Anna James is Assistant Professor of English at Franklin College, where she teaches classes on American literature, world literature, gender & sexuality, linguistics, and composition.
To my surprise, they loved it. I’d taught with podcasts before, but those experiences hadn’t prepared me for my students’ absolute enthusiasm over The Norton Library Podcast, or for how they would be inspired to reinvent their own critical practices. Although I’ve long been drawn to the pedagogical potential of podcasts—especially as I, like everyone else, grapple with the seemingly interminable challenge of how technology, AI, and social media are reshaping student engagement—I’ve recently found myself incorporating podcasts and podcasting into all of my classes, from literature seminars and first-year composition to introductory courses on linguistics. Because of the trial-and-error nature of adopting new teaching practices, it took some time for me to figure out what worked best both for me and for my students. My experiments in previous classes had met with mixed results, as I was still learning what kinds of podcasts could successfully balance learning objectives with student interest and what kinds of assignments would provide opportunities for students to demonstrate their creativity and critical thinking. In this post, I’ll share how I employed podcasts as texts and as assignments in one recent course, while also reflecting on the unique benefits of incorporating podcasting into course design. Finally, I’ll conclude with some practical suggestions for those considering teaching with podcasts for the first time.
Podcasts are but one element in the larger ensemble of multimodal texts that comprise the contemporary classroom (see Albers and Sanders 2010; NCTE 2026). I’m interested in this particular form, however, not just because I happen to be an avid podcast consumer in my off-the-clock life, but because the form draws on core literature and composition skills (e.g., conducting research, crafting arguments, considering audience) while facilitating greater accessibility and inviting distinctive forms of critical reflection (King and Kusch 2023; Senatore 2024). While more research remains to be done, studies highlight podcasting as part of a universal design pedagogy (see Dolmage 2005; Burghstahler 2015; DO-IT) that makes classrooms more accessible for students with a wide range of learning styles and dis/abilities (Gunderson and Cumming 2023; Ceraso 2018), for multilingual and language-learning students (Yi and Angay-Crowder 2016; Remian 2019), and for students facing economic barriers (Waldron, Covington, and Palmer 2023).
More generally, Thomas et. al (2025) point out that podcasts allow listeners—both students and teachers—greater flexibility with regard to when, where, and how they engage. Many of my students, for instance, report listening to course-assigned podcasts while running errands, at the gym, or commuting to campus. Instead of signaling distraction, I found this habit actually resulted in greater attention. Perhaps they don’t perceive podcasts to be as equally serious as “real” homework—I’ve never had so many students tell me, unprompted, that they enjoyed a reading—but my experience inclines me to think that students are encountering course material when it best fits their schedule and thus when they are more likely to be actively listening, rather than just checking off another chore. The net result for my classes has been a quantitative and qualitative increase in class participation.
But assigning podcasts as required listening or reading (episode transcripts are an invaluable resource!) is only one way they can be brought into the classroom (see Thomas et al. 2025), and I’ve discovered that I get the best results when I pair critical consumption with creative production.
For example, in my American literature seminar, we coupled Little Women and The Marrow of Tradition with episodes of The Norton Library Podcast dedicated to these novels. Consisting of a conversation with each text’s respective editor, the episodes (two for each novel) provided a rich account of the biographical, historical, and literary contexts complemented by personal reflection and critical commentary. My students eagerly absorbed these podcast episodes, frequently quoting from—and arguing with—them during class discussion and in their essays. Then, in the following unit on short fiction, I asked my students to apply what they’d learned by working as a small group to write and produce a podcast centered on a story of their choosing. I specifically asked them to use the Norton Library episodes as a model (see rubric here), which functioned as a flexible framework within which they could creatively explore a text. I was floored by the projects I received, deeply impressed not only by their imagination and technical ingenuity, but also by the thoughtfulness and clarity of their textual discussion. And, equally important, what seemed to me their obvious joy in working on these projects was later confirmed when nearly everyone reported in their course evaluations that the podcast was their favorite part of the class.
