Podcasting: meeting the needs of off-campus learners

Podcasting occurs when audio content is made available for download to a subscriber's computer or automatically downloaded to a subscriber's computer for the subscriber's use at their convenience. An action research approach was used to examine podcasting as a tool to deliver audio content to off-campus students enrolled in a first year accounting subject and to off-campus students enrolled in a final year accounting subject. The motivation for using podcasting is examined in the context of the education literature on flexible learning, content delivery modes, threshold learning concepts and a growing student demand for podcasts. Student responses to the use of podcasts are provided as are reflections from the lecturers who created the podcasts.