Podcasting for e-learning, communication, and delivery

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an over-view of podcasting and webcasting, and to examine student preferences between the different delivery richness of communication media. Design/methodology/approach - Background information regarding podcasting and webcasting is discussed. A conceptual model, based on media richness theory, is developed to explain student's perceptions. For the testing of the model, a survey metric is introduced, and a research methodology is explained. Finally, a conclusion and research limitations are discussed. Findings - The conceptual model of the motivations to use podcasting was adopted from media richness theory. It was proposed that six factors are related to future media use; immediacy of feedback, personal focus, transmission of cues, functionality, usability, and ease of use. The methodology relied heavily on logistic regression analysis for testing the various hypotheses. The authors collected data for hypothesis testing. The results of the study were inconclusive. This may be due to the lack of user experience with podcasting. Research limitations/implications - Some instructors have even adopted such techniques as their primary means (within the classroom or outside classroom) of communicating to students. However, the selection of appropriate communication media requires an understanding of the students' perceptions, preferences and receptiveness of these new technologies. Practical implications - The findings from this exploratory research will be valuable for podcasting users. Originality/value - This study is the first kind of empirical research in this area. With this study, the authors examined the perceived value of podcasting.