IMPALA Informal Mobile Podcasting and Learning Adaptation
The Use of Podcasts to Bring Topical Issues and Informal Content into the Formal Curriculum
Natural & Social Sciences, University of Gloucestershire
Summary
This podcast application was developed for a level one module entitled ‘Skills 4 Sustainability’, within Geography and Development, University of Gloucestershire. The purposes of using podcast were to introduce students to topical issues in environment and sustainability and help students develop study skills. The podcasts were 10-minute audio files delivered via PebblePad on a weekly basis. Each podcast consisted of a variety of elements: review of study skills, introduce to topical issues, interviews or discussion with colleagues, practitioners and experts in the field, and representatives from the local resident and business community.
Context
This podcast application was developed for a level one module Skills 4 Sustainability in Department of Natural and Social Sciences at University of Gloucestershire. The module was an enquiry-based, skills-focused, core module for a hundred and ten students from a wide range of study programmes in the areas of Landscape and Garden Design, Environmental Science, Physical Geography, Human Geography, Community Development, Biology, Psychology and Sociology. The module was delivered in face-to-face lectures.
The module was taught through tutorial groups and was assessed through an essay, a group presentation based on a particular sustainable development theme and a Personal Development Portfolio (PDP) on PebblePad – an ePortfolio system designed to help students to reflect on progress in their study. Students were encouraged to keep using the PebblePad throughout their whole university life. The purpose was to support student personal development and serve for life-long learning.
Rationale
One of the challenges of this module was that students’ prior knowledge and awareness of environment and sustainability issues were varied. The idea of using podcasts to introduce students to topical issues can help to engage a large number of students and bring students’ knowledge to the same level.
The module itself was skills focused. Another purpose of using podcasts was to help first year undergraduate students to develop basic academic skills, such as presentation, research, reflective and active learning skills within a discipline context.
Application
A weekly podcast around 10-15 minutes was developed and delivered through the lecturer’s personal blog in PebblePad. Each podcast had three sessions and consisted of a skill theme, a content theme and a review of resource. In the skill theme, the lecturer introduced students to a range of academic skills including presentation, report writing, reflective learning and portfolio development, teamwork, and independent research skills. In the content theme, the lecturer introduced students to a range of main issues related to sustainable development. In the resource session, the lecturer provided students with additional learning resources to introduce students to current debates on environment, sustainability and development from global, national, regional and local perspectives. The content for this session was derived from interviews or discussion with colleagues, practitioners and experts in the field, and representatives from the local resident and business community.
Technology
An MP3 player was used for recording interviews, debates and discussion. Audacity was used for recording and editing podcasts.
Evaluation
The impact of podcasting on students’ learning was being captured through qualitative and quantitative methods. Quantitative data was captured through an end-of-semester questionnaire with eighteen students in the end of the semester, developed to gather data on students’ pattern of listening to podcasts, such as how many podcasts they listened to, time and place they listen to podcasts, and reasons for not listening. The data were analyzed using Excel employing descriptive methods.
The qualitative data was captured through two focus groups with seventeen students during the middle of semester and personal interviews with two students in the end of the semester. Student interviews, lasted about an hour, were conducted using a semi-structured interview schedule developed to explore how student learning is supported by podcasts.
Staff experience of developing podcasts was gathered through a personal interview with the lecturer who developed the podcasts. Information gathered included pedagogical rationale of using podcasts, the development process, and issues encountered.
All interviews with both students and staff were recorded on a digital recorder and transcribed verbatim for analysis to identify key themes and issues. The qualitative data was analyzed using a grounded theory approach offered by Strauss and Corbin (1990). The analysis of qualitative data was facilitated by using software QSR N6.
Benefits
Lead to more information and learn extra
Some students reported that listening to the podcasts in which the lecturer interviewed or discussed topical issues with other people were very useful. They motivated students to search for more information and learn extra.
“I think mainly for me, I did a presentation two weeks ago, and it was the interview with Kenny and Dave Turner, another lecturer here, and they were talking about a few reviews that came out, such as the Econ review, the Stern review, and they were analysing it in a way that was an interview form, and I found it quite interesting and I went away and looked up these two reports, looked at it more, and then bought it into my presentation, not just going on what those two said about it, but also what various media interpretations of it were.”
