PODCASTING THROUGH THE PANDEMIC: STUDENTS ’ PERCEPTIONS AND PERFORMANCE AT AN ODL INSTITUTION

: The pandemic has prompted the use of supplemental learning tools such as podcasts to become increasingly used to bridge the gap between lecturers and students. This paper argues that podcasting not only sharpens students ’ listening skills but also enables them to engage with content more efficiently. This paper is underpinned by the transactional distance theory and the community of inquiry theory to understand the role of podcasting in teaching and learning in distance education. In an attempt to decrease transactional distance, this case study evaluates students ’ perceptions of the implementation of podcasts in one South African ODL university, as an example, and investigates the effectiveness of using podcasts as a supplemental teaching tool in an English language module. The findings suggest that supplemental learning does decrease the transactional distance between lecturers - students and students - content. Moreover, the study found that podcasts tend to foster a teaching, social and cognitive presence that forms a community of inquiry. This paper concludes by providing pedagogical recommendations for teacher and student development in distance education contexts.

However, DE institutions does come with its challenges such as increased isolation and segregation, which can lead to attrition (Nunan, 2012;Schreiber & Jansz, 2019).The limited face-to-face contact can lead to what Moore (1993) calls an increase in 'Transactional Distance' (TD) (Swart & Macleod, 2021).The theory of TD first developed in the 1980s and refers to the psychological distance between lecturers and students (Moore, 1993;Quong et al., 2018).To narrow the TD in DE institutions, the literature points towards need for a teaching, social and cognitive presence (Arbaugh, 2008;Garrison, 2008;Garrison, Cleveland-Innes & Fung, DOI:https://doi.org/10.17509/e.v21i2.49237 116 Podcasting Through The Pandemic: Students' Perceptions And Performance At An Odl Institution   No. SK Akreditasi Ristekdikti : 34/E/KPT/2018 2010).DE is not novel to Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions but the pandemic meant that lecturers had to consider new ways to teach despondent students during the lockdown (Dhawan, 2020).Despite attempts in the literature to understand how podcasting enhances meaningful learning in DE contexts, the researcher has noted that there is lack of research focusing on the students' perspectives of podcasting as well as limited research in English language modules.For this reason, this case study adds to the existing body of literature in its attempt to understand students' perspectives towards podcasting during the pandemic as well as to understand how this e-learning tool affects students' performance in one English language module under study.An objective of this study was to ascertain students' perceptions of the podcasts they have received as a supplemental learning tool.
A key aspect of this study is the effect of podcasting on the students' performance.
A vital element in this study is how lecturers and practitioner in DE can use podcasting to decrease the TD by enhancing social, teaching and cognitive presence through podcasting.
The rapid growth of online DE through the pandemic has not only prompted lecturers and teachers to utilise digital educational resources but also to consider "how to make principled choices among technology options" (Dhawan, 2020;Doughty & Long, 2003, p.67;Kumar, 2021).The nature of the problem confronted by ODL students who speak English as an additional language (EAL) is that there is no face-to-face contact with lecturers during the pandemic and there are feelings of isolation, which were brought on by the pandemic.In a traditional DE setting (e.g.students' homes), students may only understand a complex issue they have read briefly (from their study guides and textbooks) before the next topic is introduced.In contrast, podcasts can be listened to several times or paused to provide time for the student to process the information (Mobasheri & Costello, 2020).Furthermore, the researcher has noted a lack of social and teaching presence in other modules in the research context and has decided to play a more active role in the ENG2612 module that has begun in January 2020.
The pedagogical tool that was the most popular amongst students was the    interaction with podcasts for successful teaching and learning, as well as student support.Over the last two decades, CoI (Garrison, 2008;Garrison et al., 2000) has helped lecturers in DE decrease  TD is made up of three components: student-student, student-teacher and student-content interaction.As the quantity and quality of these interactions increase, TD decreases (Yilmaz & Keser, 2017;Zhang, 2003).As the TD decreases, students gain more interactive learning experiences in DE (Zhang, 2003).This pa-per argues that podcasts can be a useful tool in decreasing the TD between students-lecturers and student-content.For -content interaction increases, TD decreases (Yilmaz & Keser, 2017).
Through an analysis of the literature review, the assumption is that the implementation of podcasts may decrease the TD in the module under study.

