Some recent reading I have done into the uses and advantages of podcasting (or audiocasting) in education has been enlightening.  The portability of podcasting allows students to learn anytime they want.  There are times when it may be advantageous for any learner to listen to recently given instructor lectures because they want to repeat the lesson or because they were unable to attend a class meeting.  Students often miss essential points in a lesson and it is a great benefit to be able to review information via podcast at a later time.

Podcasting also allows listeners to access information anywhere.  In a generation of multi-tasking it might be essential to find time listening to educational material while in the car or while exercising on a long run.  The portability of podcasting and the availability on I-pods and MP3 players makes information accessible in almost any location.

Perhaps the greatest benefit to podcasting is that it offers educational material in a different learning style than simple reading.  Some learners might find information much easier to recall if they listen to it, instead of read it.  Typically, I much prefer to find a quiet place to read.  However, the idea of using different modalities to support learning is a nice advantage.  In this way, users can read on a topic and then re-inforce learning by listening to audio content at a later date.



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