Presented by Jane Cook, EASTCONN Literacy & Technology Specialist and CT Writing Project Technology Program Leader Adapted from a PowerPoint by Steve Sokoloski – K4 Tech Coordinator, Mansfield Public Schools

 An audio or video file that is broadcast over the Internet  Podcast is a compound word combining Pod from iPod with cast from broadcast = Podcast  Some people say POD is an acronym that stands for Personal On Demand or Publishing On Demand and has nothing to do with iPods  Technically, Podcasts are repeating broadcasts with episodes  Most people use the term Podcast to broadly describe any audio or video file that can be played on the Internet or on a portable player

 A microphone or video camera  A computer  A computer program that can edit audio or video files and export them

 An audio or video file (AKA Podcast)  A computer to play the file and to download the file so you can make it portable  A portable player such as an iPod or MP3 Player if you want to listen to it “offline”

 An audio or video file that you’ve created  A Web site to post your Podcast  A computer to play it  A portable player (iPod, MP3 Player) to make it mobile  An RSS/XML Feed (for updates)

 RSS is the magic of Web 2.0.  A Web site that puts out an RSS feed tells other pages that its content has been updated or changed.  When you subscribe to a site with an RSS feed you are notified when content changes.  It is a “push” technology.

 When you customize your Google News or Yahoo News page, you are choosing to “listen” to stories via RSS.  Most blog sites use RSS. If you subscribe to your friend’s blog, you’ll know when they have updated their posts.  A blog aggregator allows you to store all of your RSS feeds, e.g., iTunes is the Podcast aggregator of choice.  Firefox 2.0 and Internet Explorer 7 have built in support for RSS feeds.

 Once you begin to create Podcasts, you need a place on the Internet to post them.  Podcasts can be very large files, especially if they contain video. You may be able to post them on your school’s Web site but there may be space issues.  Mansfield Public Schools used their Town Web server to host school podcasts when they began two years ago. Now they are using Podcast People and PodBean.Podcast PeoplePodBean

 Audacity is a free open source audio editing software for creating MP3 files that works on PCs and Macs:  Download the LAME encoder to export MP3 files.  USB microphones give the best quality.  You can find intro, exit and bumper music at the Podsafe music network:  Music rights are granted under Creative Commons License and are safe to use.  Music files can be downloaded and edited into bumpers using Audacity.

 Posting on the school Web site provides them with a way to highlight info about the Podcasts.  The show notes contain links to the music, credits the kids, and provides context.  They try to make a link back to the educational objectives that each episode highlights. Technology is engaging the students in learning.  They try to keep it simple - just kids reading what they wrote or produced.  They always send a letter home letting folks know their kids are going to be on the air.

 Podcasting Podcasting   dcasting101.html dcasting101.html