Podcasting as Complement to Graduate Teaching: Does It Accommodate Adult Learning Theories?

Technology in higher education has exploded within the last decade, as educators become more knowledgeable about its uses and students become more demanding of access and convenience to teaching and learning. This article shares results of an exploratory study that determined graduate students’ perceptions of podcasting access and utility in courses as related to adult learning theory. Reading materials and listening to podcasts produced favorable results in terms of students’ perceived understanding of the subject, with the majority of students surveyed recommending reading the course materials and listening to same-materials via a podcast. A higher percentage of students listened to the podcast in its entirety compared to students reading all of the material presented. Survey results indicated complementary components of adult learning in terms of reflective behavior. A total of 76 percent of students agreed the podcast enhanced or clarified their understanding. Whether the interaction was potent enough to foster action or transformation remains a personal experience based on prior learning. Twelve percent of students were neutral in their response; memorization or rote recall characterized their non-reflective learning experience. Students who perceived the podcast as of no value would not respond to the podcast or reject the podcast as non-important to their learning need as represented by 12 percent of the students in this study. The use of podcasting in graduate courses continues to evolve, and addressing adult learning theory in relationship to technology needs to be further explored. In the current era of technology in higher education, opportunities abound to utilize hardware and software to assist stimulation, enhancement, and motivation of learning in diverse academic environments. The omnipresence of mainstream media and flexible and independent access to technology has encouraged adult learners to become more receptive to new forms of instruction in the classroom. With ondemand media files, students can now easily download instructional information and lessons from the web to their computers or portable media players and complete course assignments at times amenable to the demands