Podcasting and Podcasts

As the information age increases, and the availability of content seems to grow exponentially every single day, the need for organization and selectivity of information and entertainment becomes more and more important.

The Internet has allowed exactly this kind of selectivity, except there is still a sense of you having to go out and find the information you're looking for (for example, through a search engine) and then choose from a list of related choices.

Podcasting has changed that. Podcasting lets you choose the types of information or entertainment you're interested in getting, and then it automates the process by downloading new shows as they are updated.

If you were to ask someone on the street what podcasting is, most of them will not have any idea what you are talking about.

They will ask if you said "broadcasting."

You might explain to them that it is a special audio file that you can listen to on your MP3 player. But even then you would not be doing it justice. Here are some other ways of understanding what podcasting is.

Another way to think of podcasting is like a radio program that is only about your specific interests and when you click the link or synchronize your MP3 player with your computer, it gets downloaded to you automatically.

And a third way to think of podcasting is a targeted audio program for businesses to add value to their customers and prospects, and for organizations to pass information on to their users.

However you think of podcasting, other people will still give you a funny look because it is still in its infancy. In fact, the term "podcasting" was only coined in 2004! It won’t be long, though, and everyone will be talking about it.

I've brought together some resources here, to help myself and others understand  podcasting and Podcasts.

Enjoy - Donald Trosper

Voice Casting Tips and Tricks Podcast Produced by Voices.com

UK university lectures on iTunes

University College London, the Open University and Trinity College Dublin are the first European universities to put free lecture material on iTunes.

Apple Updates Podcasting, Streaming Media Software : December 2007 : THE Journal

While this is awesome for education, and I love to see this, I am frustrated once again by Apple's closed minded thinking. I guess the more I go open source, the more this frustrates me. You have all of this awesome technology, but then you must use QUICKTIME? Arg!

Podcasts help engage students

Gotta love podcasting. In working with schools and teachers, this is an untapped area for teachers. I see a lot of possibilities here.

UC Berkeley Puts Classes On YouTube

U.C. Berkeley has been podcasting and webcasting for awhile now. They've gone the next step recently and you can now watch some 300 hours of their classes online for free on YouTube.