Using Student Generated Podcasts to Foster Reflection and Metacognition

A group of volunteer students who had previously completed a first year undergraduate information technology subject were tasked with producing audio supplementary material for new students undertaking the subject, to be disseminated through podcasting. The production process, from inception and scriptwriting through to the final recording, was driven by the student'producers, with minimal intervention from the lecturer. A combination of focus group interviewing and content analysis was used to study the levels of reflection and metacognition that occurred os a result of their participation in the podcasting exercise. The findings suggest that placing students in the roles of producers of educational podcasts encourages them to engage in metacognitive thinking about learning, as they create podcast episodes for beginning students.