“That’s basically what I’m saying. You don’t have to do it. It’s just something extra that I find, it does help. It does give you little extra ideas, for example, that presentation, I would have struggled a lot more with it if I hadn’t have listened to the Podcast. And I just think that this extra stuff, although it doesn’t help you directly, reading the news, I just think it’s something worth having in your memory bank so you can fall back on it. If you’re doing an essay or a presentation, you’ve always got that little bit, you’ve got a broader knowledge depth to do that little bit more, and I think it might just push your grade up, even if it just puts it up a little bit more, it’s a little bit of a help.”
Motivational
Some students said that listening to podcasts, especially the ones in which the lecturer interviewed or discussed topical issues with other people interesting and motivational.
“That’s probably the most helpful incidence it’s been for me, other than that it’s just generally interesting, and Kenny often brings up recent ideas or theories, and it’s worth just bearing in mind, even if you’re not using them.”
Offer flexibility in learning
Some students said that listening to podcasts is flexible and convenient because they can listen to it at their own time and from their own MP3 players when they are on the move.
“But it’s more convenient, you know, you can download to your own MP3 player or whatever, and then listen to it when you’ve got the time. You don’t have to be a certain time and certain place to listen to what they’ve got to say. So it’s more convenient.”
“And just listen to it. First, to make sure it works, and then on the bus as I was coming into university. I’d listen to it, and then if there’s anything interesting I’d stop it and get a notepad out and write it down. But yeah, it’s just listening to it on the way into university and taking it in.”
Some students felt that it was more in student control by listening to podcasts because they can pause and rewind.
“You can pause and rewind the podcasts…Just if you don’t hear something properly or you don’t quite understand something, you could rewind back to where the conversation started, and just listen again. That can help, maybe you missed something.”
Listening is easier than reading
Some students said that listening to podcasts offers another useful way to learning. It can be particularly useful for students who learn more effectively from listening than reading.
“In general, I think what (the lecturer) has done is alright, and definitely helpful. There could perhaps be better ways of improving the Podcast, but then we’ve got to be grateful that he’s actually gone out of his way to do it, because some lecturer doesn’t want to do anything other that what they have to do. So it’s kind of nice to have a lecturer that’s willing to do a little bit extra for you, although it perhaps could be improved although I’m not sure how you would do that.”
Lessons Learned
Make the embedded values clear to students
The experiences of students who listened to the podcasts have been proved successful. They perceived the added values of podcasts, and were stimulated in embedding them in their learning activities. However, the questionnaire survey and student interviews showed that some students did not listen to any podcasts. One of the reasons for not listening is that students did not perceive any added values of listening to podcasts. They felt that the module itself was easy and elementary. They can complete the assignments and pass the exam without listening to podcasts. Some students did not listen to podcasts because they thought that the podcasts were not directly relevant to the subjects they were doing. This was because many students on this module came from a wide range of disciplinary areas such as Genetics and Biology. They had difficulties of seeing the relevance of the podcasts to their learning.
Podcasts were not compulsory, this indicates that a strategy for engaging students to listen is needed. In order to do this, the lecturer summaries the following ways to engage students in the futrue:
- Engagement with tutors by involving them more in the production of podcast, as colleagues who attended interviews found how easy podacast works and were more willingly to talk to students about the values of podcasting
- Send students an email to summarise the content of the forthcoming podcast
- Make the content relevant to multi-disciplines
Make transcription of audio content available
The colleague transcribed the podcasts (except the interviews), and posted them on Pebblepad, so that students have hearing difficulties can read the content in podcasts.
Time investment
The experiences from the colleague suggested that developing podcasts can be a time-consuming process. Practitioners need to be prepared and allocate time on the following areas:
- Preparation for the content (e.g. develop documents and scripting)
- Planning what to do for each week
- Transcription of the audio content
- Time to interview colleagues
- Editing interviews and podcasts
Bring immediacy into content
The colleague believed that a good way for using podcasting is to bring immediacy (e.g. news, topical issues, of the moment debate) into the content to make the podcast responsive to students.
Ensure technology works 24/7
Some students mentioned that the PebblePad sometimes did not work. This might create a barrier for students who want to use podcasts. The institution needs to ensure that students have 24/7 access to podcasts so that they will not be disadvantaged by technology.
Future Work
In the next year, the colleague plans to engage more students and staff in producing the podcasts, and to explore ways of including music in podcasts.
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