Teaching & Professional Practice

Podcasting in the classroom: A case

study
Peter Beamish
Dean, Faculty of Education, Avondale College, NSW
Joshua Brown
English / History teacher, Macquarie College, Wallsend, NSW

The world is changing. Many students now fill qualities of pedagogy that have been successfully
their world with mobile phones, text messaging, applied in a range of school contexts and are shown
MP3 players and computers that they use for to lead to improved student learning” (NSW DET,
social networking. They have really become the 2003, 4-5). These qualities are categorised into
iPod generation. Due to the ubiquitous nature the three dimensions of intellectual quality, quality
of iPods, and other mp3 players, digital music learning environment, and significance for the
is everywhere and podcasting has become a student.
mainstream activity of the web 2.0 age. One way that these dimensions can be
operationalised is through the use of constructivist
Introduction learning activities. Constructivism is the dominant
The term ‘podcast’ is a combination of the words paradigm in education today (Rowe, 2007). Most
broadcasting and iPod (Newberry, 2006). For constructivists would agree that all knowledge is
the uninitiated, a podcast is an audio or video file actively constructed and organised in networks
that is usually made available on the internet for that are increasingly more complex and abstract,
users to download. Many different programs can and that constructed knowledge is under an almost
be downloaded as podcasts. Any television or continuous state of reorganisation and restructuring.
radio program can be transmitted as a podcast,
as can any class, lecture, performance, or event.
The extensive nature of podcasting today may
be exposed by a search on Google of the word
podcast. This search recently returned 152,000,000
hits. Apple claims that there are thousands of free
The main pedagogic implication of a personal
constructivist perspective is that learning can
be facilitated by teachers who challenge student
conceptions and involve them actively in the
teaching-learning process by providing stimulating
and motivating experiences. This type of pedagogy
“ Learners
need to
be actively
involved, to
reflect on
podcasts available on iTunes. emphasises that learners need to be actively their learning
As an educational tool the use of podcasts in involved, to reflect on their learning and make and make
the classroom is similar to other computer-based inferences, and to experience cognitive conflict. inferences
technologies. Podcasts can be used as a resource
created by others, a resource created by the teacher,
or as a project created by students (Preston, 2008).
But can podcasts be used to implement quality
learning experiences in the classroom?
Current research shows the single most
The question that now arises is how to best
implement a constructivist approach to teaching
and learning in the classroom? Marc Prensky (2001)
suggests that today’s students are digital natives
due to their exposure and immersion in the digital
media of the day. For these students, significance,
”
important determinant of student achievement a key aspect of the NSW Quality Teaching Model,
at school is quality teaching (Whelan, 2005). In is often related to the digital age and the use of
considering quality teaching and learning it is digital media. The use of computer technologies in
important to stress that educational effectiveness for the classroom, therefore, may provide the answer
all students is dependent on the provision of quality as they have been shown to be an effective way to
teaching by competent teachers who utilize effective implement constructivist pedagogies and enhance
teaching strategies (Rowe, 2006). student learning (Drennan, Kennedy, & Pisarki,
The effectiveness of using technologies like 2005; Preston, 2008). The creation of a podcast
podcasting in the classroom does not rely so much is a valuable task because it is a real world skill; it
on the technology itself but on the ways it can be provides an authentic task for students; it is an ideal
used to deliver a quality learning experience. The means to immerse students in the process of inquiry;
NSW Quality Teaching Model details “generic and it gives students the opportunity to research,

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 Teaching & Professional Practice

develop their understanding, create and present at school, 73% of students specified that they had
their findings. Students are encouraged to “actively engaged in web 2.0 uses of the internet through the

“Students
collaborated
to research
a topic and
develop
manipulate information in a variety of contexts from
a number of different resources in order to solve
meaningful and relevant problems” (Hopson, Simms
& Knezek, 2002, 116-117).
In particular, the power of the world wide web
and the emergence of web 2.0 technologies such
uploading of content they had created.
The students were divided into groups that
contained between four and eight students. Each
group worked in collaboration with the teacher to
choose an appropriate topic within their present
history unit. The students then began to develop
it into an as podcasting means that anyone can now be part their podcast by researching the topic and creating
actual of the knowledge-access, knowledge-building, the actual podcast. This was completed in class over
podcast and information-exchanging culture (Loving a three week period.

