Week 9: Podcasts, Video & Downloadable Audio #21 Podcasts (You don’t need an iPod!)

Hi all,
I'd like to start with a definition from the PA Online Web 2.0 site.

"The word podcast is used to refer to a non-musical audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the Internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS."

You can use an application like iTunes as a directory to locate mostly pop culture items...TV, movies, music to load onto an iPod or MP3 player.

I found a video on YouTube that did a decent job of explaining the mechanics of how podcasts work. The video is entitled "What is a podcast?" Summary details: "Jason Rhode (Northern Illinois University) provides a brief introduction to the technology of podcasting and mentions a few of the instructional benefits and considerations for using this new medium for information
delivery."

For this exercise, we were asked to subscribe to a podcast in our blog reader using the RSS feed. The blog reader I use is Bloglines. I selected NPR: Radio Diaries Podcast to be delivered to my feed. I don't have a mobile device to listen to podcasts yet, but I think this would be a worthwhile investment. I could easily see listening to the NPR podcast (or any other of interest) while exercising or anytime you are "waiting". What a convenient way to stay "in touch".

Even though this discovery exercise doesn't require that we create podcasts, I plan to venture into this territory. I've checked out the How to Podcast tutorial posted on the School Library Learning 2.0 site. This seems like a good place to start...now to just make the time.

It's amazing, the creativity tools at our fingertips...
jane