Case+Study+-+Podcasting

=Podcasting: Be heard or seen by anyone; anywhere, anytime. =

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= = = What is a Podcast? =

= __Definition:__ "A podcast is a pre-recorded audio program that's posted to a website and is made available for download so people can listen to them on personal computers or mobile devices." -//Entreprenuer.com// = media type="file" key="podcast definition.wav" width="300" height="50" align="center" = =

First let's begin with the etymology of the word. [|Podcast] derives from two words—broadcast and [|iPod]. Originally the word resulted from the fact that one could listen to a radio broadcast on their iPod. Merging the two resulted in the new term, podcast. At the core of podcasting is the ability to have audio or video files automatically downloaded to one's portable media device or computer in order to be listened to anytime and anywhere the user wants. Often podcasts are a collection of episodes, and the ability to automatically have these new episodes downloaded and readily available to the consumer greatly saves time and effort.

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= History =

In the 1990's [|Blogging] emerged as a natural extension and some bloggers started making regular postings which others would follow along by reading and periodically checking back to the blog site to read the latest post. In early 2001, [|Dave Winer] created technology in which one could subscribe to their favorite blog through an [|RSS] (Really Simple Syndication) feed and have the blog content automatically downloaded to their computer for later reading. Another program called a [|news reader] would keep checking back to the blog site to see if new content was available, and if so would download it automatically. This marked the first step in the evolution in what would become podcasting because one the major elements of a podcast is the ability to listen to or watch content whenever the consumer wishes. As time progressed bloggers naturally began creating "audio blogs". That is, instead of typing their blogs they would record themselves speaking and save it as an MP3 file. Many of these "audio bloggers" were radio personalities who would record their radio broadcasts or interviews and post them on their blog sites so listeners who couldn't tune in during the original live airing could still hear it at a later time. (This is the origin of the "cast" part of podcast. It was a recorded broadcast, and many of the early podcasts came from radio.) These new audio blogs connected the blogger with their audience by adding a personal touch, but the problem was that because of the MP3 format of the files the audio blogs had to be downloaded manually, one at a time. Even so, this was the next step in the evolution of podcasting as it introduced audio content, which is an essential ingredient in the definition of a podcast. A former MTV VJ, [|Adam Curry] wanted to develop a way to automatically transfer audio blogs to portable MP3 players so they could be taken on-the-go. He worked with Winer to update his RSS feed program so that it would not only include updated information from written blogs, but also MP3 files and then download those as well. In 2003 Adam Curry then created the program that would take the data and automatically transfer it to an iPod, later to be known as "podcatcher" software. This was the final piece needed to birth podcasting—the ability to take audio wherever one wanted. Even though it had been successfully established, the technology had no name. Then in February of 2004 the term "podcast" first appeared in an article of //The Guardian// written by Ben Hammersly. He used it to describe downloadable audio blogging and internet radio. The term caught on and has "stuck" ever since. From there podcasting became a hit. In 2005 alone Google announced over 100 million hits on their search engine for information on podcasts. In the same year [|Apple Inc.]. announced the integration of podcasting within their [|iTunes] program making it more available and accessible to users than before. Following this, many entertainment and financial businesses began producing their own podcasts hoping to capitalize in this new niche. Celebrities and politicians got onboard too, using it as a tool to keep in touch with their fans and share information. Even President George Bush had a podcast from the White House. The biggest group to participate in podcasting however, was the average individual. When people learned that it cost very little to create a podcast (all that's needed is a microphone, recording software, and a computer) and that they could be heard by anyone in the world, many saw the opportunity to have their own radio or TV show. This was one of the major attractions of podcasting—that anyone could do it for minimal cost and that they could be seen at anytime, anywhere. Another main draw to podcasting was from the consumer's perspective. As today, podcasts were almost always free to download. Further, although podcasts were initially transferred to iPods, and hence the "pod" in the word podcast, they could be transferred to any portable device or stored on a computer. Seven years after its inception, podcasting is still prevalent today and many sites are now dedicated to supplying podcasts such as [|podcast.com], [|blip.tv], and [|mypodcast.com]. [|Podomatic.com] even allows users to create their own podcasts and upload them to their server in only a few simple steps—all for free. Not too long after the internet began growing in popularity, people wanted to share their stories, journals, and opinions on any subject they wished.





