Resource

Podcast

What is it?

Podcasts can be used as a form of assessment as an alternative to presentations and videos, they produced as an audio discussion format. Students work as part of a group to create a short podcast episode on a topic area. The time, topic area and set of guidelines should be set out in advance of this form of assessment. Students work together as a group to research a topic, brainstorm ideas for how to discuss the topic, create a script for the podcast and produce the podcast.

Advantages & Challenges

Advantages

Challenges

Advantages

Podcasts can engage students through auditory learning, providing an alternative to traditional written assignments.
Creating podcasts allows students to express their ideas creatively, experimenting with voice, music, sound effects, script creation and storytelling techniques.
Producing podcasts develops valuable skills such as communication, digital literacy, public speaking, and audio editing, which are relevant in many professional fields.
This is a versatile method of assessment, and it works well as a group assessment. Consider getting students to create podcast on different areas of content in the module, these could be used to help with class revision.

Challenges

Tips for Use

Design a podcasting assessment that aligns with the learning objectives or the module. Clearly outline the task, expectations, and assessment criteria for students i.e. if students will work individually or in groups and specify the podcast format, length, and content requirements.
Provide students with training and resources to develop their podcasting skills. Ensure students have access to necessary equipment and software for podcast creation.
Decide on how topics will be chosen if they will be predetermined of if student will be choosing their own topics that fit the assessment criteria.
Encourage students to conduct research, gather evidence, and critically analyse information to inform their podcast episodes.
Get students to develop a script or outline for their podcast, outlining key points and structure.
Have students record and edit their podcast episodes using appropriate software.

Resources

University of Nottingham: Podcast Essays (nottingham.ac.uk)
Leeds Institute for Teaching Excellence: Microsoft Word – Pugh|CompendiumOfAssessment.docx (leeds.ac.uk) (page 12)
Loughborough University Case Study: Case Study – Student podcasts as an assessment format | Organisational Development Hub | Loughborough University (lboro.ac.uk)

Sample Rubrics

University of Wisconsin-Stout: Podcast Rubric (uwstout.edu)
University of Nottingham: Podcast Essays (nottingham.ac.uk) (pages 7-10)
Examples of podcasts for assessment: Bath Spa University: Podcasts for Assessment – Podcasting Toolkit

Recent Additions

E-Book

101 Creative Ideas to use AI in education

Nerantzi, C., Abegglen, S., Karatsiori, M. and Martínez-Arboleda, A. (Eds.)

View Research

Whitepaper

Unlocking the Power of Generative AI Models and Systems such as GPT-4 and ChatGPT for Higher Education: A Guide for Students and Lecturers

Gimpel et al

View Research

Report

Student Percpections of genarative AI

Sue Attewell (JISC)

View Research

E-Book

Using Generative AI Effectively in Higher Education Sustainable and Ethical Practices for Learning, Teaching and Assessment

Edited By Sue Beckingham, Jenny Lawerence, Stephen Powell, Peter Hartley

View Research

Paper

The AI Assessment Scale (AIAS) in action: A pilot implementation of GenAI-supported assessment

Leon Furze, Mike Perkins, Jasper Roe & Jason MacVaugh

View Research

Artificial Intelligence

GenAI:N3

View Resource

Do you have a digital story to tell?

We are accepting submissions for the blog in order to feature all kinds of digital stories. Follow the link below to a submission form where you can submit your own digital story.