Podcasts as a tool to engage broader audiences
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Published Version
Date
2019
Authors
Scriven, Richard
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
Published Version
Abstract
This paper examines how audio podcasts can be deployed by universities and other educational institutions to engage with a broader range of audiences and encourage critical discussion of contemporary issues. Using the case study of a podcast I produced, I consider how the medium is an accessible and user-friendly format that enables the generation of content aimed at a general listenership. Insight into how this approach can bring teaching and research materials to new groups of people is created by reflecting on the process of making and distributing a series (Hacker 2017). Since their emergence in the early 2000s, podcasts - as a form of internet on-demand radio – have been used by universities as an additional dissemination system. Departments and universities were early adaptors to help spread knowledge, research findings, and commentary on topics of public interest (Open Culture 2006). One of the main deployments has been to augment student learning through the recording of podcasts as an alternative or supplement to lectures or as a revision or feedback tool (Fernandez et al. 2015; Kidd 2011; Lonn and Teasley 2009). More recently, within the discipline of geography, podcasts are being recognised as a distinct tools for more inclusive research that can reach groups who do not usually follow academic discourses (Kinkaid, Brain, and Senanayake 2019). Building on these strands, this paper focuses on how a podcast can be used as an educational mechanism both for general audiences and undergraduates, which recognises diverse forms of learning and the importance of accessible materials (Ambrose et al. 2010; Towler, Ridgway, and McCarthy 2015).
Description
Keywords
Podcast , Learning , Accessible
Citation
Scriven, R. (2019) ‘Podcasts as a tool to engage broader audiences’, Learning Connections 2019: Spaces, People, Practice, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland, 5-6 December, pp. 192-195. doi: 10.33178/LC.2019.40