Podcasting+and+Screencasting

A podcast is quite simply a student created radio broadcast of information; it can be utilized with blogs and wikis.

A podcast is simple to create and can be entertaining to anyone creating and listening to them. The only items needed are a computer, storage, software with the ability to convert to mp3 formats and a microphone or mp3 player capable of recording.

A student may choose a topic, research it, and then create their very own radio show which can then be displayed to anyone who subscribes to the podcast...this is done through something called an RSS feed which allows podcatching programs like [|__iTunes__] to automatically download new episodes. Once you have found the podcast you want to subscribe to, simply click its Subcribe button. There's no need manually check a website to see if there's new content; iTunes does it for you. The episode will be downloaded and waiting for you to play.

The book has many sites where you can view these podcasts including the Education Podcast Network (epnweb.org). The book also suggest downloading freeware capable of transferring audio files into differing formats (audacity.sourceforge.net).

There are three kinds of podcasts. Audio podcasts are usually an MP3 file and are the most common types of podcasts. Enhanced podcasts can have images to go along with the audio. They can also have chapter markers, making it easier to skip to different portions of an episode. Enhanced podcasts are an AAC file and are not supported by all devices. Video podcasts are movies, complete with sound. Video podcasts can be in a variety of formats, but MPEG-4 is the most popular.

In most classrooms the teacher will find podcast episodes for students to listen to or watch. Sets of laptops, iPods, Palm handhelds, Pocket PCs, or other devices can be loaded with podcast episodes so students can use them at their desks, on field trips, in the library, or at home.

Creating podcasts has many educational benefits. Students are able to create a product to share with a potentially world-wide audience. Their broadcasts can be attached to sites (such as discovery), or can be maintained within a local connection (Mr. Wetherhold's class).

Much like podcasts, screencasts are essentially the same except you add the element of video to the narration. This takes more time and can be a bit more complex as video streams and audio streams may not always match. However, using powerpoint along with audio streams seems to be an easy way to begin this process.