However, one need not teach literature or composition to employ podcasts in the classroom. From Earth sciences and abstract mathematics to music, history, and psychology, there is a nearly infinite library of free and easily accessible podcasts online. Nor does it require a one-to-one correspondence like the text + podcast pair of the Norton Library around which I designed my course. Indeed, I encourage you to consider podcasts as an invitation to interdisciplinarity. I often assign short “explainer” episodes on particular philosophical and environmental topics in my composition classes, and likewise, an astronomy or chemistry course might be enlivened by a bite-sized episode of Poetry Unbound that discusses how a particular poem recycles or transforms scientific concepts. There’s also great fun to be had in making podcasting itself part of your course topic and focalizing how this particular media practice interfaces with a particular issue or discipline.
By way of concluding, I want to offer a few basic considerations about teaching with podcasts based on what I’ve learned from other teachers and from my own experience. Regardless of the subject matter you teach or how you plan to use podcasts, I hope these suggestions help you create a more accessible and more creative classroom.
Introduce the medium and genre. Even though one of the advantages of podcasts is that many students are already familiar with the form, it’s important not to assume all students are, or that they all engage with them in the same way. Waldron et al. (2023: 9) suggest that it’s “important to first introduce students to the genre and demonstrate how to actively listen to episodes” through collective listening and class discussion. Furthermore, orienting students to the genre norms of the podcasts you plan to assign (e.g., personal narrative, investigative journalism, academic interview) can be crucial, especially for those who may primarily consume exclusively one type.
- Introduce technology and/or software. Similarly, devote class time to introducing any programs (e.g., listening platforms, audio-editing software) or technology you want students to use. There are a number of free resources on the web to help you discover new tools and learn how to use them. (And don’t overlook opportunities to collaborate with your library or technology center!)
- Critical vs. credible listening. Consider how you want students to approach your chosen podcast(s). I tend to conceptualize this question in terms of the (admittedly reductive) binary of credible listening versus critical listening. I’ve found that a happy medium between these poles are podcasts that include conversations with artists, activists, or researchers because they provide an accessible distillation of content while simultaneously provoking metadiscursive reflection about the who, how, and why of knowledge production. Though I have many, one of my favorite podcasts in this regard is NHPR’s Outside/In, which I’ve assigned because of the accessible way in which the show combines overviews of environmental and historical issues with investigative reporting and interviews with experts. Another route to this kind of reflection might be to assign multiple podcasts on the same topic. Regardless, asking students to reflect on the podcast medium itself is an invaluable complement to a discussion of the episode’s content.
- Consider small group assignments. To be sure, individual engagement with podcasts (whether listening or creating) can be incredibly rewarding. But small groups, or even pairs, can enable unique learning experiences. This isn’t a binary choice—e.g., you can ask students to complete individual writing as part of a group project—but leveraging the collaborative nature of the podcast form has, in my experience, generated greater investment and deeper learning from students.
- Writing along the way. Although the final product of a podcast project is likely to be audio/visual, asking your students to complete a significant amount of writing along the way will enrich both the process and the final product. This might include brainstorming a list of questions they want to investigate in their podcast, completing an annotated bibliography of their research (including listening to sample or model podcasts), performing a review of individual podcast episodes, composing multiple drafts of their episode script, and reflecting on the final product. These along-the-way tasks can be tailored to reflect particular course needs, but pre- and mid-project writing allows students to practice a variety of disciplinary skills while also providing you additional opportunities for check-ins and assessment.
