The document discusses the integration of podcasting into educational pedagogy, highlighting its role in promoting creative learning and collaboration among students. It outlines the potential of podcasts for professional development and as a student activity, emphasizing the importance of structure, planning, and engagement. Additionally, it compares the process of creating podcasts to building with LEGO, focusing on the pedagogical principles rather than technical aspects.

1. Podcasts for
Education
Is building pedagogy with podcasting
anything like building with Lego, and
does it matter if the studs are showing?
Agnes Kukulska-Hulme (IET)
Rebecca Ferguson (IET)
Mike Collins (LDS and Pedagodzilla)
29th April 2024

2. 2
Who are we?
www.pedagodzilla.com
www.open.ac.uk/blogs/innovatin
g/

3. 3
The Innovating Pedagogy report 2023
• A series of audio episodes focused
on a particular theme or topic
• Curation and creation
Podcasts as pedagogy
Embedding podcasts in teaching and
learning practices
https://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/innovatin
g/

4. Introduction to podcasts
Podcasts have existed since 2004 (earlier audioblogs)
Popularity still growing
In UK, 28 million listeners by 2026
Comedy most favoured across all ages
Most people listen on smartphones,
while travelling /driving

5. Podcasting at OU
OU webinars, talks and podcasts:
https://www5.open.ac.uk/business/knowledge-hub/webinars-talks-podcasts
The Association Conversation – OU Students' Association podcast 2022:
https://www.oustudents.com/whats-on/50/podcast/
Let's Talk about Uni (real student experiences) – OpenLearn:
https://www.open.edu/openlearn/education-development/university-ready/lets-talk-about-uni---podcast-
about-real-student-experiences
Lady Killers with Lucy Worsley – Radio 4 podcast in collaboration with FASS:
https://connect.open.ac.uk/history-and-the-arts/lady-killers
Do you know of other examples?
If so, share them in the chat

6. 6
Answering a question by asking…
Our structure
What’s the pop culture?
What’s the pedagogy?
How do they come together to answer our question?
What can we draw from this into tips for our own practice?

7. 7
LEGO?
LEGO:
Popular brand of interlocking-brick-based toys
Can be used to construct a variety of models and
structures
Encourages creativity and problem solving

8. The pedagogy
of podcasts
Picture credit:
Playful Learning
and Jay WIlliams

9. 9
Pedagogy of podcasts
Pedagogy and theory links
Assimilative mode – 'passive learning' through listening; informal style;
series of audio files
Social constructivism – challenge, extend, build on the ideas presented
Constructionism – prompts learners to consider, arrange and structure ideas
while making
Playful learning – have fun with the ideas and mix them up with others
Transparent pedagogy – explain to learners why you're asking them to do this
Introducing activities that require students to learn to use new
tools
Too much focus on the technical aspects or equipment
Too much focus on presentation or style
Shifting the focus to the medium rather than the learning
Unless necessary to achieve learning outcomes, avoid

10. 10
Our threads
Professional
development
How can podcasting be used as a professional development tool?
Student
activity
How can podcasting be used as a student activity?

11. 11
Podcasts as professional development
Why?
To reach an audience for one’s work
To learn more about one’s discipline through the process of
talking to other people
A mechanism for finding a space for performance, or for using
creativity in a new field
To establish time to collaborate with others by co-creating
content
Childs, M., Collins, M., Secker, J. & Morrison, C., (2023) “A word in your ear: What do podcasters’ experiences tell us
about creating podcasts for professional development?”, The Journal of Play in Adulthood 5(1), 20-45.
doi: https://doi.org/10.5920/jpa.1269

12. 12
Podcasts as professional development
How?
Planning (What do you want to get out of it?)
Who are you doing it with? What hats can you wear?
What is your show? (what will listeners get out of it?)
• What are you exploring, discussion, sharing?
• What is the hook? How are you bringing yourself into it?
• What is the structure or framework?
The basic tech to record
Pilot, prototype and test run
Post production
Publishing!
Sharing with and engaging in your community

