Podcast in higher education: Students usage behaviour

At German universities, podcasting is still a relatively new method of teaching and learning, on which only few studies are available so far. The present report aims to describe students’ usage behaviour and their assessment of podcasting. The findings are based on a survey of students at the University of Flensburg. A total of 148 students took part at the two survey sessions. The majority of the surveyed students are inexperienced in the use of podcasts. The lecture podcasts were their first contact with this medium. Mainly a notebook is used to listen at home to the recorded lecture. The focus in this regard is on playing back or catching up on the lecture at a later point in time. The main purpose is to systematically prepare ahead of written tests. Slightly more than half of the respondents consider the opportunity to use podcasts to be no substitute for attending lectures. A factor in the success of lecture podcasts is that the students can reuse the recorded lecture. Podcasts are considered a possibility to assimilate the contents of lectures better and more efficiently.