Abstract:

The aim of this study is to explore how podcasts can be used in a teacher education program to provide student-active learning activities and develop students’ professional digital competence (PDC).

This study builds on a project that investigates teacher produced podcasts as a learning resource at Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, and we will investigate how podcast production can be transferred to student activities on campus. According to previous research, podcast production can foster deeper learning (Pegrum, Bartle & Longnecker, 2015), enhance students’ digital competence and support the development of 21st century skills such as creativity, collaboration, communication and critical thinking (Besser, Blackwell & Saenz, 2021). We will therefore facilitate production of student-created podcasts in teacher education. The students’ podcast production will be centered around discussions of subject matter related to teaching and learning in technology-rich learning environments. The aim is to design learning activities in teacher education that support students’ development of PDC and investigate how the use of podcasts can empower students to become active participants in their own learning process.

The study is based on a sociocultural perspective on learning and activity theory (Engeström, 1999). From this perspective podcast can be viewed as a shared, collectively constructed object at the center of a learning activity, mediated by cultural tools and artefacts (Lund & Hauge, 2011). In addition to engaging with subject matter the students need to collaborate and employ a range of technologies and resources such as tablets and sound editing software. Activity theory will be the framework for analyzing how students construct their own learning process through social interaction and use of digital tools.

The research design is a qualitative study of logs written by the students during and after podcast production. Through the log the students will be asked to reflect on the production process with emphasis on collaboration, creativity, communication, and critical thinking. We will also ask the students how they can employ podcast production to their own teaching practice.

Preliminary findings indicate that students experience podcast production as an engaging and motivating learning activity that enables more variation in their own classroom. The students also report that podcast production facilitated professional discussions, development of collaboration and digital skills. However, we experienced that the activity needs to be presented in a way that highlights the subject matter and aim of the learning activity, and not on podcast production.

Keywords:

Podcast production, student-active learning, teacher education.