Podcasting “Podcast” is one of those words that we hear tossed around a lot these days – it sounds kind of intimidating -- but what exactly is a podcast?

What is a Podcast? An episodic posting of media files on the internet Can be audio or video A podcast is simply an episodic posting of media files on the Internet and they can be either audio or video. The key word here is “EPISODIC” – a podcast is a publication that is appropriately published periodically. I think the best way to understand how a podcast works is to first compare it to something that we’re a lot more familiar with … so let’s take just a minute and think about a Listserv.

To Understand a Podcast … Let’s First Consider a Listserv Author posts information PERIODICALLY The audience SUBSCRIBES to receive Subscribers receive info AUTOMATICALLY each time new info is posted Many of you host Listservs, and most of you probably participate in a variety of Listservs, so it’s a good point of reference for us. With a Listserv, the Author (or moderator) posts information within the topic of the Listserv PERIODICALLY as new information needs to be disseminated. People who have an interest in receiving the information SUBSCRIBE to the Listserv in order to receive it – and when new items are sent by the Listserv moderator, the subscribers receive them automatically as an email message. OK – so with that in mind, if you think of a Listserv (but just forget about the discussion aspect of it for the purpose of our example), but substitute an audio or video file in place of the email message, you’ll start to see how a podcast works. The same is true for Podcasts

First let’s look at Podcasts from the viewpoint of the … Podcast User As we look at Podcasts, we’ll take a look from 2 different perspectives – that of the podcast user and that of the podcast author. Before you get started as a podcast creator, I strongly recommend that you become comfortable as a Podcast user.  You’ll want to explore a variety of podcast, subscribe to several that interest you, and follow them for a while to become familiar with what works for you and what doesn't. Ok – so today, first we’ll look at podcasts as a user…

Podcast User Step 1: Install a Podcast Reader Internet Explorer 7 has a built in reader Just click on your FAVORITES star and click FEEDS Just like you need an email program, like GroupWise, to access email, you also need a Podcast Reader to access your podcasts. By far, I have found that my favorite reader is iTunes – it’s very easy to use AND it also includes the best Podcast library that I’ve found, by far. As an alternative, you’ll also find that the latest versions of Internet Explorer, beginning with version 7, also include a podcast reader. The Internet Explorer reader is located in the same panel with your Favorites – just click the FEEDS button to access it. iTunes is one of the most popular and easiest-to-use podcast readers Download for free from Apple.com

Podcast User Step 2: Subscribe Once you find a podcast that interests you, you’ll want to subscribe to it. The subscription button will generally say RSS or SUBSCRIBE. Many podcasts are now also posting the iTunes link too – which makes subscribing to a podcast with iTunes a 1-click process. Just click the feed and it will add that podcast to your iTunes subscriptions.

Podcast User Step 3: Access Existing Episodes Once you’ve subscribed, you simply go to your reader and click the podcast to listen. One of the things I really like about using iTunes, it’s really easy to take your podcast episodes with you. If you use an iPod, you simply click and drag the episode to your iPod. But it’s also just as easy to burn them to a CD through iTunes too.

Podcast User Step 4: Receive New Episodes As you continue to follow your podcasts, each time you open iTunes, or open your podcast reader, your computer will check for new episodes to your podcast. If new episodes have been posted, they automatically download onto your computer so they are there for you to access when you’re ready. As new episodes are added, they will automatically appear in your podcast reader

Let’s Look at a Podcast [if time permits – go over to iTunes and show an example]

Let’s Turn the Tables … Now We’ll Look at Podcasts as a… Podcast Author OK – now that we have a better idea of what a podcast is and how it works, let’s turn things around and look at podcasts from the viewpoint of the podcast author.

Podcast Author Step 1: Should You Podcast? Does your presentation have future episodes? NO Don’t Podcast YES Does your presentation require interaction from the participants? NO Can your presentation segments be limited to NO MORE than 30 min? (an hour at most) YES Podcasts are a good option for you! YES Don’t Podcast The first thing you’ll want to do is figure out whether a podcast is really the best format for your publication… First – is this a one-time presentation or will your presentation be a series of future episodes? If it’s a one-time publication, a podcast is really not the right format for you. Think about the Listserv example earlier …. You wouldn’t setup a Listserv to send out a single email to a group … it just doesn’t make sense. The same is true here. Second – you’ll want to consider whether your presentation requires interaction from the participants. Podcasts are almost exclusively one-way communication. If you need feedback, and especially if you need interaction from your participants, then there are much better tools available for you to use. Next – can your presentation segments be limited to no more than 30 minutes – or an hour at absolute most? It’s not that it’s not possible to do longer podcasts – but files that large take a while to download and the podcast format just doesn’t work well with long presentations. If you can break a long presentation down into short segments, then you could probably make it work, but you don’t want to put files much longer than 30 minutes each into your podcast. If your presentation fits all of these considerations, then podcasts may be a good option for you.

Podcast Author Step 2: Create a VIDEO or AUDIO We have a variety of tools at Region XI that you can use to create Audio or Video WebCams Windows Movie Maker Handheld recorders (iPod, Palm, etc) And more… If you decide to create a podcast, we have a variety of tools and resources here at Region XI that can be used to create the audio or video files for your podcast. Creating an audio, or especially a video, can be a very time-consuming process, but it doesn’t have to be. The key is to find a tool that you are comfortable with and keep it as simple as possible as you get started. There are thousands of 1 episode podcasts out there from people who started podcasting but tried to make things too complicated, and got overwhelmed with the process.

Podcast Author Step 3: Publish There are a variety of ways to publish your podcast, but the easiest way at ESC is with Schoolwires. Once you have your first episode audio or video file created, you’re ready to publish. Here at the ESC, we have a very easy-to-use Podcast publishing tool within Schoolwires. Creating a new podcast is as simple as creating a new webpage. Just login to your Site Manager to set up your new podcast.

Podcast Author Step 3: Publish Just complete a simple 5-step form to publish your Podcast episode Once you have your podcast created, just complete the simple 5-step form to add your first podcast episode …

Podcast Author Step 3: Publish And add the page to your Schoolwires site as usual Link on webpage -OR- Hierarchy List item And then add the page to your Schoolwires as usual. You can add it as a link from one of your web pages OR as a List Item in your side menu.

Need More Help? Login to Intranet Go to Kayla’s Webpage Click “Podcasting Help” For detailed information and resources for accessing, creating, and publishing a podcast, I’ve posted a PODCAST HELP webpage to my website. Just login to our Intranet and go to my webpage under EdTech > Library & Instructional Media. You should see Podcasting Help listed on the left.