Discussion: Somewhat like the return of vinyl records, the recent resurgence of the Podcast medium, initially on the back of some hyper-popular journalistic properties, might have been unexpected. Podcasts demonstrate the enduring power of sound, the spoken word, and narrative, above and beyond the engagement possible with visual media. It is probably safe to say that the resurgence would not have happened without current mobile technologies – Podcasts are perhaps a quintessential mobile experience. Recently AIs have demonstrated the ability to create hours-long multi-persona podcasts on the fly, and they also have the ability to make such podcasts intensively personal and interactive – it is difficult to imagine all of the potentials for learning within this transformation.
523 Inspiration: For education, and mobile learning especially, Podcasts offer a proven medium that is equally convenient and accessible for both learners and educators. Better networks and devices have considerably elevated the potential of educational Podcasts since their first appearance on now-outmoded iPods.
As a podcaster myself, I think I have to believe that this medium is one of the ways forward for the field of education. This format has the potential to allow people of all walks of life to share information in an easily consumable medium. With the reduction in costs of production and the ease of creating in this space, the stage is open for knowledge sharing across so many disciplines that would otherwise struggle to get mainstream airtime. Being able to listen or watch experts discuss subjects brings more people into the conversation, and thereby hopefully offers educators a means to go beyond the institution to reach a more global audience. This has the benefit of making voices of experts (and non-experts) across the globe heard by interested parties allowing for a freer sharing of thoughts and ideas. Obviously this does also potentially give stage space to fringe or extremist groups too, but this is one of the costs of free speech, which is hopefully metered by the ability to share these kinds of ideas.
I’ve grown to appreciate the podcast/audiobook medium. Truly, this an example of technology enhancing a human experience. It comes to no surprise to this group that auditory engagement has been one of the primary modes of learning throughout humanity. A natural environment for our learning and memory.
Previously, to gain this, you had to be in the right time, place, and have been provided the information of the event. Now, with technology, we can experience a lecture/Q-A style experience anywhere, whenever we’d like.
Of course, the free market dictates what is popular within social spheres. And purely educational podcasts are not consistently at the top of charts. It will take effort on the users part to filter through what is and isn’t worth there time.
I gravitated towards this post in the context of podcast use in an educational setting. While podcasts have made a huge resurgence with the general public, as an educator I do not see the same inclusion of the medium in classrooms or professional development. I feel the creation of high quality educational podcasts for students of all ages could be incredibly beneficial for today’s learners. These podcasts certainly exist, but I have not noticed them being used as a learning tool.