13. 13
Activity
Breakout activity
Discuss:
What would a podcast that connects your professional passions and authentic self
sound like? What's the hook, and what's the format?
Start by introducing yourselves – what’s your professional passion?
Yeah, but who are you really?
How would you connect the two in a podcast concept?
What’s the hook?
Be ready to share your outputs at the end

14. 14
Podcasting as a student activity
Why?
Collaborative and communicative activity
Encourages creation of learning artefacts
Opportunity for playful learning
Develops and exercises Academic, employability and DIL skills
Required tech is part of the standard OU computing requirement
Audio/Video record tool now an option in OU VLE activities

15. 15
Podcasts as a student activity
How?
Use problem-based learning structures (see next slide)
Provide worked examples of the outputs and journey steps
Provide a technology and software baseline
Structure collaboration, team formation and roles
Provide a clear objective and liberating structures to work within
Consider accessible and inclusive alternatives and roles

16. 16
Problem-based learning
The Seven Jump Method
1. Examine a case and clarify terms
2. Identify the problem
3. Analyse the problem
4. Draft an explanatory model
5. Establish learning goals
6. Work individually to collect additional
information
7. Apply and discuss additional information
Schmidt, H. G. (1983) Problem-based learning: rationale and description. Medical Education, 17, 11-16.
Buffy episodes 1&2
1. Find out about Sunnydale vampires
2. People are being killed in the
graveyard
3. Super strength and hidden lair
4. If we find them, we can stake
them
5. Find lair and ways of
defeating vamps
6. Use books, Internet,
exploration
7. Knowledge applied, vampires
staked.
Podcasting: student activity
1. Course materials introduce
subject
2. Activity sets problem
3. What do I/we need for a
podcast?
4. Draft a running order of
headings
5. Identify areas to investigate
6. Gather and collate information
7. Complete / discuss activity /
podcast

17. 17
Activity
Breakouts
Discuss:
Consider your subject area, what could this look like for your students?
• How would it support your learning outcomes?
• How would it align with assessment?
• What opportunities and challenges do you see this presenting?

18. 18
The answer
Is building pedagogy with podcasting anything like
building with Lego, and does it matter if the studs
are showing?
The mode isn't important – Lego or podcast, it's the
pedagogy that's important. Both give learners
opportunities for:
• Selecting important elements
• Joining these together in a way that makes sense
• Seeing and reflecting on immediate results
• Comparing creations
• Discussing what works
• Reworking / rethinking
• Bringing people together
• Having fun

19. 19
Alternatives to podcasting
Write a book?
ideas are ‘formed and transformed
when expressed through different
media, when actualized in particular
contexts, when worked out by
individual minds’ (Ackermann, 2001,
88)
'writing this book chapter about
the podcast is a concretisation
of the ideas formed by
reflecting on the podcast'
(Pedagodzilla, 288)
Full references and so much more from
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D2BHS2YV/
Constructionism

20. 20
Answering the difficult questions
How do spooky
Muppets guide
Scrooge
through
transformative
learning?
How do ontology
and epistemology
help you
eliminate Jar Jar
Binks
with headcan(n)o
ns?
How does
behaviourism
help players
catch ‘em
all in
Pokémon Go?
How does the
Council of Elrond
use social
constructivism to
plan the
destruction of the
One Ring?
How did the
Apollo 13
crew use
constructioni
sm to return
safely to
Earth?
How does
problem-based
learning help
Buffy the
Vampire
Slayer...er,
slay
vampires?
What questions do you have?

21. To give Feedback on this presentation,
use the link in the QR code
Download all Innovating Pedagogy reports
from
www.open.ac.uk/blogs/innovating/
Check out Pedagodzilla at
www.pedagodzilla.com
Contact SCiLAB at fbl-
scholarship@open.ac.uk