completed a feedback form intended to assess their perceived utility and attitude towards podcasts. The performance score was analysed using SPSS and an independent sample t test was used to test the significance of differences in the mean score between the two groups. Our analysis revealed a significant difference (p = 0.000) in the mean score between the two groups. Group 1 scored a mean of 7.95 out of 13 and group 2 scored a mean of 6.05 out of 13. Analysis of the feedback forms showed that 91.3 per cent of the students found the podcasts useful, as they could listen to lecture content repeatedly and at their own convenience. Sixty-three per cent of the students, however, felt that the absence of images and diagrams in podcasts was a disadvantage. Students benefited when podcasts were used to supplement live lectures and textbook content. This was indicated by better student performance in the podcast group. Also, students showed a favourable attitude for podcasts being used as a supplementary teaching and learning aid.

Learner-Created Podcasts

This article describes uses for podcasts in music education, focusing on learner-created podcasts as an opportunity for students to construct and represent knowledge. The author outlines a podcast assignment that enables secondary and postsecondary students to examine and more deeply understand the meaning music holds for them and the role it has played in their lives. Using audio editing technology, students describe significant music experiences and combine spoken-word narration with illustrative music excerpts to create an audio documentary. Student benefits of engaging in the podcast creation process (e.g., opportunities for active music listening, enhanced reflection, self-expression, enriched communication, increased self-knowledge, and creativity) are addressed in the conclusion.

Podcasting acceptance on campus: The differing perspectives of teachers and students

Combining the Web and mobile technology, podcasting can be an effective tool for mobile and electronic learning, as it provides a learning environment anytime and anywhere. This research investigated how the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) (Venkatesh, Thong, & Xu, 2012) can be applied to study the adoption of podcasting in higher education. Specifically, it examined whether and how user type (teachers or students) may affect differently adoption patterns of podcasting for educational purposes. The key findings include that for intent to adopt podcasting, effort expectancy is more important to students than teachers, while facilitating conditions factors such as copyright clearance and technical support availability are more important to teachers than students. The overall results are expected to contribute to theoretical development and industrial practices in promoting the acceptance of podcasting for educational purposes.

40 A Survey on the Educational Impact of a Resident-Produced Emergency Medicine Education Podcast

Podcasts are a popular method of asynchronous learning among emergency medicine (EM) residents. EM Basic is a free audio podcast created and produced by an EM senior resident. Each episode discusses a common EM chief complaint at the level of a medical student or intern. EM Basic has 10 episodes to date, with over 10,000 global downloads.

Basics of Educational Podcasting: Enhancing the Student Learning Experience

Podcasting has become a well-known way to communicate in the digital age. Many educators are finding ways to use podcasts in the classroom as a learning tool. This document covers the basic equipment, software, and techniques of podcasting, as well as ways to use podcasts in the classroom, with an in-depth example from the University of Florida. This 6-page fact sheet was written by Jamie S. Foster, Jennifer Larmore, and Stephanie A. Havemann, and published by the UF Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, July 2012.

The effectiveness of educational podcasts for teaching music and visual arts in higher education

Podcasting is now being used frequently in the higher education sector. Although research has been conducted into the use of podcasting in teaching business, engineering, sciences and languages, little has been done on its use in arts learning. This paper reports on a study that investigated the effectiveness of using podcasts to learn music and visual arts in a teacher-education institution. A total of 128 Year-One to Year-Four students completed a survey and 24 students attended focus-group interviews and gave their feedback on the effectiveness of using podcasts in learning. Generally speaking, the students found the podcasts useful and viewed podcasting as a method which could be used to supplement faceto- face teaching. Results of the study indicated that demonstration of procedures or skills was the most effective type of podcast while reproduction of lecture materials was the least effective. The students suggested that the teachers needed to increase the relevance of the podcast content to what was taught during lessons. The paper concludes with a discussion of the production of effective podcasts and directions for future studies.Keywords: podcasting; podcasts; teaching/learning strategy; arts education; teacher education(Published: 3 January 2012)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2012, 20: 14919 - DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v20i0/14919

