Engaging Students Through Educational Podcasting: Three Stories of Implementation

While podcasting has been around for over a decade, this popular format is experiencing a resurgence. This phenomenon has led many educators to return to this medium and ask questions regarding the meaningful integration for teaching and learning. Podcasting lends itself to the idea of learning anywhere and at any time. The benefits of using audio, but specifically integrating podcasting, are well established in the literature. Student-created podcasts have been shown to improve reading, writing, and listening skills (Smythe and Neufeld 53:488–496, 2010) and promote student engagement and collaboration and lead to gains in literacy development (Morgan 91:71–73, 2015). Podcasts offer students opportunities to revisit classroom content and instruction while providing greater critical thinking opportunities (Shumack and Gilchrist 1:5–9, 2009). According to Vandenberg ((2):54, 2018), podcasting aids students in storytelling techniques that feature the importance of logical and coherent thinking. Additionally, incorporating either audio or video podcasts allows for a greater ability to personalize and accommodate learners (O’Bannon et al. 57:1885–1892, 2011). As educators begin to explore opportunities for podcasting within the classroom, this article presents three real-world case studies of implementation in various educational contexts: elementary, high school, and higher education. These cases provide insight into how these educators diversely implemented podcasting while minimizing challenges. Additionally, the authors offer a set of recommendations that can potentially guide the process towards successful implementation. Within this section, various technical tools and podcasting content are included to provide a practical starting point to jumpstart implementation.