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= Classroom Uses =

In looking at the implications of podcasting in the classroom let's bifurcate the process between the perspective of students as consumers and that of students as producers. First, as consumers. There is a vast amount of educational podcasts available, and teachers can find one on just about any topic or for addressing any special need. The [|iTunes Store] for example, has a podcast section called iTunes U (university) which is dedicated to podcasts produced by educational institutions. There are many podcasts available there for immediate downloading—all at no cost. This is only one of many podcast resources on the internet and there is no end to the number of podcasts available. The use of podcasts as a tool for differentiating various learning modalities should be evident and if used with thoughtful consideration podcasting can meet most diverse needs. Visual and auditory learners for example, most certainly benefit from all the video or audio stimuli. Let's face it, many students do not like to read and podcasting affords another avenue for them to receive information. Those who enjoy reading but have a visual impairment and struggle with traditional learning methods also benefit from the audio provided via podcasts. An excellent resource for ESL students is podcasts which contain spoken word to accompany written text. These students can hear correct pronunciation of English while they read. They obviously can pause and read alone if they choose, but they have the extra built-in scaffolding if needed. Podcasting has many other benefits for English learners too. [|Manythings.org] for example, is a website that helps ESL students improve their English. Within their site they have a page just for podcasts. Teachers or students can find songs, jokes, and other help with English verbs; all available for download. There are even external links to other ESL podcasts. Thus, students' English development can be augmented anytime while at school or anywhere else if they have a portable media player. Whether improving English skills is the goal or addressing multiple intelligences, podcasts offer many possibilities toward meeting these needs. Now let's look at some specific ways podcasts can be/are used in education. In a classroom with computers, podcasts can be used as a complimentary resource to supplement instruction. One way is that students can independently use podcasts to complete worksheets, charts, or graphs at their own pace. They can rewind and replay at will without slowing other classmates down. Another use of podcasts in education is for remediation. A student struggling with a subject or concept can be referred to a podcast(s) for extra help above that which the teacher can provide in class. The student then has access to the additional material whenever they can put in the extra time. Let's look at some other uses of podcasts in the classroom. Imagine a teacher is giving a lesson; the lesson is recorded and is uploaded to a wiki or blog site. At this point there are some really great ways the lesson can continue to benefit students. First, a student who forgot, or did not understand something from the lesson, perhaps a set of procedures for completing a type of math problem, can play the podcast from any computer to remind himself what was said or how to do the problem. And with high school or college students they can even subscribe to the class podcast and have the lesson downloaded to their MP3 player, phone, or PDA automatically. And what about a student who is absent? Imagine them being able to watch/listen to a lesson they missed. They could return having experienced a very similar lecture and be ready to continue without being behind the rest of the class. All that without the teacher having to do much additional work. Depending on the grade level, students can press start and stop on the recording device and if there are a couple of gate or tech savvy students they can upload it to the class website. That would certainly be better than explaining the whole lesson over to just one or two students. Continuing along this idea, a podcast can be used to communicate assignments and homework on a regular basis. A teacher can record an ongoing podcast which describes the homework to be done, put it on a wiki for listening to there, and leave it for downloading to another device. Students would be able to know exactly what the homework is and because the podcast would be ongoing, they would have access to recordings of past homework, all catalogued and easily accessible. This would really be a great help for parents too because many times students think they know what the homework entails but they are not able to explain the details to their parents who are willing to assist or check their child's work. Instead of being confused by written instructions, parents also can listen to the homework podcast. And taking it a step further, parents themselves could have the podcast automatically delivered to their portable media device or receive an email with a link to the podcast. This would be a great way to improve the home-school relationship and help parents become more involved in the learning process of their children. Students as consumers of podcasts is only one side of the coin. Podcasting in light of students as producers has many benefits as well. Participation, collaboration, discussion, critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, and evaluation are all addressed when creating a podcast and promote higher level thinking skills within [|Bloom's taxonomy]. It allows students to take a more active role in their learning, and in a way, places them into the role of teacher as they become the ones gathering information and making media to instruct others. Further, podcasts give students the opportunity to demonstrate learning in an abundance of authentic ways some of which might include interviewing a historical person or fictional character, making a talk show, airing a newscast, performing a demonstration, recording a song or poem, or making a training video. All these require reading, writing, social, and organizational skills and allow for the differentiation of Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, Logical, Verbal, and Naturalist intelligences when designing a podcast. In addition to all these benefits students also gain technology skills when they generate a podcast. They learn to work with recording hardware and software, graphics, and video and audio files. Finally, there is the motivational factor. Most students really get into the idea of making their own video or audio recordings, and the thought of seeing their work on the internet for the world to see really inspires them to take projects seriously while having fun at the same time. As is evident podcasting is a powerful tool that is not difficult to utilize and is already being used in the classroom today. There are many proven uses and many more waiting for creative teachers to dream up.