B. METHODOLOGY
The investigation into the use of podcasts by second-year applied English stu- teraction (Moore, 1993).
Similarly, students found the podcasts motivating as we were in the midst of a pandemic and the reassuring voices of their lecturers throughout the years made studying the module more relatable and accessible.The lecturers increased dialogue through the dissemination of podcasts, which drew the students closer to the content; thus bridging the TD between the students and their lecturers and the students and their subject content (Moore, 1993) (Moore, 1993;Richardson & Swan, 2003).At this point, any interaction or communication is significant to decrease TD and increase teaching and learning in HEIs.
Students perceived the podcasts to be interesting as they were short and did not exceed 5 minutes in length.This allowed the lecturers to capture the attention of the students and thus, students were able to access epistemology with ease.Furthermore, the lecturers' voices were clear, their tone was optimistic and motivational and they simplified the content for students, which the students appreci- This means that the module content was well structured, dialogue was increased by using podcasts and autonomy has been decreased (Moore, 1993); thereby lowering the TD between lecturers-students and students-content.
This paper refutes a finding by Williams, Aguilar-Roca and O'Dowd (2016) by arguing that podcasts do not replace printed media such as study guide as most students do not refer to them as their main source of information.For Bree (2020) and other students who answered the evaluation questions, "I found some of the work in the study guides and tutorial letters difficult to understand but the podcasts broke everything down so nicely".This means that when students do not understand the content in their primary sources of information, podcasts are referred to a supplemental learning tool to support study guides, textbooks and tutorial letters.TD reaches its full potential when student-content and lecturer-student interaction is increased DOI:https://doi.org/10.17509/e.v21i2.49237 128 Podcasting Through The Pandemic: Students' Perceptions And Performance At An Odl Institution   No. SK Akreditasi Ristekdikti : 34/E/KPT/2018 (Schreiber & Jansz, 2019;Selvaras, 2019;Zhang, 2003).
One would argue that little to no access to data and internet connectivity, as expressed by Khwezi (2021 evaluation), increases the TD by closing the communication space and reducing the lecturerstudent dialogue (Moore, 1993).Unfortunately, data costs are high in South Africa and bandwidth varies in different locations.

The effect of podcasting on students' performance
To answer the second research question, which seeks to understand the effect podcasting had on the ENG2612 students' performance, data was gathered after the examination results were captured through a structured observation schedule.Table 1 shows questions that were answered in the structured observation schedule: Structured observation schedule of the 2020 and 2021 ENG2612 module Which section on the LMS were students most active on?
Students were most active in the additional resources on the myUnisa LMS.This is possibly because this thread offered supplemental support to explain content that students found challenging.How active were students on the additional resources?
According to the LMS, students spent over 70 per cent of their time on the additional resources.The additional resources formed the most active section of the LMS.Which resource were students mostly interested in?
Students were mostly interested in assignment feedback letters, podcasts, and videos.How many podcasts were posted and which ones were the most popular?8 podcasts were uploaded onto the additional resources.The examination, assignment and motivational podcasts were popular amongst students.According to the XMO spreadsheet, how did students perform in the 2020 and 2021 ENG2612 examinations?
In 2020, 383 students were admitted into the examination.360 students passed the examination, 15 students failed, 14 students were granted supplementary examinations and 8 students were absent.The pass percentage was 96 % and the fail percentage was 4%.In 2021, 791 students were admitted into the examination.737 students passed the examination, while 20 failed.34 students were absent during the examination.

