Podcasts and Vlogs as Educational Tools: Exploring Digital Narratives in Teaching
Abstract
Background. The rapid expansion of digital media has transformed educational practices, encouraging the integration of multimedia platforms into teaching and learning processes. Podcasts and vlogs have emerged as accessible and engaging digital narrative formats that enable educators and students to communicate knowledge through audio-visual storytelling. Despite their growing popularity, systematic empirical examination of their effectiveness as pedagogical tools remains limited.
Purpose. This study aims to explore the effectiveness of podcasts and vlogs as educational tools in enhancing student engagement and learning outcomes.
Method. A mixed-methods research design was employed involving 72 undergraduate students divided into experimental and comparison groups. The experimental group participated in a six-week intervention integrating podcast and vlog production into course activities, while the comparison group received conventional instruction. Data were collected through engagement surveys, academic performance assessments, classroom observations, and semi-structured interviews.
Results. Findings indicate that students engaged in podcast and vlog production demonstrated significantly higher levels of cognitive and emotional engagement, along with improved academic performance. Qualitative evidence revealed increased motivation, collaborative interaction, and enhanced communication skills.
Conclusion. The study concludes that podcasts and vlogs function as effective digital narrative tools for enriching teaching practices and promoting meaningful learning in contemporary educational contexts.
Full text article
References
Acut, D. P. (2025). AI shaming among teacher education students: A reflection on acceptance and identity in the age of generative tools. Pitfalls of AI Integration in Education Skill Obsolescence Misuse and Bias, (Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59), 97–122. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3373-0122-8.ch005
Akhmad, A. (2025). Digital Leadership Practices in Educational Management: A Narrative Literature Review on Trends and Challenges. International Journal of Learning Teaching and Educational Research, 24(8), 112–135. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.24.8.6
Asseri, B. (2025). Deciphering Emotions in Children’s Storybooks: A Comparative Analysis of Multimodal LLMs in Educational Applications. AI Switzerland, 6(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/ai6090211
Balcombe, L. (2023). AI Chatbots in Digital Mental Health. Informatics, 10(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/informatics10040082
Balestra, F. (2025). Advancing Obesity Management: The Very Low-Energy Ketogenic therapy (VLEKT) as an Evolution of the “Traditional” Ketogenic Diet. Current Obesity Reports, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13679-025-00622-2
Biagianti, B. (2023). CBT-informed psychological interventions for adult patients with anxiety and depression symptoms: A narrative review of digital treatment options. Journal of Affective Disorders, 325(Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59), 682–694. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.057
Bouakaz, L. (2025). AI in education: A sociological exploration of technology in learning environments. Frontiers in Education, 10(Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59). https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2025.1700876
Bower, P. (2023). Diabetes prevention at scale: Narrative review of findings and lessons from the DIPLOMA evaluation of the NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme in England. Diabetic Medicine, 40(11). https://doi.org/10.1111/dme.15209
Bulathwela, S. (2024). Artificial Intelligence Alone Will Not Democratise Education: On Educational Inequality, Techno-Solutionism and Inclusive Tools. Sustainability Switzerland, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16020781
Burgos-Videla, C. (2025). Critical thinking in the classroom: The historical method and historical discourse as tools for teaching social studies. Frontiers in Sociology, 10(Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59). https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2025.1526437
Choi, W. (2023). Curriculum Development of EdTech Class Using 3D Modeling Software for University Students in the Republic of Korea. Sustainability Switzerland, 15(24). https://doi.org/10.3390/su152416605
Clemente-Suárez, V. J. (2024). Digital Device Usage and Childhood Cognitive Development: Exploring Effects on Cognitive Abilities. Children, 11(11). https://doi.org/10.3390/children11111299
Connolly, C. (2023). Artificial Intelligence in Interprofessional Healthcare Practice Education–Insights from the Home Health Project, an Exemplar for Change. Computers in the Schools, 40(4), 412–429. https://doi.org/10.1080/07380569.2023.2247393
Deng, Y. (2023). Case Study of Immersive Digital Learning in Public Space for Common Good Education. ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, (Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59), 72–77. https://doi.org/10.1145/3606094.3606095
Eradze, M. (2023). After the Pandemic: Teacher Professional Development for the Digital Educational Innovation. Education Sciences, 13(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13050432
Fitria, Y. (2023). Digital comic teaching materials: It’s role to enhance student’s literacy on organism characteristic topic. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 19(10). https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/13573
Gallagher, M. (2023). Bidi Bidi Creativity: The Liminality of Digital Inclusion for Refugees in Ugandan Higher Education. Social Inclusion, 11(3), 309–319. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v11i3.6686
Guo, C. (2023). Digital Technology Affordances in Hybrid Learning Environments. Handbook of Research on Implementing Inclusive Educational Models and Technologies for Equity and Diversity, (Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59), 273–296. https://doi.org/10.4018/979-8-3693-0453-2.ch014
