The original purpose of podcast was for providing entertainment and recreation to users. It has since outgrown its utility and nowadays finds use in education, business, news, and even for advertising. In its simplest form, podcast is an audio or video resource stored in a website, with users accessing it by visiting the website and streaming it to their computers. News websites were among the first few to use podcasting to disseminate information to its subscribers.

With the advent of cheap internet service and mobile devices, the reach of podcast has grown manifold. In fact podcasts have been automated in very different ways. Podcasters provide users apps, and by accessing the app, users can instantly watch or listen to content. There are paid as well as free apps that can be downloaded and installed on computers, iPhone, iPad, MP3 devices or Android phones.

Principal Users of Podcasts

Schools and colleges are among the most prolific users of podcasts these days, though they are not a full substitute for classroom lectures. Podcasts are usually edited and generally run for about 3-5 minutes though longer ones extending to 30 or more minutes are common as well. They are prepared from raw classroom lectures and also include power point presentations to make it interesting. Newer podcast technologies are capable of incorporating PPTs in the podcast itself. This is what makes podcasts ideal for education.

How Podcasts are Made

The usual way to make podcasts is to record lectures in real time classes or in a studio. Making the podcast in a studio has its advantages, but the ones recorded live are lively and more interesting because you can actually see or hear the interaction taking place between lecturers and learners. Whereas in a studio recording, the producers will be able to show live demos in a more meaningful way, but will lack the liveliness of real time lectures. Some podcast producers use a hybrid of both techniques to take education to learners.

Advantages of Podcast viz-a-viz Classroom Lecture

There is little doubt about the efficacy of podcasts in education, and they even exceed learners’ expectations at times. The main advantage of podcast is that you can use them repeatedly to rehearse the lectures many times over. This means learners will be able to replay the podcast to capture even the minute nuances of the lecture they may have missed in the first or second instances they are watching. Another distinct advantage is that learners get freedom from taking down notes which can be very distracting for some.

The second advantage to learners is that they can learn at a comfortable pace. This should particularly interest those who may have difficulty in understanding the lecturers’ accent or those with limited understanding of the language in which lectures are delivered. When lectures are delivered in a series, learners seldom miss anything because they get another opportunity to keep pace with others in the group. This is of particular importance to those who are doing continuing programs in course of their profession.

Podcasts are increasingly being used in distance education these days. It helps to deliver lessons in remote corners of the world almost instantly, and even helps in interactive learning when used in conjunction with video conferring, though that is not common to podcasts. ESL Learners (English as a Secondary Language) find podcasts particularly helpful, because, the lecturers can be heard as well as be watched, which important to language learning. It helps to register lessons better in the minds of users.

The third advantage of podcasts is they save on time and commuting expenses. Commuting has become very expensive as we all know. Fuel prices are skyrocketing and discourage travel, and resultantly the opportunities to attend lectures get fewer. Podcasts actually help to cut down the cost of delivery education, when it comes to mass education – there are lesser expenses in maintaining classrooms, hiring teachers, printing lessons, and is eco-friendly as well.

Podcast equipments are already cheap and they are getting cheaper still. More interestingly, users don’t have to spend money on anything new – in fact most podcast apps are compatible with commonly used gadgets like iPhone and iPad, and even a low-end computer is enough for most purposes. Schools and colleges in third-world countries with single equipment can give access to podcasts, and this is particularly helpful when they operate under financial constraints.

Another distinct advantage of podcasts is that lessons can be personalized to particular learners within a bigger group. The usual way to do this is to deliver podcasts as supplements to the main learning program. Podcasts have also been found to be of particular interest to slow learners and those with moderate learning disabilities.

The Verdict – Podcast will Stay for the Future

Doubtlessly podcasts have a big advantage, but there are some little things that teachers must take care of. They should monitor learners lest they concentrate more on audio and visuals rather than on the content itself. At least in the beginning, learners must be guided and good habits inculcated very early in the learning process. Considering the big advantages that podcast learning has, teachers should not mind the little disturbances it can cause. Podcast learning has come to stay and might well become the standards of delivering lectures in future.

This post was written by Kate Smitty