Table 1. Structured observation schedule of the 2020 and 2021 academic year in ENG2612
The in March 2020, Distance Education (DE) became the norm in schools and most Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).DE is form of education where the students are geographically separated from the institution and their lecturers.DE offers many benefits compared to contact HEIs, including enhanced flexibility, lower costs, improved access to linguistic barriers and increased admission access.
podcasts and this paper seeks to find out what second year students' attitudes towards podcasts are in the ENG2612 module as well as to investigate the effectiveness of the podcasts on students' Podcasting Through The Pandemic: Students' Perceptions And Performance At An Odl InstitutionNo.SK Akreditasi Ristekdikti : 34/E/KPT/2018 learning.For this reason, podcasts were utilised as an e-Learning tool as an attempt to bridge the TD gap between lecturers-students and students-content(Moore, 1993).Moreover, podcasts were used to enhance the teaching, social and cognitive presence in the module under study to narrow the TD gap.In addition, while a few studies(Chan, Chi, Chin & Lin, 2011;Panagiotidis, 2021;Parsons, 2021) have investigated the role of podcasting in language learning, there is still limited research regarding students' perceptions of podcasting in DE as well as the effect on students' results.For this reason, this paper seeks to answer the two research questions below: What are the perceptions of first year students on the implementation of podcasts in the applied English language module during the pandemic?What effect did podcasting have on students' performance in the applied English language module?This study is conducted in one of the largest mega universities in South Africa with an enrolment of over 350 000 students per year.ENG2612, a Bachelor of Education module in the College of Human Sciences, is an English home language module that prepares students for the work of teachers of the English language.The ENG2612 module is an applied language studies module where the emphasis is on the application of what students will learn about critical reading and writing processes to develop their competencies in analysing a variety of literary and nonliterary texts.The module registers a mixture of both home or first language speakers of English and EAL speakers.Until the advent of television and the radio, podcasting has had a major improvement on language learning (Rosell-Aguilar, 2007; Panagiotidis, 2021).A podcast is a digital file that is recording by using a recorder, a computer or a mobile device.This file is uploaded onto a site or platform and is available for users like students to download.Several factors have contributed to the popularity of podcasts in DE such as its "ease of production, low cost, portability, flexibility in time, location, pacing, their convenience for both creator and listener, the growing and widespread use of mobile devices, the adoption of podcasting by major media broadcasters as a way of delivering [catch-up] services" (Rosell-Aguilar, 2013; Panagiotidis, 2021, p.10709).In addition, podcasts are attractive for their flexibility in offering bite-sized opportunities for teaching and learning.This explains their popularity in No. SK Akreditasi Ristekdikti : 34/E/KPT/2018

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.There is a fourth element, emotional presence, which this paper will briefly touch on.

1 .
figure below illustrates TD as a set of variables that can be grouped into three main categories: Structure, Dialogue and Autonomy of the student (Moore, 1993):

