Contributing author: Jo Perry, School of Education.
Podcasts are becoming an increasingly valuable tool in higher education, offering flexibility and accessibility for both teachers and students. In our busy teaching lives, they give us a simple way to extend learning beyond the classroom and to connect with students in formats they already enjoy and engage with.
Accessible and flexible
Students can listen to podcasts while commuting, exercising, or in between other responsibilities. This makes them particularly useful for students who juggle work, study, and family commitments.
Personal and engaging Podcasts let us share knowledge in a conversational, authentic voice. This style often feels more approachable than written text, and students report feeling more connected to the speaker.
Supports different learning preferences
Not all students engage best with reading. Podcasts provide an alternative medium that can help auditory learners, students with dyslexia, or those who find long readings overwhelming.
Encourages student agency Podcasts can also be student-created, (what a great formative or summative assessment that could be used to check understanding). Developing short podcasts as an assessment task encourages them to summarise ideas, explain thinking, and use their own voice to demonstrate understanding.
How simple are they to make?
Creating a podcast does not require specialist skills or expensive equipment. The basic process is straightforward:
- Plan – Decide on a clear focus and keep episodes short (5–10 minutes is often ideal).
- Record – Use a smartphone, laptop, or a simple USB microphone. Free tools like Audacity or even your phone’s voice recorder work well.
- Edit (optional) – Trim the start/end and remove long pauses. Editing can be minimal; clarity matters more than polish.
- Share – Upload the audio file to your learning platform (e.g., Moodle, Canvas, Teams) so students can access it easily.
Podcasts are not about replacing our existing approaches but about adding another dimension to our teaching practice. They are flexible, engaging, inclusive, and surprisingly simple to create. Exploring podcasts could open new ways for us to support our students’ learning journeys — and perhaps even enrich our own teaching practice along the way.
For More:
Why We Should Consider Using Podcasts in Our Teaching