Podcasting 101: Top Tips on Educational Podcasting

Medical education has seen significant progress and innovation over the last decade. Today’s students utilise a variety of contemporary devices that have replaced the good old pencil and pen. During preclinical years, the students carry around tablet-PCs instead of notebooks to access the web-based curriculum. In their clinical years, smartphones have largely replaced reference books. As much as the teaching methods have revolutionised in medical education, one reality remains constant: during their first two years of study, medical students need to absorb a tremendous volume of information. Students are further challenged by a lack of study time prior to writing summative examinations. Podcasting is a method for distributing multimedia audio and video files over the Internet using the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) format; these can be played back on mobile devices and personal computers. RSS is a web feed format used to publish frequently updated content on the web. In implementing an educational podcasting project, the investigator recommends following the five steps of the Instructional Design Process: Define, Design, Develop, Delivery, and Demonstrate. The following tips are intended to help the reader with design, production and publication of a successful educational podcast.