Hassan, S. A. (2024). An Emerging Ophthalmology Challenge: A Narrative Review of TikTok Trends Impacting Eye Health Among Children and Adolescents. Ophthalmology and Therapy, 13(4), 895–902. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40123-024-00885-3
Ka?mierczak, R. (2025). Augmented reality tools for mathematics and geoscience education. Scientific Reports, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-02090-z
Kleib, M. (2023). Digital health education and training for undergraduate and graduate nursing students: A scoping review protocol. Jbi Evidence Synthesis, 21(7), 1469–1476. https://doi.org/10.11124/JBIES-22-00266
Lavrysh, Y. (2023). Development of Metacognitive Skills through Digital Narratives in Higher Education. Revista Electronica De Investigacion Educativa, 25(Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59). https://doi.org/10.24320/REDIE.2023.25.E07.5028
Liamruk, P. (2025). Development and evaluation of an augmented reality serious game to enhance 21st century skills in cultural tourism. Scientific Reports, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-95615-5
Magaña, E. C. (2023). Cultural e-snapshots as a digital resource: Analysis of their influence on digital competence. International Journal of Educational Research and Innovation, 2023(19), 94–108. https://doi.org/10.46661/ijeri.7569
Mertala, P. (2024). Digital natives in the scientific literature: A topic modeling approach. Computers in Human Behavior, 152(Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2023.108076
Modi, S. (2024). Digital Storytelling as a Tool for Global Citizenship and Sustainability: Enhancing Cross-Cultural Understanding in Education. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education, 13(Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59), 65–104. https://doi.org/10.32674/s817ax14
Neji, G. (2026). AI-Powered Predictive Models in Implant Dentistry: Planning, Risk Assessment, and Outcomes. Journal of Clinical Medicine, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm15010228
Nurhayati, S. (2025). Culturally Responsive Digital Numeracy Instruction in Indonesian Early Childhood Education: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge and Technology. 2025 International Conference on Smart Learning Courses Scme 2025, (Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59), 152–158. https://doi.org/10.1109/SCME62582.2025.11104859
Paulsen, L. (2024). Designing for collaborative learning in immersive virtual reality: A systematic literature review. Virtual Reality, 28(1). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10055-024-00975-4
Pondelíková, I. (2024). AI-ASSISTED ENHANCING OF GENDER AWARENESS THROUGH READING COMPREHENSION IN HISTORY AND LITERATURE COURSES OF ANGLOPHONE CULTURES. Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Cognition and Exploratory Learning in the Digital Age Celda 2024, (Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59), 198–208.
Punnaivanam, M. (2024). Contextual Fine-Tuning of Language Models with Classifier-Driven Content Moderation for Text Generation. Entropy, 26(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/e26121114
Quattrini, R. (2023). Digital heritage&Design thinking: The railtoland workshop as an innovative practice in the higher education scenario. International Archives of the Photogrammetry Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ISPRS Archives, 48(Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59), 1261–1269. https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-Archives-XLVIII-M-2-2023-1261-2023
Reyes, R., Isleta, K., Regala, J., & ... (2024). Enhancing experiential science learning with virtual labs: A narrative account of merits, challenges, and implementation strategies. Journal of Computer …, (Query date: 2026-03-14 10:48:26). https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.13061
Rolbiecki, A. J. (2024). Digital Storytelling for Bereaved Individuals in a Virtual Setting. Omega United States, 88(3), 951–960. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228211051524
Sara, L. M. E. (2025). Building Indigenous Futures with Minecraft: A Sámi Educational Perspective. Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe, 24(3), 118–143. https://doi.org/10.53779/LEMA0808
Sarasmita, M. A. (2024). Digital Serious Games to Promote Behavior Change in Children With Chronic Diseases: Scoping Review and Development of a Self-Management Learning Framework. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 26(Query date: 2026-03-26 23:45:59). https://doi.org/10.2196/49692
Sysoyev, P. V. (2024). Didactic properties and learning functions of neural networks. Perspektivy Nauki I Obrazovania, 72(6), 672–690. https://doi.org/10.32744/pse.2024.6.42
Tokuno, J. (2023). Digital Education in General Thoracic Surgery: A Narrative Review. Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 115(3), 787–794. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.athoracsur.2022.04.049
Tolentino, A. P. (2025). Digital Gamification: Benefits and Challenges in Education. International Journal of Information and Education Technology, 15(5), 902–911. https://doi.org/10.18178/ijiet.2025.15.5.2296
Wang, Y. (2025). Dental trauma in children: Monitoring, management, and challenges—A narrative review. Translational Pediatrics, 14(7), 1637–1651. https://doi.org/10.21037/tp-2025-243
Williamson, B. (2025). Algorithmic futuring: Predictive infrastructures of valuation and investment in the assetization of edtech. Learning Media and Technology, 50(1), 87–101. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439884.2024.2435820
Xu, J. (2025). DIGITAL MEDIATION OF SACRED MEMORY: RECONSTRUCTING RELIGIOUS IDENTITY THROUGH NEW MEDIA IN DIGITAL MUSEUM DESIGN. European Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 17(2), 471–488. https://doi.org/10.24204/ejpr.2025.4738
Zekeik, H. (2025). Augmented reality and virtual reality in education: A systematic narrative review on benefits, challenges, and applications. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 21(9). https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/16830