As the new millennium is well underway, schools and universities are challenged to meet the demands of the 21st century student with learning environments that are student-centered, self-directed, technology enhanced, and flexible.
Despite the fact that versatility is perceived as one of the major benefits of podcasting as a teaching and learning tool, for a long time not too many teachers took advantage of this feature for academic use. This has definitely changed and podcasting is increasingly being exploited by language teachers as a tool for delivering educational content, fostering productive as well as receptive skills and to encourage learning outside of the traditional classroom.
In this seminar, we will first briefly talk about the history and development of podcasts. Following this, different types of these spoken word digital audio files and their possible fields of application in the EFL classroom will be examined.
Theoretical knowledge will, of course, constantly be linked to practical issues of classroom teaching, which means that, besides recording short podcasts on their own, participants will develop ideas of how to implement podcasts in the EFL pupil centred classroom with respect to the development of speaking and listening skills.