Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Thing #21: Podcasts

The word podcast is used to refer to an audio or video broadcast that is distributed over the internet. What differentiates a podcast from regular streaming audio or video is that the delivery method for podcasts is often done automatically through RSS.

In 2005, "podcast" was named the "word of the year" by the New Oxford American Dictionary, and with the growth of podcasting since then, it's easy to see why.

Podcasts take many forms, from short commentaries of less than one minute, to much longer recordings, such as a two-hour Monash University lecture! There's a podcast out there for just about every interest area, and the best part about this technology is that you don't have to use an iPod or mp3 player to access them. Since podcasts normally use the mp3 file format, a popular compressed format for audio files, you really just need a PC with headphones or a speaker.

iTunes, the free downloadable application from Apple, is the directory service most often used for finding and downloading podcasts, but if you don't have iTunes installed, there are still plenty of options.

For this exercise, you are asked to take a look at some popular podcast directory tools. Do some exploring on your own and locate a podcast that is of interest to you. Once found, you can easily pull the RSS feed into your Google Reader account as well, so that when new episodes become available you'll be automatically notified of their existence.

Discovery Resources:

To find out more about podcasting, watch this video:



There are many podcast directories available, including iTunes. Here are just two of the more popular ones that, unlike iTunes, don't require a software download:
- Podbean
- Podcastalley.com

Discovery Exercise:

1. Take a look at a podcast directory, either in iTunes, or another one of your choice. See if you can find a podcast that interests you.

2. Add the RSS feed for the podcast to either your Google Reader account, or to your iTunes podcast subscriptions.

3. Create a blog post about your discovery process. Did you find anything useful here?

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