The effectiveness of educational podcasts for teaching music and visual arts in higher education

The effectiveness of educational podcasts for teaching music and visual arts in higher education

The Use of Podcasts in Higher Education: Communication, Innovation, Education and Knowledge Management

Los escenarios socioculturales y economicos que la sociedad del conocimiento esta conformando retan a plantearse las estructuras sobre las que se sustenta la educacion superior. El cambio metodologico, derivado del necesario influjo de las TIC, puede ser una oportunidad para la innovacion, el cambio y la mejora. Se necesita un nuevo entorno relacional entre docente y discente que potencie una serie de conceptos: comunicacion, libertad, eleccion, protagonismo e implicacion. La tarea docente se construye a partir de principios novedosos y de una proyeccion original en el aula. La transformacion social depende del compromiso de discentes y docentes en este sentido. La oportunidad de intervenir en cuestiones relevantes en cuanto a los procesos de E-A por parte del alumnado, gracias al uso de herramientas 2.0, es, hoy mas que nunca, posible. El podcasting constituye una nueva forma de construir, generar y gestionar conocimiento a partir del trabajo colaborativo y en red. Nuestra experiencia nos dice que la unica forma de aprender es a traves de una busqueda personal del conocimiento, que nos hara competentes para seguir aprendiendo a lo largo de nuestra vida. Consideramos el podcast desde una perspectiva didactico-pedagogica y reflexionamos sobre las posibilidades educativas que ofrece en relacion con la genesis de proyectos educativos.

Listening to an Educational Podcast While Walking or Jogging

The advent of podcasting offers opportunities for students to learn while performing another activity. While podcasting is advocated by many as helping to learn anywhere and anytime, research indicates that it is not so easy for people to do two things at the same time. Two experiments were set up to examine the effect of performing a secondary task while learning with an iPod. In the experimental groups, the participants had to combine a learning task (listening to an educational podcast) with a secondary task (walking or jogging). The control group only had to perform a learning task. Afterwards, all the participants had to complete a learning test. In the first study, there were no significant differences between the learning performances of students of the different conditions. In the second study, the students who were sitting down outperformed the students who were moving while studying.

Beyond lecture capture: Student-generated podcasts in teacher education

Podcasting in higher education most often takes the form of lecture capture or “coursecasting” as instructors record and disseminate lectures (King & Gura, 2007, p. 181). Studies published within the past five years continue to prioritise podcasting of lectures for the student audience, and to test the effectiveness of such podcasts via traditional pencil and paper assessments covering the material delivered via podcast (Hodges, Stackpole-Hodges, & Cox, 2008). A premise of this article is that in order to enhance learning outcomes via podcasting, it is necessary to move beyond coursecasting, toward podcasting with and by students, and to value key competencies and dispositions as learning outcomes. This article reports on a pilot study undertaken with teacher education students in an online ICT class, where students investigated podcasting and created reflective podcasts. The pilot study aimed to engage students actively in generating podcasts, incorporating a wider view of assessment and learning outcomes. Student-generated podcasts were self-assessed, and shared online in order to invite formative feedback from peers. A range of positive outcomes are reported, whereby students learned about and through podcasting, engaging in reflection, problem solving and interactive formative assessment.

Podcasts as Learner-Created Content in Higher Education

Using podcasts in higher education has caught more and more attention among educators and researchers, but there is still a strong need for research and academic publications to focus on certain issues, such as the role of the learners. Instead of lecturers (teachers, scientists, and experts), learners (students, trainees or pupils) produce a podcast with a specific content called learner-created content (LCC). This study aims to find out how students experienced the creating of content as learning material in the form of podcasts. The results are two-fold. First, using podcasts included four categories: (1) the development of meta-skills, (2) mobile learning, (3) support for content learning, and (4) facilitating student involvement. Second, the students saw podcasting as a study tool. The study proved authentic, internally and systemically valid and opened up logical generalizability. Some recommendations are given for a better educational use of podcasts in higher education.

