This post was co-authored by Giulia Di Giovanni, Jessica Gemella, Tim Wong, and Leah Yardley.
Podcasting is a popular medium for sharing information and entertainment, with over 10 million Canadian adults (34%) listening to podcasts on a monthly basis in the past year (Loup, 2023). We examined the impact of podcasts on society at varied scales, including on individual learners, institutions, communities, and societies (Selwyn, 2010). Our critical inquiry is framed by the entangled pedagogy model (Fawns, 2022), which describes how technology, teaching methods, goals, values, and context influence each other. Our inquiry has revealed potential concerns about accessibility and accuracy, as well as the vast potential of podcasting to enhance the learning experience and engage learners in innovative ways. We will each share one identified benefit and concern of podcasting as a learning technology.
Giulia
A benefit of using podcasts to support learning is the opportunity to afford learners with diverse perspectives and experiences that are not always represented in traditional educational resources. According to Werner et al. (2020), “Without diverse representation behind the microphone, we are missing out on unique perspectives, narratives, and learning points” (p. 1). Yet, accuracy and bias can be a concern when using podcasts to support learning because the information presented may reflect the biases of the podcast host or guests. Podcast regulation does not currently exist in Canada, which may lead to inaccuracy of content, bias, and conflicts of interest (Briand et al., 2021).
Leah
Podcasting developed and hosted by Indigenous people can help reclaim oral tradition and cultural knowledge that was lost due to colonialism. Podcasting gives Indigenous people agency over their knowledge and representation, acting as a tool for decolonization (University of British Columbia, 2020). Nevertheless, Indigenous knowledge does not conform to Western epistemological frameworks or fit within Western copyright laws (McCraken, n.d.). Pertaining specifically to OERs, open licenses operate in a colonial understanding of intellectual property (Gray, 2021) and fail to acknowledge traditional and community-based protocol. Care should be taken to ensure that Indigenous concepts of ownership are respected (The Canadian Federation of Library Associations, 2018).
Jessica
Scholars across disciplines use podcasts to share and amplify their research findings with new audiences. In addition, podcasts can provide a space for marginalized voices to be heard, and a platform for collaboration between researchers and community members, leading to more accessible and impactful research (DeMarco, 2022). However, podcasting presents a new way to share knowledge, and researchers need to acquire new skills to work with audio technologies and engaging speaking skills (Mollett et al., 2020). Additionally, there is a lack of standards which is problematic because the producer and listener have no objective way to evaluate the quality of a podcast (Singer, 2019).
Tim
A potential opportunity for podcasting is increased engagement: Podcasts can make learning engaging and interesting for learners. According to Jalali et al. (2011), students preferred reviewing course material by listening to a podcast as opposed to reading class notes or textbooks. On the other hand, one concern is the requirement for accessibility in podcasting as a means of education. Podcasts must cater to learners with disabilities, and CUNY Library Services (n.d.) offers excellent resources to achieve this. Their recommendations include providing transcripts, ensuring the website is accessible for screen readers, and ensuring the media player can be operated by keyboard for screen readers and operators.
To learn more about our experience with podcasting as a learning technology and the questions we have, you can view the Critical Eye Podcast here.
References
Briand, S., Malo-Leclerc, I., Beaudoin, M., Croisetière, É., Tremblay, A., Côté-Boulanger, M., & Carrier, A. (2021). Considerations in the use of podcasts for teaching and learning in occupational therapy: A scoping study. Journal of Occupational Therapy Education, 5(2). https://doi.org/10.26681/ jote.2021.050202
Caramancion, K. (2022). An exploration of mis/disinformation in audio format disseminated in podcasts: Case study of spotify. 2022 Electronics and Mechatronics Conference (IEMTRONICS), Toronto, ON, Canada. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9795760
CUNY Library Services (n.d.). Podcast Accessibility. https://guides.cuny.edu/accessibility/podcasts
DeMarco, C. (2022). Hear here! The case for podcasting in research. Journal of Research Administration, 53(1), 30–61. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1348008
Gray, J. (2021). Podcasting as praxis: Exploring epistemic justice in open education. https://openresearch.ocadu.ca/id/eprint/3410/
Jalali, A., Leddy, J.J., Gauthier, M., Sun, R., Hincke, M., & Carnegie, J.A. (2011). Use of podcasting as an innovative asynchronous e-learning tool for students. Journal of US-China Education Review, 11, 741-748. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED529387
Loup, J. (2023, February 3). Podcast listening in Canada: who’s doing it and how often? NLogic. https://inspiration.nlogic.ca/en/podcast-listening-in-canada
McCracken, K. (n.d.). Context matters: Indigenous knowledge and OER [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4SCo1ScUck&t=340s
Mollett, A., Brumley, C., Gilson, C., & Williams, S. (2020). Communicating your research with social media: A practical guide to using blogs, podcast, data visualizations and video. [Blog]. Sage Publishing. https://study.sagepub.com/mollett2/student-resources/chapter-1/reasons-why-your-research-should-be-a-podcast
Moore, T. (2022). Pedagogy, podcasts, and politics: What role does podcasting have in planning education? Journal of Planning Education and Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/0739456X221106327
Singer, J. B. (2019). Podcasting as social scholarship: A tool to increase the public impact of scholarship and research. Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research, 10(4), 571–590. https://doi.org/10.1086/706600
The Canadian Federation of Library Associations. (2018). Position statement on Indigenous knowledge and copyright. http://cfla-fcab.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CFLA-FCAB_Indigenous_knowledge_statement.pdf
University of British Columbia. (2020, November 2). Celebrating Indigenous voices: Indigenous podcasts have emerged as a tool to decolonize the airwaves. https://nitep.educ.ubc.ca/november-02-2020-celebrating-indigenous-voices-indigenous-podcasts-have-emerged-as-a-tool-to-decolonize-the-airwaves/
Werner, J. L., Lewiss, R. E., Pensa, G., & McGregor, A. J. (2020). Women in Podcasting: We Should Tune In. The Permanente Journal, 24, 1–3. https://doi.org/10.7812/TPP/19.241