BlogDale

Today I was asked by a colleague to define podcasting. On the spot, after some mental humming and hawing I narrowed it down to being simply a broadcast on the web, an audio file placed there for download. Further to this, I suggested it ought to have rss enclosures so that podcatcher aggregators (such as Juice and iTunes) know to download it as an episode.

Here’s how Juice defines a podcast:

Podcasts are audio broadcasts created and stored digitally on the Internet. Instead of being broadcast over the airwaves once and lost, like with traditional radio, podcasts were created to be stored and played at the user’s convenience. Think of them as radio shows waiting to be downloaded.

Wikipedia is a bit more fulsome:

Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files, such as audio programs or music videos, over the Internet using either the RSS or Atom syndication formats, for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The term podcast, like ‘radio‘, can mean both the content and the method of delivery. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster. Podcasters’ web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their files; a podcast however is distinguished by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading RSS or Atom feeds.

Couldn’t have put it better myself.

But more recently podcasts have come to represent so much more than simply an audio file. As their use becomes more widespread they are becoming part of the chronicles of lives and communities; classes and schools are using them for newsletters, chronicling, reflection, collaboration and myriad other uses. On an individual level they are coming to represent a level of ICT capability that lends itself easily and directly to consideration of a real audience. Harnessing this audience-awareness is undoubtedly useful in other creativity and will give learners the chance to consider positioning their work for exactly the right audience whatever medium they use. A new literacy is developing; ias well as expression via words and pictures on the written page, information literacy skills such as video editing, soundfile production, content selection, image editing need to be passed on to learners so that they have the tools at their disposal for expression in the 21^st century so that their creative skills can be used to the full.
From an active learners’ point of view a podcast is just the end product; the hard work and the learning has gone on in the preparation and production.  Then it’s time to start the next one.