Portable-On-Demand Broadcasts
The podcast is an acronym meaning Portable-On-Demand Broadcasts. In a school context, a podcast refers to a digital media file that can be distributed on the internet and students can download it from a school server or a website and read it or listen to it on a computer or portable MP3 player (Blogs 2006). Currently, podcasts are widely used in classrooms in many learning institutions across America.
In classroom, digital media files are distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds that allow students to subscribe, download, and then listen to these files on their MP3 players, iPods, and laptops (Richardson 2006). The media files that students can subscribe to and download through web syndication include video, audio, ePub, and PDF (Young, 2009).
Students can download podcasts manually through their web browsers. However, software designed to manage podcast subscription can automatically, detect when new episodes are available and download them for the students (Bryans, Cizadlo & Kalnbach 2006). The students then have options for viewing, listening to, and transferring the episodes of media files to a variety of media players. The students can have constant access to the podcasts by subscribing through RSS feeds (Copley 2007). According to Anzai (2007), the use of podcasts in the classroom as an educational tool is similar to other computer-based technologies.
The flexibility of podcasts allows them to be used as resources created by the teachers, resources created by the students, or projects created by others (Cebeci, & Tekdal 2006). Students in podcasting classrooms benefit from quality learning experiences through the use of web technologies. Furthermore, the teachers that use podcasts form good partnerships with the students, which fosters understanding of concepts being taught (Seitzinger, 2006).
References
Anzai, Y. (2007, October). Empowering English learning utilizing podcasts. InWorld Conference on E-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare, and Higher Education (Vol. 2007, No. 1, pp. 10-15).
Blogs, R. W. (2006). wikis, podcasts and other powerful web tools for Classrooms.Richardson, W. (2006). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful Webtools for classrooms. CA: CorwinPress.Young, J. R. (2009). When computers leave classrooms, so does boredom.Chronicle of Higher Education, 55(42), n42.
Copley, J. (2007). Audio and video podcasts of lectures for campus‐based students: production and evaluation of student use. Innovations in education and teaching international, 44(4), 387-399.
Cebeci, Z., & Tekdal, M. (2006). Using podcasts as audio learning objects.Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects, 2(1), 47-57.
Lee, M. J., McLoughlin, C., & Chan, A. (2008). Talk the talk: Learner‐generated podcasts as catalysts for knowledge creation. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(3), 501-521.
Bryans Bongey, S., Cizadlo, G., & Kalnbach, L. (2006). Explorations in course-casting: Podcasts in higher education. Campus-wide information systems,23(5), 350-367.
Seitzinger, J. (2006). Be constructive: Blogs, podcasts, and wikis as constructivist learning tools. Learning solutions e-magazine, …
