Podcasts are audio files that can be played on
computers (PCs/Macs) or downloaded onto MP3 devices like iPods as well
as other MP3 players. Although they get their name from the contraction
of the words "iPod" and "broadcasting", you don't have to have an iPod
to listen to them!
First, take a look at this video from CommonCraft
called Podcasting in plain English:
Podcasts are very flexible formats for delivering
information:
they are very portable, so you can listen to them
not only at your desktop, but also whilst out jogging or travelling.
audio podcasts are particularly useful when
listening is important e.g. in language learning.
video podcasts are very useful when observing is
important, e.g. watching how to complete a task, e.g cooking a
recipe.
Listening to audio podcasts
To listen to an audio podcast, you could
play it on an embedded player on a web page (if
available) like the one below. Click on the right arrow to start
listening to the podcast
download it manually onto a computer and either
play it on the computer (using a media player like iTunes or
transfer it to a iPod/MP3 player and listen to it there) - useful
for one-off recordings, as in this example
(where available) subscribe to the podcast feed
and receive podcasts automatically as they are produced and play
them on your computer or iPod/MP3 player as desired - useful for
podcasts produced in a regular series. You can often do this
automatically through iTunes too.
If you don't already have iTunes on your computer and
would like to try it out, follow the instructions below:
Podcasts are produced for many different purposes: to
provide both information and instruction.
In education, they are being used by professors
to deliver lecture content. This has led to the term "coursecasting".
Podcast lectures are either published at the universities concerned
or else on iTunes University - as in the following examples:
In the corporate world businesses are beginning
to create internal podcasts of executive briefings, short training
sessions for their staff as well as external podcasts about their
business as marketing and PR initiatives.
Where can you find podcasts?
If you are using iTunes, one of the easiest places to
find podcasts is on the
Apple iStore. But many others are to be found
around the web
Listen to some of the following podcasts, either using
iTunes or the embedded web player.
Podictionary
- Podictionary is the audio word-a-day. For a couple of minutes
Charles Hodgson discusses the unexpected history of words you
thought you already knew