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Illustration of Moore's theory of transactional distance example, during Covid-19, as result of lockdowns and new strains of the virus, face-to-face contact between lectures and students are limited.Students in DE struggled to grapple with the content in their tutorial letters and study guides on their own.To improve this situation, students download and listen to the podcasts in their own time and may understand the content better.In this case, the implementation of podcasts may improve the student-lecturer and student-content interaction.As student-lecturer and student dents took the form of a qualitative research design by utilising online openended evaluation questions, which were posted on the myUnisa Learning Management System (LMS).Screenshots from the statistics sections of the LMS and the XMO spreadsheet were analysed and noted on a structured observation DOI:https://doi.org/10.17509/e.v21i2.49237123 Podcasting Through The Pandemic: Students' Perceptions And Performance At An Odl Institution No. SK Akreditasi Ristekdikti : 34/E/KPT/2018 schedule.Case study is the research design.The open-ended evaluation questions and structured observation schedules were used to answer two research questions.In this paper, the case study design seeks to understand the perceptions of students during the pandemic, aswell as to understand the effect podcasting had on them during this period(Davey, 2009).1.Demographics of the participantsThe student participants were a mix of English home language and English additional language speakers in the ENG2612 module, located in the Department of English Studies at Unisa.The rationale for selecting students from the ENG2612 as participants in the study is to understand their perceptions of using podcasts during the pandemic as well as to determine its effectiveness.Most students at Unisa struggle to access the resources posted on the LMS due to the lack of access to data, devices, electricity and so on.As a result, not all students answered the evaluation questions posted on the LMS. 2. Population of the sampled participants The study was conducted with second year English Studies students who were registered for the 2020 and 2021 academic years in the ENG2612 module.These students were provided with podcasts, videos, weblinks, an active discussion forum, constant announcements which alerted them when resources were uploaded as well as announcements of encouragement and motivation.An openended online evaluation form was posted onto the discussion forum site for all students to answer over the past two years.In 2020, 383 students were registered in the module but only 10 students answered the evaluation questions.In 2021, 791 students were registered and 18 students answered the questions.In total, 28 students answered the questions over the two-year period.This number of students is too small to generalise the results but the qualitative nature of this action study provides in-depth and valuable insights regarding the outcome of the study.3.Data collection and analysisTo understand the students' perceptions of podcasts, data was collected through open-ended evaluation questions that were posted on the ENG2612 discussion forum on the LMS at the end of the 2020 and 2021 academic years.A structured observation schedule was used to understand the effect podcasting had on students' performance in the module.Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data.Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data and the following No. SK Akreditasi Ristekdikti : 34/E/KPT/2018 themes emerged out of the two the first research question, which sought to understand the ENG2612 students' perceptions of the podcasts they received, all 28 students who answered the open-ended evaluation questions over the past two years favoured the use of podcasts.On being asked if students enjoyed the podcasts that were created to support them during the pandemic, students responded: I enjoyed working with the podcasts at my own pace as I work a full time job.We could hear that our lecturers care for us and that they want us to succeed.It is not like other modules I have studied.In this module, we can tell that our lecturers genuinely care.This was appreciated especially because of the devastation that Covid-19 caused.We needed to stay in touch through the podcasts and I believe this got us through the year.This care is very rare in a university where we don't see our lecturers (Carol, 2020 evaluation).Yes, I enjoyed the podcasts as they were quick and the lecturers sound very enthusiastic.Moreover, they gave thorough clarity on the confusing aspects and their explanations helped me while I was preparing for the assignments and the examination.The guidance and support we received in the podcasts were unmatched.I especially enjoyed the motivation podcasts, it came at a time when it was needed most (Esme, 2021 evaluation).It is quite humbling and encouraging to have such podcasts that boost our confidence and to come across lecturers who want their students to succeed.You explained everything perfectly and I understood every word you said.The podcasts made it easy for me to work at my own pace as my dad passed away with Covid and my family was affected by the virus.I really appreciate your effort and the belief that you have in us as students (Liam, 2020 evaluation).As can be seen in the responses above, most students agreed that podcasts are a fun, motivational and interesting learning media to learn English in DE.Students liked the podcasts as it encouraged flexibility in their studies; they were portable and easy to use.For Liam (2020 evaluation), the use of podcasts DOI:https://doi.org/10.17509/e.v21i2.49237125 Podcasting Through The Pandemic: Students' Perceptions And Performance At An