Using Podcast for Taiwanese Elementary School English Teachers’ Professional Learning
Podcast has been widely used in language learning and it has become a trend in teachers’ professional learning. Cherry Seed, a local Taiwanese 40-minute Podcast, was developed by two elementary school English expert teachers in 2020. Topics shared in Cherry Seed vary from classroom management, effective instructional strategies, picture book instruction, and other related hot issues. This case study used audiences’ interviews, online comments, and traffic of Cherry Seed to explore Taiwanese elementary school English teachers’ professional learning through Cherry Seed. This study reached the following major findings. First, based on the traffic of Cherry Seed, “effective instructional strategies” was considered to be the most popular topic, followed by “classroom management.” Second, elementary school English teachers gained professional learning through the 40-minute broadcast and received hands-on and practice implication. They could put what they learned into practice immediately. Thirdly, elementary school English teachers were inspired by various guest speakers’ sharing and gained confidence in their own teaching. Suggestions on designing effective Podcast for English teachers’ professional learning were provided.