Insights from the FLO EdTech Sandbox Sessions
3.2 Listen and Learn: Podcasting for Content Delivery in Hybrid and Online Classes
Brenna Clarke Gray
As part of the BCcampus FLO EdTech Sandbox Series, Brenna Clarke Gray presented on podcasting and podcast distribution using WordPress. In the session, participants had time to play with recording and very basic audio editing, discuss why podcasting is a useful tool for content delivery in hybrid/online classes, and how to distribute podcasts out into the world.
Brenna Clarke Gray is an educational technologies coordinator at Thompson Rivers University
What Is Podcasting?
In simple terms, a podcast is an audio file (often with supplements like transcripts, show notes, etc.) that is distributed (the cast part of podcast) over the internet using an RSS feed so listeners can subscribe on their mobile devices or computers. A podcast can be fixed length or ongoing. The small file sizes of podcasts make them ideal for reaching learners who perhaps have less-robust internet options, especially in contrast with using video for lectures.
Strengths of Podcasting for Teachers
We explored a series of key benefits to podcasting, especially over other media educators might select for teaching and learning at a distance. In the session we focused on podcasts being:
- An open knowledge mobilization opportunity you control
- A way to connect with people beyond your discipline or institution
- An intimate, involved mode of storytelling
- Portable, accessible, and engaging
- A medium with a low barrier to entry, although like anything, podcasting is easy to do but hard to do well
I shared a story from my own teaching history that reflects many of these strengths. The first time I taught a fully online course in 2013, I decided to podcast my lectures. This was a literature class, and I wanted to talk my way through the texts like I typically did in class, but I didn’t want to create and edit a lot of videos. I kept my lectures to 30-45 minutes and recorded using only my laptop and a Yeti Blue microphone. At that time I did all my editing in GarageBand, which came with my laptop. I felt like I could connect with learners directly in the same way I felt connected to my favourite podcasters, especially when talking about difficult topics like race, sexuality, and identity. While most students reported favourable opinions about the podcasts, for one group of learners — a group I had never considered! — my course became very popular: students who were also truck drivers who liked to listen to their lectures on the road.
This really spoke to me about how trying new things in the classroom can help educators reach different learners in new ways. So why not give podcasting a whirl?
Considerations Before You Jump In
Accessibility matters! Although podcasting is in many ways a highly accessible medium for learners in rural environments or those who need different kinds of access to learning materials, you need to consider all lear