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Chapter 2
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2949-3.ch002
Raphael Struck
University of Helsinki, Finland
Heikki Kynäslahti
University of Helsinki, Finland
Lasse Lipponen
University of Helsinki, Finland
Olli Vesterinen
University of Helsinki, Finland
Sanna Vahtivuori-Hänninen
University of Helsinki, Finland
Jarkko Mylläri
University of Helsinki, Finland
Podcasts as Learner-Created
Content in Higher Education
ABSTRACT
Using podcasts in higher education has caught more and more attention among educators and research-
ers, but there is still a strong need for research and academic publications to focus on certain issues,
such as the role of the learners. Instead of lecturers (teachers, scientists, and experts), learners (students,
trainees or pupils) produce a podcast with a specifc content called learner-created content (LCC). This
study aims to fnd out how students experienced the creating of content as learning material in the form
of podcasts. The results are two-fold. First, using podcasts included four categories: (1) the develop-
ment of meta-skills, (2) mobile learning, (3) support for content learning, and (4) facilitating student
involvement. Second, the students saw podcasting as a study tool. The study proved authentic, internally
and systemically valid and opened up logical generalizability. Some recommendations are given for a
better educational use of podcasts in higher education.
Seppo Tella
University of Helsinki, Finland