Podcasting for teaching

”It takes many years to learn how to read and write but many of us listen and speak effortlessly as children. In my view, to ignore audio in learning is to ignore what it is to be human in learning. Most teaching was historically by word of mouth. As a species almost all learning took place in oral culture with writing only invented five thousand years ago”

Donald Clark in Learning Experience Design, Kokan Page 2022

So audio is fundamental and podcasts are everywhere. Still, oddly podcasts haven’t yet found broadly their place in the educational media that we are creating.  

Give it a try? With studio facilities, equipment and Panopto that we have here at Aalto creating podcasts as part of your teaching can be uncomplicated.

What to podcast then? More abstract topics that don’t require images, graphs and other visual presentations work best. You can repurpose your lectures into podcasts but adding another person to your podcast is an easy way to keep it more engaging and entertaining. Conversational podcasts work best so find your colleague and record your discussion on the topic. Or you can turn the setting upside and find someone who knows nothing about the subject and record the conversation as you explain the key concepts.

Interested in creating a podcast for a course, or a project? Join us for an afternoon of learning about the services and resources we provide to all Aalto University on Thursday 8.12 at 14.00 at Harald Herlin Learning Centre K-floor.

Want to read a bit more about the topic? Here is Donald Clark’s recent blog post about Why Should Podcasts be Used in Learning? in the OEB Insights blog.

Here are some essential videos to get you started: