Technology-Based Teaching: Podcasting in Education
The initial appeal of ‘podcasting’ was for individuals to distribute their own radio shows. However, the times are changing. In lecture theatres around the world it wouldn’t be surprising to see the sign ‘Recording in Progress’. Many professors are starting to tap into the technology that their students are comfortable with, such as MP3 players. When you see a student sitting at a bus-stop with earphones stuck in their ears, they might just be revising for a test rather than listening to the Black Eyed Peas.
While some podcasters make files available for direct downloading or in a streaming format from a website, podcasting itself involves more than this. Files are made available using ‘push technology’. The publisher selects which files to make available in a feed, while the subscriber chooses which feed channels should be automatically downloaded when there is an update. There are various systems to make this process easier. A large number of universities use the ‘iTunes U’ for storing and distributing their educational content.
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