Podcasting 2Teaching with Technology June 2007
Podcastingis a meanso publishingaudio andvideo contenton the web.There are threecategories o activities andequipmentinvolved inpodcasting:
FileProductionPodcastPublicationDelivery andPlayback
W o r k i n g D e f n i t i o n
Podcasting is a means o publishing audioand video content on the web as a serieso episodes with a common theme. Teseepisodes are accompanied by a le calleda “eed” that allows listeners to subscribeto the series and receive new episodesautomatically.Some people use the term “podcast” toreer to any distribution o audio/videocontent on the Web, but technically speak-ing, the eed and subscription model o ledelivery is what dierentiates podcastingrom simply posting les on the Web.Tink o podcasting like setting upan automatic bank drat to pay bills.For expenses that occur regularly overa prolonged period o time, like utility bills, the initial work o setting up a bank drat is worthwhile because it saves timeand eort in the long run. I the expenseoccurs with less regularity, it is probably easier to just write a check.Setting up a podcast is similar. Forcontent that is published on a regularbasis, like weekly homework reviews,the initial steps to create a podcast are worthwhile because they save studentssome eort in the long run. But orcontent that will only be published a ew times during the semester, it probably makes more sense to simply post the leson a course web site—without the extraeort o setting up the eed and havingstudents subscribe. Tere are three general categories o activities and equipment involved inpodcasting: le production, podcastpublication, and delivery and playback.
File production
Generating appropriate and compellingcontent or a podcast is typically themost time- and labor-intensive part o the process. Tis step includes planning, writing, and recording content, as well asaudio/video editing and le compression.Production requires recording hardware,like digital microphones and digital cam-eras, and sotware or editing audio and/or video segments.In addition to the relevant audio/videoles, the creator must generate an RSSeed. A eed is a simple XML le that liststhe location o podcast episodes. It also in-cludes inormation about the podcast, suchas publish dates, titles, and descriptions o the series and o each episode. Te podcastcreator can write the eed manually, or usesotware that generates the eed le. A listo useul resources or creating podcastsappears in the Appendix.
Podcast publication
Te audio/video le and RSS eed are thenposted to a Web server. For the rst pod-cast in a series, and or ongoing series thatare always open to new subscribers, thepodcast creator must notiy the audienceo the existence o the podcast by publiciz-ing the location o the RSS eed. Many podcasters post a link to the RSS eedon their blogs, Web sites, or other public Web spaces. Te podcast creator can alsolist inormation about the podcast in one o many directories that categorize podcastsalphabetically or by topic. Te listener is able to subscribe to thepodcast series using a podcast aggregator(sotware that checks podcast eeds orupdates at specied intervals). Tis stepis only necessary the rst time; once thelistener has subscribed to the podcast,they will remain subscribed until they choose to unsubscribe.
Delivery and playback
When the listener adds a new RSS eed,the aggregator downloads all episodesreerenced in the current RSS eed. Atregular intervals thereater, the ag-gregator checks the eed or updates anddownloads any episodes added since theprevious check.Listeners can access podcasts directly on their computers, or on their portableMP3/video device. For those who preerto listen on portable devices, most pod-cast aggregators will synchronize withportable devices automatically.
Technically, theeed and subscriptionmodel o le deliveryis what dierentiatespodcasting romsimply posting leson the Web.
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