What is podcasting?

A podcast is a sound file distributed via the internet (like a radio broadcast).
Users can subscribe and search for specific podcasts.
Podcasts contain sound audio aimed at a target audience –voice, music, sound
effects… They can be short commentaries (1min) but can also span to hour long
discussions. Podcasts can be listened to on a computer or on a portable media
device i.e. i-Pod, mp3 player

Podcasts in Education - Examples

http://recap.ltd.uk/podcasting/index.php
http://www.ptengland.school.nz/index.php?family=1,871,3881

Creating a Podcast - 3 main steps

1. Prepare
2. Record
3. Publish

1. Prepare
What do I need ??
Hardware
Computer with an internet connection + sound card
Microphone – either analog or USB
Speaker and /or Earphones
Sound Recording Software
PC Users
For recording and mixing – Audacity – Free download
For encoding – LAME MP3 Encoder –Ffree download
MAC Users
Garage Band

2. Record
Use the record function within Audacity or Garageband. If appropriate add
sounds effects and music tracks.
Music Tracks –podcast safe music can be downloaded from:
http://podsafeaudio.com
Save your podcast as an MP3 file.
NB> If your MP3 file is too big, you can make it smaller by reducing your podcast's recording rate and/or your
podcast's bit rate. We recommend a minimum of 32k bits for talk-only podcasts, and 128k bits for podcasts
containing music. 64k bits should be the minimum bit rate for music podcasts.
3. Publish
When your podcast is finished, you will need to put it online. If you already
have access to a web hosting service, just FTP your podcast there.
If you don't have space online to put your podcast, you can use one of
many free or paid hosting services.

Share your podcast

With your podcast online, you now need to help others to find it. A
podcast basically consists of an MP3 file and a text file called an RSS feed.
An RSS feed also lets people subscribe to your podcast and automatically
get updates of your new content.

To create your RSS feed, open a text editor, such as Microsoft Word or
Notepad. Copy and paste the code below, and then replace all the blue
text with your own podcast information.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/DTDs/Podcast-1.0.dtd"
xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/">

<channel>
<title> Title of your site </title>
<description> A description of your podcast show </description>
<itunes:author>Your Name </itunes:author>
<link> http://www.yourserver.com/YourPodcastHomepage/ </link>
<itunes:image href="http://www.yourserver.com/YourPodcastPicture.jpg" />
<pubDate> Sun, 09 Oct 2005 21:00:00 PST </pubDate>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright> Copyright Year Your_Name </copyright>

<item>
<title> This is just a test </title>
<description> A description of your podcast episode </description>
<itunes:author> Your Name </itunes:author>
<pubDate> Thu, 16 Jun 2005 5:00:00 PST </pubDate>
<enclosure url="http://www.yourserver.com/podcast_file.mp3" length="3174554" type="audio/mpeg" />
</item>
</channel>

Ideas for Using Podcasts in the Classroom

record lessons for students and parents to access in their own time
create a class or school radio station
find and use podcasts as another source of research material
create a podcast about a school trip
ask students to create a podcast to meet a real need
another way of submitting work

Rochelle Jensen - 2006

rjensen@waikato.ac.nz