Odl Institution No. SK Akreditasi Ristekdikti : 34/E/KPT/2018 encouraged flexibility in his studies as his family was affected by the Covid-19virus.Another student, Tessa (2021 evaluation) similarly echoed that she is partially blind and that the podcasts made the content "more accessible" for her as reading through the study guide was a challenge.Kumar (2021, p.16) argues that isolation is imminent amongst DE students; although, its flexibility "may prove a big advantage and attractive option" further supports these findings.ForMoore (1993), the flexibility and portability of podcasts would decrease TD by increasing student-lecturer and studentcontent interaction.From the students responses above, podcasting was perceived as enjoyable as there was support, motivation and care from the lecturers: "This care is very rare in a university where we don't see our lecturers" (Carol, 2020 evaluation).Students enjoyed the prospect of listening to their content instead of reading it and this made it 'fun'.Many students mentioned that the podcasts included motivational and inspiring content that made them want to learn and succeed: "It is not like other modules I have studied.In this module, we can tell that our lecturers genuinely care" (Carol, 2020 evaluation).Arguably, when lecturers show an online presence through the resources they cre-ate, they narrow the TD gap between themselves and the students.Arguably, the lecturers have shown an emotional presence, the fourth element in Garrison's (2000) COI theory.Emotional presence occurs when lecturers express feelings and an affective side in a community of inquiry similar to the module under study.As a result, by show an affective or emotional presence through motivating and inspiring students through podcasts, lecturers encourage lecturer-student and student-content in- ated.For Esme (2021 evaluation), "they gave thorough clarity on the confusing aspects and their explanations helped me while I was preparing for the assignments and the examination".Clearly, podcasts do help to bridge the gap between the complexities of the module content and the students' understandings.To further explore the first research question regarding students' perceptions of podcasts during their year of study, students were asked if they found the podcasts helpful in preparing them for the examination.All 28 students who answered the questions responded in the affirmative.Below are some responses of the students in the open-ended evaluation questions: I am more than confident that I'll do my best with my portfolio exam.I found some of the work in the study guides and tutorial letters difficult to understand but the podcasts broke everything down so nicely.I am ready for the exam.Thank you very much for the profound work that you have done (Bree, 2020 evaluation).I was so scared at the thought of the exam, I am not good with essay writing and analysing pictures and texts, but you made it sound so easy when everything was explained step by step and how we could tackle certain questions (Thabo, 2021 evaluation).The podcasts are a lifesaver!I honestly don't think I would have passed the Podcasting Through The Pandemic: Students' Perceptions And Performance At An Odl Institution No. SK Akreditasi Ristekdikti : 34/E/KPT/2018 assignments or be as prepared as I am now for the examination without it.My only challenge was that because there were so many podcasts, it did consume a lot of my data and I did not end up downloading all the podcasts (Khwezi, 2021 evaluation).The responses above are an indication that podcasts assisted the ENG2612 students with their formal assessments and preparation for the final examination.It seems as though the podcasts increased students' understandings, boosted their confidence and encouraged examination readiness.TD was decreased when Bree (2020 evaluation) noted that the content in the podcasts allowed her to understand the content of the module more easily.Thabo (2021 evaluation) similarly noted that he had challenges understanding essay writing and applying the module content to pictures and texts but after listening to the podcasts, he felt more informed on how to approach these tasks.However, from the literature it was noted that printed media might be neglected when podcasts are used.Secondly, Williams, Aguilar-Roca and O'Dowd (2016, p.1) argued that podcasts have minimum impact on cognition, epistemological access, and learner performance.Nevertheless, based on the voices highlighted above, even though it is used as a supplemental learning tool, podcasting used in the ENG2612 module did benefit students' cognition (through encouraging understanding), epistemology (through boosting their confidence and thus acquiring information) and performance (through encouraging examination readiness).
figure below demonstrates that the additional resources on the LMS was the most accessed amongst other sections such as the announcements and lessons.Students spent 71.3% of their time on the additional resources, 17.1 % of lessons, 10% on web content, 0.5% reading the announcements and about 0.3 % scrolling through other minor sections of the site.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Screenshot of the statistics of the additional resources on ENG2612 It is clear from the figure above that students were mostly interested in downloading assignment feedback letters, podcasts and video files.It may be argued that the reason why the bulk of students spent their time on the additional resources is that the new generation of students are more proficient with technology.In this instance, podcasts, for the purpose of this paper, are a useful educational technology that can cater for students with auditory, visual and mixed

Figure 4 .Figure 5 .Figure 6 .
Figure 4. Screenshot of the additional resources on the LMS