- Encourage world-building. As any regular listener of podcasts knows, part of what distinguishes the shows we return to again and again from those we forget or unsubscribe from has everything to do with design and presentation, from the branding and background music to the ads and social media extras. The most successful assignments I’ve received have been the result of encouraging students to attend to mood, design, etc., and you can empower this kind of creativity by baking it into the rubric. The goal, in other words, is not for students to simply record an audio file but for them to create a genuine podcast. For example, I often ask students to develop a fictional podcast brand and personae, to design cover art, and to create an ad. These paratexts are fun for students to make and result in a more immersive project, though they also help students more fully articulate the purpose, audience, and goals for the project.
- Assessment. I often receive questions about how I assess podcasts; personally, I find it no different from grading any other kind of project. Along-the-way writing, a final project, and post-project reflection can provide three concrete grades, but I also encourage you to focus on process over product, discovery and creativity as much as recitation of content. To do so, you might meet for short conferences with student groups at the beginning and middle of the research and design process to discuss what they’re learning and how they’re proceeding. That said, I think Yi and Angay-Crowder (2016) are right when they encourage us to reconceptualize our assessment practices in light of multimodal pedagogies. In what novel ways might you document and evaluate your students’ learning?
While many of the articles cited here offer concrete advice about, and examples of, teaching with podcasts, I’d be glad to continue the conversation! Please contact Norton’s Literature Marketing Manager Eleanor Lilly (elilly@wwnorton.com) for my information and check out The Norton Library Podcast here.
Works Cited
Albers, Peggy and Jennifer Sanders, eds. 2010. Literacies, the Arts, and Multimodality. NCTE.
Burghstahler, Sheryl E., ed. 2015. Universal Design in Higher Education: From Principles to Practice, 2nd ed. Harvard UP.
Ceraso, Steph. 2018. Sounding Composition: Multimodal Pedagogies for Embodied Listening. University of Pittsburgh Press.
DO-IT. Introduction to Universal Design in Education. https://doit.uw.edu/programs/center-for-universal-design-in-education/introduction-to-universal-design-in-education/.
Dolmage, J. 2005. “Disability Studies Pedagogy, Usability and Universal Design.” Disability Studies Quarterly 25.4. doi: https://doi.org/10.18061/dsq.v25i4.627
Gunderson, Jamie L. and Therese M. Cumming. 2023. “Podcasting in Higher Education as a Component of Universal Design for Learning: A Systematic Review of the Literature.” Innovations in Education and Teaching International 60.4: 591–601.
King, Colby and Celena E. Kusch. 2023. “Inclusive Podcast Pedagogies: Three Models and Strategies for Creating Engaging and Accessible Assignments.” In Emerging Stronger: Pedagogical Lessons from the Pandemic, edited by Jeffrey Chin and Michele Lee Kozimor, pp. 223–238. Routledge.
NCTE. 2026. “NCTE Position Statement on Media Education.” June 22. https://ncte.org/statement/statement-on-media-education/
Remian, Kaitlyn. 2019. “From Campus to Classroom.” The English Journal 108.6: 94–96.
Senatore, Krista. 2024. “The Class Podcast: Reimagining the Literary Essay to Honor Student Identity and Agency.” The Reading Teacher 77.6: 1013–1020.
Thomas et al. 2026. “Podcasts as Pedagogy in Higher Education: A Scoping Review to Map and Advance the Field,” British Journal of Educational Technology 57: 377–394.
Waldron, Linda, Brooke Covington, and Seth Palmer. 2023. “Critical Pedagogy, Counterstorytelling, and the Interdisciplinary Power of Podcasts.” Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy 22.1: 3–21.
Yi, Youngjoo and Tuba Angay-Crowder. 2016. “Multimodal Pedagogies for Teacher Education in TESOL.” TESOL Quarterly 50.4: 988–998.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Anna James is Assistant Professor of English at Franklin College, where she teaches classes on American literature, world literature, gender & sexuality, linguistics, and composition. Her research focuses on trans studies and contemporary poetry and poetics, and she’s currently working on a book project about the history of trans poetry. Her recent writing appears or is forthcoming in GLQ, College Literature, and Annulet.