Podcasts are a simple, but effective way of engaging with an audience as they provide easy and accessible content directly to your listeners. Because of this, podcasting can be the perfect tool for teachers as a delivery method of learning resources for students in education and help to maintain the attention of students for longer.
Students don’t have to put full focus on the podcast they’re listening to as it can be consumed whilst doing other tasks. Podcasts for education has plenty of benefits to help you engage with students more effectively. Here’s how podcasts can help your lessons.
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Classrooms can be limiting to some students. Not everyone takes in information the same way. Some students may prefer visuals, others audio learning, whilst some just like to go at their own pace. The accessibility of podcasts allows students to learn in a way they prefer, which can help increase learning performance dramatically.
Using smartphones, iPods, tablets, or laptops to access educational podcasts makes it just that much easier to consume content the way you want it. Essentially, students can choose an environment they are comfortable in and can save time on lessons or lectures in favour of a digital format.
Packaging Up Lessons
Repetition is key when learning anything new. Reading textbooks outside the classroom is encouraged so students can understand sometimes complex subjects. This same method can be applied by recording and packaging up lessons for later playback.
Easy to consume snippets (or entire lectures) are useful for reference afterwards, so students can go back and listen to anything that was missed. Most universities, like The University of Edinburgh, encourage students to record lectures for personal use.
Both students and staff can refer to classroom recordings and use them to build on what’s been said or catch up on missed lessons. In the future, they could even replace the need for classroom time altogether by providing all the necessary information the students need in bite-sized audio recordings, similar to what The Open University is doing with the likes of the e-learning portal.
Delivering for Podcasts for Education
Not every student will be in the classroom all year round, so for days missed you can deliver lecturers directly to them without fail. This method is kind of like a subscription service, but with a podcast feed instead. Students get notified when new or updated content becomes available.
Podcast.co can host your podcast, whilst directories like Apple Podcasts and Stitcher list and distribute your episodes to your students. There are a bunch more places to host your podcast and directories to submit and promote your episodes. You can always be assured that your content is reaching every single student without the need for printouts, books, or other types of media that may not reach them.
Helping Impaired Students
Podcasting in education is a handy alternative for some people who may have cognitive or visual impairments. Students who may find difficulty in consuming visual media could benefit from audio content as it can be much more inclusive of people's abilities. Offering an option for students to record and listen back to lecturers is key to being more inclusive and to ensure the maximum amount of students can learn at their own pace.
These are just a handful of benefits that podcasts for education offers both students and teachers alike. They are incredibly easy to incorporate into daily school operations and can be cost-effective for a school or education system in replacing current delivery techniques or alongside, allowing students to have more personal freedom and a fun learning experience!
