Optimizing podcasts as practitioner tools in higher education: learner and teacher feedback from two disciplinary settings

Supporting increasingly diverse cohorts of learners in Higher Education requires commitment to developing accessible, inclusive learning environments, to creating non-traditional and diverse learning materials and to draw on appropriate technologies to deliver these ambitions. Practitioner-delivered podcasts may help enhance accessibility within learning environments helping to make learning accessible to a greater number of individual learners. Little is known about what distinguishes relatively more from relatively less effective podcasts. We content analyzed free text survey responses from learner and teacher stakeholders to understand what factors optimize (or inhibit) the effectiveness of podcasts as learning tools. We identified five core 'considerations' involved in developing podcasts to promote accessible HE learning environments including: using clear, accessible language; adopting a clear structural approach; keeping podcasts relatively short; successfully integrating podcasts with other learning materials; and ensuring a coherent approach across podcast recordings. Suggestions for how to approach conceive and plan podcasts, record and deliver podcasts and for post-production and the role of supplementary materials linked to podcasts are offered.