Overview
Video podcasts are audio-visual files that are distributed in a digital format through the Internet using personal computers or mobile devices (McGarr, 2009). Since 2006, the use of video podcasts has grown markedly in higher education (e.g., Heilesen, 2010, McGarr, 2009). Research indicates that this medium is useful, helpful, and effective with respect to improving learning (e.g., Abdous, Facer, & Yen, 2012; Bennett & Glover, 2008; Holbrook & Dupont, 2010; Lonn & Teasley, 2009; Kay & Kletskin, 2012; Kennedy & Thomas, 2012; Pilarski, Johnstone, Pettepher, & Osheroff, 2008). Video podcasts appear to be a natural fit for online education allowing students to control when and where they learn (e.g., Hill & Nelson, 2011; Hill, Nelson, France, & Woodland, 2012; Jarvis & Dickie, 2010; Taylor, 2009; Winterbottom, 2007), what they need to learn (e.g., Fill & Ottewill, 2006; Heilesen, 2010), and the pace of learning (e.g., Chester, Buntine, Hammond, & Atkinson, 2011; Fill & Ottewill, 2006; Griffin, Mitchell, & Thompson., 2009). To date, limited research has been conducted on the use of video podcasts in online education (see Kay, 2012 for a review of video podcast research) . The purpose of this paper is to explore research-based applications for using video podcasts in an online learning environment.
History and Use of Video Podcasts in Education
The production and availability of video podcasts has increased dramatically since 2005, when YouTube, a site designed to broadcast a wide range of video clips, was launched (“You Tube”, 2012). By 2006, YouTube recorded 100 million downloads per day (Infographics, 2010). As of January 2012, YouTube video podcasts were viewed over four billion times per day (Limer, 2012). Originally used for entertainment purposes, YouTube is a free source of numerous educational video podcasts in a wide range of subject areas. In addition, new portals such as the Khan Academy, exclusively designed to distribute education based video podcasts, are used extensively with over 300,000 clips downloaded per day (see http://www.khanacademy.org/).
Research on the use of video podcasts has also grown rapidly since 2006 (e.g., Heilesen, 2010, Kay, 2012; McGarr, 2009). While studies targeting the use of video podcasts in online education are limited, the results in conventional, face-to-face classrooms suggest that these audio-visual tools could be a promising fit in online education (Kay, 2012).