Audio/Video Podcast: Pros and Cons for Adult Learners

Podcasts as a way to transmit learning for adult students have several obvious advantages, including low cost to produce, ability to listen at the learner's leisure, and re-listen on their schedule, and the potential to enhance understanding of concepts (Marrocco, Kazer, & Neal-Boylen, 2004.).

Before this class, it had not occurred to me to use podcasting (audio-only) to enhance or deliver learning in a formal setting, such as a graduate course. YouTube and other videos as a means of additional learning are not unusual in my classes, but my only usage of audio podcasting up to now has been for my own "education" about subjects I wanted to learn more about. Reading literature about podcasting has led me to seriously consider it as a methodology for learning boosters in my current work role.

Marrocco et. al found in their study of graduate nursing students that podcasts of 15 minutes or shorter were what learners wanted. As I think about that finding and relate it to typical story length on radio news stations, it seems to correlate to the right length for a listener to attend to. There is currently a great deal of debate about "microlearning" in the corporate setting as being the opportunity to deliver information in "small bites." A short podcast could be one method of providing this.

King and Cox (2011) speak of one usage of podcasts as tutorials that are available 24/7 for a learner to enhance one's learning. They allege that for students, "using tutorial podcasts cultivates engaging in problem solving of their learning needs, taking initiative in pursuing learning resources, and becoming more independent lifelong learners" (p.39). I believe it would be difficult to listen to an audio-only lecture podcast and not have to pause it frequently to make notes or think about concepts, but having podcasts available to tutor myself on complex concepts would be a useful tool.

Podcasting is likely in my opinion to be most useful as an ancillary tool for adult learning rather than as a primary delivery method for learning. When applied intentionally, it can be a great resource for students.


King, K.P., & Cox, T.D. (2011). The professor's guide to taming technology. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, Inc.

Marrocco, G.F., Kazer, M.W., & Neal-Boylan, L. (2014). Transformational learning in graduate nurse education through podcasting. Nursing Education Perspectives, 35(1), 49-53.

Lunchtime chat with instructional designer Alan Debelle

Alan shares his views on technology in the corporate eLearning space. He discusses his favorite technologies and how designers can overcome their fear of using technology to reach learners. Recorded September 30, 2016.