Using the Podcast for Feedback: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

In virtual environments, it is essential for the teacher to structure the learning experience and guide knowledge using various feedback tools. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to analyze the effectiveness of using podcasts as a formative evaluation tool. A phenomenological-qualitative methodological strategy was proposed to report the process of a learning experience through the design of cases. To achieve this goal, data collection techniques such as observation, semi-structured interviews, and documentary analysis were employed. The qualitative analysis from the teacher’s perspective revealed the primary areas for improvement in academic writing. In response to this, a process for providing corrective and suggestive feedback was proposed, utilizing comments and podcasts. In particular, the best-performing groups were those that most frequently utilized the multimodal resources for preparing and providing feedback in newsrooms. From the students’ perspective, they valued the feedback process in virtual environments because it allowed them to identify mistakes made in the writing process and improve their writing by considering the teacher’s comments and the criteria of the rubric.