February 8, 2008

Thing 20: Podcasts in Education

People have had the ability to put audio content on the web for years, however more people started taking advantage of it with the creation of "podcasting," a term that was coined in 2004. This is partly due to the ease of use of newer recording and syndication tools (i.e. RSS) and the incredible popularity of the iPod and other MP3 players. You will be hard-pressed these days to meet students who are not carrying a catalog of music and other digital programming in their pockets.

The word podcast is a combination of the terms iPod and broadcast, however it is a bit of a misnomer because you do not need an iPod to listen to a podcast. They can be played on any MP3 player or computer. A podcast is a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet using the MP3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, but what differentiates a podcast from regular streaming MP3 audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS. So if you "subscribe" to a particular podcast series, every time a new "episode" becomes available it can be automatically downloaded to your computer, feedreader (Bloglines or Google Reader for example), or iPod. However, it is also possible to simply listen to the podcast directly from the website.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the word of the year by the New Oxford American Dictionary and with the growth of podcasting, it's easy to see why. FYI...a "Vodcast" (or Video Podcast) is simply a video broadcast that is syndicated so users can subscribe to the content and play it on a portable or computer media player.

Podcasts allow people to create their own Internet radio shows which take many forms, from short 1-10 minute commentaries to much longer in-person interviews or panel discussions. Podcasts have been created to disseminate news or to promote an organization, as well as for educational purposes, and exist for almost every subject imaginable. These can be a great source for auditory learners who might benefit from hearing content rather than reading things from a book or computer screen.

Some ways in which podcasts are being used in the academic environment include recordings of course lectures (great for those students who need to catch up from a missed class), archived copies of special programs or guest speakers, student created broadcasts that can be accessed at any time, how-to tutorials and promotions for special events. Ozark Christian College has even created a podcast series of their chapel services.

Here is an article from Educause that looks at the use of podcasting in education.


How do you find podcasts?

iTunes, the free downloadable application created by Apple is the directory most associated with locating podcasts, but if you don’t have iTunes installed there are still plenty of options.

For this discovery exercise, you are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directories. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, create a blog post about what you have found.


Discovery Resources:

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at one or two of the podcast directories listed above and see if you can find a podcast that interests you. Even better, look for ones that have been created by other colleges.

2. Create a blog post about your discovery process and share one or two podcasts that might interest the rest of us.

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