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Sample podcast: The Lady Who Is Afraid of a Pickle!
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= = = Ethical Issues =

One of the glaring problems pertaining to podcasting is the lack of regulation. There are currently no [|FCC] restrictions as to what can be seen or said on podcasts. Profanity, sexuality, violence, racism; anything can be discussed, appropriate, or not. What this means for use in education is BE CAREFUL! If podcasts are going to be implemented as tools to make learning more accessible, teachers will have to thoroughly review content before ever playing it for a class. A teacher cannot merely judge a podcast's content as innocuous by its title or assume that the producers of a "clean" series in the past will always do the same. Even recommendations from family members or colleagues need to be checked out first. Of course, what would be very helpful for the future is if school districts had a catalogue of acceptable podcasts similar to the way they have a libraries of approved videos that can be shown. A teacher could then easily, and without concern, select a podcast for their class. For students creating podcasts, they need to be held accountable to the same rules of the user agreement they sign to have computer access at school. They obviously could not be allowed to show or say inappropriate things, slander others, or bully anyone. At a minimum violators would be banned from further use of computers and similar projects. The prohibition of such behavior would seem to be clear to students at the onset of such projects, but there are always some who just need reminding, clarifying, and that little extra warning. Establishing clear rules and purpose for podcast projects will help ensure students are on task and not causing problems. Even should students choose to defy the rules, monitoring their work and checking final podcasts before they are posted of course, is the best insurance for thwarting a potential problem, especially if it will affect others. Because podcasts can include video, audio, and text, students would also need direction in reference to copyright. The law is too detailed for the scope of this essay, but rules about using the work of others, citing references, and giving proper credit for material not their own would be matters of subject. Another big ethical issue is privacy. Anytime students are putting work on the internet there will be issues regarding privacy. In podcast creation the use of names, faces, and voices will undoubtedly be used and protecting students' identities is a primary concern for schools, and especially for parents. Written consent for students’ images is a good starting place, but even so the teacher may want to install other safeguards to protect student identity. Using only students' first names and making the class site, where work is posted, private or password protected are good beginnings to ensure students safety online.

= = = The Future =

What is the future of podcasting; where is it headed? In 2005 it was estimated 5 million people subscribed to podcasts and the next year, 2006, podcast was officially added to the [|New Oxford American Dictionary]. Since then, the consumer base has continued a steady increase and is projected to grow until at least 2013 when an estimated 37 million people will be downloading podcasts regularly (See chart). So with this large an audience how will podcasting continue to evolve? Well, most is speculation, but here's one idea that's already in the works. Since we apparently don't have enough time to enjoy all the podcasts we would like, finding only what we really want would be great. Apple Inc. is apparently working on technology that would allow a user to input a request on a certain topic and then it would search through all the podcasts the user has subscriptions to looking for the requested content. For example, let's say you only wanted content about the World Series and you had podcast subscriptions to ESPN, Fox Sports, CNN sports, and various local news channels. The program would search these and when it found all the content only about the World Series it would extract the segments and "stitch" them together (even if they came from different podcast makers) to form one new customized podcast and then download it for you. Imagine that! Only the content you wanted. Other possibilities include e-courses being distributed via podcast. Instead of taking an online course and never seeing or hearing an instructor, written text can be augmented with podcast episodes that could be heard/watched anywhere. There's also a possibility of integrating podcasts with television. Imagine if there were a podcast channel where viewers could have their favorite podcasts available in an "On Demand" format. They could watch whenever they wanted and in the comfort of their living room. Advertisers would immediately have another consumer base created which could lead to a whole other offshoot in the podcast timeline. The future is unlimited only time and ingenuity will, in the end answer the questions about the future of podcasting.

= = = For More Information =

**Information**
[] [] [] []

**Podcast sites**
[] [] [|blip.tv] [|podcast.com]

**How to make a podcast**
[] [] [] [] [|podomatic.com]

**Blogs about podcasting**
[] []

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