For this week’s #LTHEChat 255, we will be exploring the potential of podcasting practice as a learning space in higher education. 

It was during a LTHEChat tweetchat session in January 2020 that I had the idea for a Higher Education podcast that would be a learning space to speak on topical subjects and build a shared understanding of Higher Education. I had not had any experience of podcast production before. Then the pandemic hit, which was an opportunity to build on this idea. Together with Brian Hipkin and Dr Emily McIntosh, we came up with format ideas and a name, TalkingHE. In December 2020, TalkingHE was launched. Why not take a listen to the over 25 episodes that have been recorded via: https://anchor.fm/talkingHE or wherever you get your podcasts. You can read more about my experience of setting up a Podcast during a pandemic via my case study article in the University of the Arts London’s Spark Journal (Vasant, 2022).

There is great potential for educators to use more audio in their teaching and for students to use more audio in their learning in my disciplines and that through audio, there is a connection and focus and a shared sense of learning space. Before writing, knowledge was often handed down through generations by spoken words. It is also an effective way to teach many subjects (On Tam, C, 2012).  With the advent of cheap audio recording via computers, the pandemic and the use of platforms such as Zoom or Teams, anyone can now record audio and with some simple editing create and host a podcast. 

The opportunities for inviting and recording episodes from experts in your field, for bite-size content of knowledge or feedback and so on are endless, as well as the use of podcasting as a tool for assessments where you want students to synthesise and present a large amount of information in a short time frame. 

Educators from across the sector are seeing the use of podcasting and the use of sound only as more accessible way to teach their disciplines, for students to learn when and wherever they may be and assess through this medium. Now more than ever we need to be creative in the way we use technology and the potential of podcasting as a practice is significant. 

I invite you to share your experiences of listening to podcasting, of producing podcasts and exploring the potential of podcasting practice as a learning space in Higher Education!  

References 

On Tam, C. (2012) ‘The effectiveness of educational podcasts for teaching music and visual arts in higher education’, Research in Learning Technology, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v20i0.14919

University College London(no date)(a) Getting started with podcasting at UCL. Available at: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/staff/communications-digital-and-marketing/digital/getting-started-podcasting-ucl (Accessed: 1st February 2023). 

University College London(no date)(b) Podcasts & Audio Content. Available at: https://wiki.ucl.ac.uk/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=137158565. (Accessed: 1st February 2023). 

Vasant, S (2022). Talking higher education: starting a podcast during the pandemic. UAL Spark Journal. Available at: https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/170  (Accessed: 1st February 2023). 

Guest biography

Santanu Vasant is an Educational Developer (Reward and Recognition) at the University of the Arts London. He has a BSc (Hons) in Multimedia Technology and Design, a PGCE in Secondary ICT from Brunel University London and a Masters in Education from UCL. He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Santanu has over 18 years of experience in Higher Education in a variety of Academic Development roles and as a secondary school teacher of ICT. His research interest is in the field of designing physical and virtual learning spaces. He has written book chapters on the use of

• PebblePad e-Portfolios for Business Education in Pebblegogy (2011)
• Bring Your Own Device – policy and practice in higher education in Smart Learning (2015)
• Academics’ Understanding of Learning Spaces: Attitudes, Practices and Outcomes Explored through the Use of Social Media in Social Media in Higher Education: Case Studies, Reflections and Analysis (2019) and Would I lie to you? Checking knowledge in pre-reading, listening or watching tasks in 100 Ideas for Active Learning (2022j).

Since December 2020, Santanu is the creator and host of the TalkingHE podcast series and the related Twitter channel @TalkingHEPod. He is an editor of the Staff and Educational Development Association (SEDA) Educational Developments Magazine and a reviewer for the Association for Learning Technology’s Journal Research in Learning Technology. You can reach out to him on Twitter @santanuvasant and check out his website http://www.santanuvasant.com.