” et al., 2007). But many teachers lack the skills

necessary to introduce podcasting activities in the
classroom. One solution is to partner teachers with
pre-service teachers with the requisite skills to
implement podcasting activities in the classroom.
The Partnerships in ICT Learning project (PICTL)
Throughout the podcast project, student data
was collected using three different data collection
measures. Students were given a knowledge pre-
test prior to the start of the podcast activity, a
knowledge post-test after the completion of the
podcast activity, and an attitudinal survey.
explored the way that partnerships between Overall the student groups performed well during
universities and schools could provide a way to the podcast activity. The attitudinal data collected
enable pre-service teachers and teachers to use during the study showed that students generally
ICTs with students. The PICTL program provided enjoyed the podcasting experience. 86% of students
some successes and explored ways that pre-service indicated that creating their own podcast made
teachers could lead out in technology learning history seem exciting and relevant (see Figure1).
activities in schools. There was a significant increase (p<0.01) in the
students’ content knowledge after the groups had
The current study produced their podcast. Although this finding is
The current case study followed the path of the encouraging, it must be viewed in the context of the
PICTL project. A classroom teacher, pre-service small sample size.
teacher, and university formed a partnership to Whilst producing their podcasts students were
implement a constructivist podcasting project in the enthusiastic about learning, were actively involved in
classroom. the construction and analysis of their own data and
Podcasting was utilised as a learning tool in a were demonstrating a range of creative skills. The
classroom of 30 year nine students. Although there results of this study support the current literature that
was variation in levels of use, 100% of participants recognises that constructivist podcasting projects
[Photography: in the case study indicated that they use the internet can enhance student learning in the classroom
Peter Beamish] at home. Prior to having completed the podcast (Preston, 2008).

Figure 1: Student attitudes to podcasting

18

I enjoyed the podcasting

16
project

14
Number of Students

Creating my own
podcast made history
12 exciting and relevant

10

0
1 2 3 4 5
Strongly Strongly
Disagree Agree

Student Attitudes

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 Teaching & Professional Practice

Hopson, M., Simms, R., & Knezek, G. (2002). Using a technology-

Conclusions enriched environment to improve higher order thinking skills.
Overall, the results of using podcasting in the Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 34(2), 109-
119.
classroom were positive. Generally, students in the Loving C., Schroeder C., Kang R., Shimek C., & Herbert B. (2007).
podcasting class benefitted from a quality learning Blogs: Enhancing links in a professional learning community of
experience through the use of web 2.0 technologies. Science and Mathematics teachers? Contemporary Issues in
Technology and Teacher Education, 7(3).
In addition, the pre-service teacher formed a good Newberry, J. (2006) How to preserve your history: New podcast.
partnership with the teachers at the school. This was US Fed News Service, Including US State News. Retrieved
illustrated when he was asked to run a professional 3rd November, 2006 from ProQuest database.
development session for all the staff at the school.
The podcasting project helped students to
acquire knowledge in the area in which they were
working.
Students also had an overall positive attitude to
the use of technology in the classroom and many
NSW Department of Education and Training. (2003). Quality
teaching in NSW public schools. Discussion Paper.
Professional Support and Curriculum Directorate, Sydney
NSW.
Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the
Horizon. NCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 5.
Preston, G. (2008) The effects of podcasts on student learning
and satisfaction, Proceedings of the Australian Computers in
Education Conference 2008, Australian Council for Computers
“ Many
students saw
the use of
technology
in the
saw it as increasing the relevance of their learning in Education. classroom
experience. This case study supports the suggestion Rowe K. (2006). Effective teaching practices for students with as increasing
and without learning difficulties: Issues and implications
that web 2.0 use in the classroom enhances student surrounding key findings and recommendations from the the relev-
learning, and that it can be used by teachers as they national inquiry into the teaching of literacy. Australian Journal ance of their
of Learning Disabilities, 11(3), 99-115.
implement the NSW quality teacher model in their Rowe, K. (2007). The imperative of evidence-based practices for
learning
classrooms. TEACH the teaching and assessment of numeracy. Australian Council experience

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the Diocese of Broken Bay. Discussion Paper. Retrieved 29th
February, 2008, from www.cso.brokenbay.catholic.edu.au/
resources/pdfs/Discussn_paper_Aug_17_2005.pdf
”