Using Enhanced Podcasts to Augment Limited Instructional Time in Teacher Preparation

Abstract

Teacher education programs are limited in terms of available face-to-face instructional time for preparing general education teacher candidates to work with students with exceptionalities. Given this constraint, developing innovative use of technologies may assist in meeting the demand for highly qualified teachers for such students. In this research study, enhanced podcasts (images displayed in time with audio) were produced using Mayer’s cognitive theory of multimedia learning to deliver selected uncovered course content. Two randomly assigned groups of undergraduate teacher education candidates interacted with either audio podcasts or enhanced podcasts across two experiments. Researchers measured recall and higher order application ability of students to determine which podcast method resulted in higher scores. Participants interacting with the enhanced podcasts outperformed their audio-only counterparts on three of four measures of recall and application. Implications for teacher education programming regarding how to better prepare general education teachers to meet the needs of students with disabilities by utilizing this type of technology will be described.