Video Podcasting in Physical Education

Video Podcasting in Physical Education

Iranian students’ readiness for using podcasting in higher education: Access, familiarity, and experience

Abstract The purpose of this study was to investigate Iranian university students’ readiness towards using podcasting technology. One hundred and twenty university students completed the podcasting readiness questionnaire which measured their readiness through three sub-scales: access, familiarity, and experience. The results showed that a majority of students reported owning a portable device and more than half of them had easy access to these devices. They had a high level of familiarity with podcasts and only a few of them never downloaded a podcast. Most of them downloaded podcasts for listening to materials not related to their university courses. Although they had experienced classes that rarely provided them with podcasts, they believed that using podcasts would contribute to their learning in university courses.

Podcasting of health sciences lectures: Benefits for students from a non-English speaking background

<span>Podcasting in higher education is the presentation of study material in digital format that can be downloaded as audio or video files onto a MP3 player or computer. These files can then be accessed anywhere and at any time students choose. The use of podcasting is now widespread amongst undergraduate students, yet their application to the specific needs of students with a non English speaking background (NESB) is largely unknown. The findings of this study are based on a survey of 404 NESB and 708 native English speaking Health Science undergraduate students at the University of South Australia. Ninety percent of NESB students accessed podcasts of undergraduate lectures, with the majority listening to more than 15 podcasts during each semester. The availability of podcasts had limited effect on attendance at lectures. M-learning (mobile learning) was not popular amongst NESB students compared to other students. They preferred to listen to audio recordings of the whole lecture from a computer in conjunction with the </span><em>PowerPoint</em><span> presentation. This study suggests the use of podcasts as a revision tool has obvious benefits as perceived by undergraduate NESB students in terms of their learning in face to face classes and when reviewing and revising complex material.</span>

Purpose and preference in educational podcasting

AbstractThe application of podcasting for educational purposes is growing fast in universities. There are several benefits of this asynchronous, direct communication and interaction between teacher and student. Nonetheless, the benefits, the pedagogical value of podcasting the traditional lecture format, have come into question. Furthermore, issues have been raised regarding lengthy and costly download times, and the fact that students need to make time to listen to them. For these reasons, using short 3–5‐minute podcasts that summarise the lecture have been suggested. This paper explores how students interact with different types of podcasts. The study compares download and course evaluation data of a series of short‐summary podcasts with full‐lecture podcasts produced for the same university course. The findings show that students value full‐lecture podcasts as highly as the short‐summary podcasts, despite the fact that full‐lecture podcasts are downloaded to a markedly lesser degree. The cause of this anomaly appears to lie in the different purposes that dictate podcast use. The paper concludes by noting that both full‐lecture and short‐summary podcasts serve as useful tools for student learning in university contexts.

Advancing Educational Podcasting and Faculty Inquiry with a Grounded Research Model: Building on Current Mixed-Methods Research across Contexts

The integration of formal and informal learning is increasing transparently in our daily lives. Leaders of higher and continuing education will benefit from better understanding why and how to formatively research and design effective popular informal learning such as educational podcasting. Using media that has a wide general public user base and robust educational capabilities is a boon to public perceptions of educational validity, relevancy, timeliness, and value of our educational institutions. However, how do we approach such efforts consistent with reflective practice and the scholarship of teaching? Researchers can recommend how to design future action-based research and inquiry in robust and systematic ways. However, there are still no recommended strategies for integrated action research and design in this arena of digital media. This article uses a cross case study of three different educational podcast series to provide a grounded research model based on a macro perspective of these needs and opportunities.

Impact of Podcasts as Professional Learning

Until now, research on podcasting in education mostly examined teacher created podcasts in K-12 and higher education. This paper explores podcasts in professional learning across several genres of podcasts. Using a popular typology of podcasts, teacher created, student created and professional development podcasts (King & Gura, 2007), this paper compares, contrasts and reveals the potential of multiple educational contexts and instructional strategies, formative instructional design, interdisciplinary strategies, formal and informal learning, and effective uses of data gathering methods. The significance of the study extends from not only the extensive reach of the data gathering and production, but also the robust research model, formative and dynamic instructional design for staff development and recommendations for podcasting research strategies.