How to build a profitable podcast.
Any idea how educational podcasts can impact learning? This article will definitely show you...
Let us welcome our guest writer Claudia Jeffrey!
Listening is one of our most used communication ways. We listen every day, and we listen a lot. Listening is a human habit. Hence the podcast industry is growing very fast, and more importantly, the educational podcasts. According to Infinite Dial, 55% of the US people have already listened to the podcasts.
And by 2021, 78 % of Americans are aware of podcasting, and more than one-third of adults aged 12+ listen to the podcasts regularly.
Moreover, a lot of students have started listening for the learning purpose as well. According to stats from Statista, 39% of listening by students was due to learning purposes by 2019, and it has increased with time.
All these stats refer to a statement that podcasting can be helpful and beneficial for the new education process amidst covid-19, where technology is changing the future of education. Let’s quickly analyze some more advantages of podcasting in the education sector.
Educational podcasts are becoming common and for a good reason. I firmly believe that there is no other alternative to in-person teaching, but keeping in mind the current pandemic situation, and the better use of technology, podcasts are a better option to go with. Following are some benefits of leveraging educational podcasts.
Podcasts are making education more accessible to students. You, as a student, can easily listen to them wherever you want, whenever you want. You can easily download them on your phones and listen while doing your daily routine work.
An essay writer in one of his papers wrote,
“More than 60% of students are working along with their studies. Podcasts provide them with a comfort zone where they can listen to them in their leisure time while working, running, and cooking.”
The current covid situation has made many students miss their lectures due to quarantine and various other reasons. However, for any reason, if you have missed your lecture, a podcast of that lesson will help you cover it up in no time.
Students can listen to the educational podcasts of the previous class on their way to school/college to catch up with the present lecture.
With the mobiles in hand, so many people prefer audiobooks. Instead of reading, many go for listening as you can perform multiple tasks while listening.
Have a look at the below stats that show listening is growing with the time being passed.
Hence, students would love to listen to the podcasts.
If students are provided with a podcast of lectures they are going to attend, it will open up discussion for them about the upcoming lesson. They will get involved in group discussions and will search for that particular topic. Hence the time spent face-to-face with teachers will be more effective for active learning.
We all have been students some time in our lives, or some are still in the learning phase. We know that different students have different attitudes. They prefer a learning style that suits them the best.
Some prefer self-learning through the internet, books, etc. Some go with group studies. Some would like to have face-to-face classes. Ones like me would prefer a friend who could deliver me the important notes at the last moment.
Similarly, educational podcasts could be another option for students to opt, in order to learn effectively. Along with all other skills education institutions must teach, they should also get students to learn how to leverage podcasts.
Revising includes going through anything again and again so that you can easily keep it in mind. I have seen most of the students revising their lessons with a louder voice so that their minds can pick up the voice, and it could be easy for them to remember the things for the exam.
What could be better than a podcast for this purpose? It is one of the best ways to remember your lessons. It will not only help you in revision but can also save a lot of time. Listening to the podcasts for revision purposes will allow you to do extra tasks as well, like gyming, walking in the morning, jogging, cycling, etc. You can also have time for your physical and mental health along with revising your lessons; what’s better than this!
There is some simple podcasts equipment. Unlike other technologies, podcasting will not require heavy machinery, hardware, or any typical software installation. No need to ask your students to download any specific tool or software to get started with podcasting.
All a teacher needs is to look for free TTS (text-to-speech) software. It will get the podcast ready for you. You can use wideo.co for this purpose. Put in the text and get it converted into speed. You can easily download the mp3 file from here.
You can select a language of your own choice. There are multiple options for that. You can also look for other tools as per your choice.
Now, simply upload it on the drive and share it with your students.
Many students in this advanced era prefer listening over reading and consider it enjoyable. Without any doubt, educational podcasts can encourage more students towards learning as they are appalling and easy to access.
While I was searching to write my essay, I found on the internet that many students struggle with reading due to mental impairments like Dyslexia. According to stats, 5 to 15 percent of Americans are suffering from Dyslexia.
Podcasts can be a big helping hand for such learners. Along with that, podcasts can be beneficial for the visually impaired who cannot survive well with traditional learning procedures.
All the lectures in one go, wow! It will be really beneficial for students if staff creates an archive of the lessons by recording all the lectures. It will not only help students with a pocket archive of the lesson on their mobile phone, which can be accessed easily, but they can also refer to it if the lecture is missed or they want clarification on a particular topic.
Similarly, if a teacher misses a class for any reason, students can have the update from the posted podcasts for the missed lecture.
So, it might be now clear that podcasts can be influential in the education sector. There are hundreds of ways it can be used in physical and online classes depending upon the resources of a particular institute. Let’s discuss some effective ways educational podcasts can be used in the education sector.
There are numerous podcasts already on the web. So, teachers and students should take advantage of them. There are over 500,000 podcasts and education is one of the most popular categories.
These podcasts are made specifically for students keeping in mind that they are easy to understand. For example, Revise - A Level English Lit Revision is a podcast designed by students for the students.
A teacher can easily understand that students might miss a lecture completely or some part of it being distracted by any activity during the class. So, why not record the lectures and make them available to students so that they can re-listen them if they have missed any part. You can also add videos at your convenience. Such educational podcasts can offer great value while revising the lectures before the exams.
Teachers often refer to their conversations and meetings with experts in the specific field of study while conducting lectures. It could be hard to deliver as a teacher and absorb as a student what exactly has been discussed in that particular meeting that the tutor had with the expert.
If a tutor or a professor is able to record the important meetings, conversations, and interviews regarding the course, it will definitely help students a lot.
A teacher can get students to make educational podcasts on different topics from a course. Circulating those podcasts among all the students after a quick check can be very handy. In this way, all the students can have podcasts on almost every topic of a particular course. This could be a revolutionary idea if applied properly. It will not only engage students but will also help them revise and remember what has been taught.
Educational podcasts can be a game-changer not only for students but for the teachers as well. It will allow students to get themselves engaged more towards the studies and carry out extracurricular work along with that.
For the educational institutes, it will reduce the barrier for students with mental and visual impairments. It will help the tutor to share all the lessons with their students at a go.
I hope this post has provided you with useful information on why podcasts can be influential for the education sector.
