Inside this Issue
Podcasting: Experimental Narrowcasting at SPH
By Vic Divecha
Podcasting is a word for a new paradigm in media distribution which complements broadcasting: narrowcasting. Media is distributed through user subscription and is asynchronously available for consumption as compared to broadcasts, which go out to the subscribing audience at the same time. Podcasting is frequently used to find music (e.g., via Apple's iTunes service), but it can also be used to distribute other types of media files including voice recordings and video clips.
Users can subscribe to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to which media clips are automatically downloaded as new ‘episodes' become available. The clips can then be accessed on a computer or downloaded to a portable player such as an iPod for listening/viewing on the go.
Podcasting has direct applications for education. At SPH, students in the HMP Executive Master's Program are given lecture videos for distance learning, since the visual component is a pedagogical necessity. However, there is a small group of students who are eager consumers of audio versions of lecture videos. They are road-warriors, spending a major part of their working day driving or just reviewing concepts on the long commute to work. Audio CDs can serve this need, but podcasting is a potential alternative.
Distance learners are not the only potential consumers of podcasts. During the Fall 2005 semester PHLI had requests from Dr. Victor Strecher for podcasts for the residential master's students in his HBHE 600 class. Since the lectures were being videotaped, it was easy to create a podcast. Podcasts of Dr. Strecher's lecture audios were announced in early October and the subscription statistics show a steadily increasing use.
These experimental podcasts are just seeds of what could become a larger effort, such as the School of Dentistry 's project to post audio of lecture classes online.
With the announcement by Apple Computer, Inc. of the new iPod with video capabilities, content producers will be able to greatly expand their offerings. An initial review by Wired News reporter Leander Kahney has given a “thumbs up” to the usability of the new iPod's video playing abilities. The next step is look into the usability of viewing specific instructional content on a small screen. Instructors in higher education have started realizing the potential of audio re-enforcement of material as an effective learning method.
Like every technological intervention, Podcasting raised some interesting questions: Will class attendance be affected? Will students be more prone to dividing their attention in a classroom, cushioned by the fact that a podcast will be available soon? An initial survey of more than a hundred students enrolled in Dr. Strecher's class revealed that 25% of the students listen to the class podcasts, mostly before test periods and weekends, and that they report deriving an average of 85% of the of the experience of a classroom when listening in conjunction to viewing accompanying slides downloaded from CTools. Most students were using podcasts as supplementary material to the classroom experience.
A Podcast creation class is planned for Winter 2006. More information is available on our Workshops page.
References:
Cohen, J. S. Missed a class? Try a podcast . Sun Sentinel, October
20, 2005
Eisenberg, A. From Your Living Room to the World, via Podcast. The
Kahney, L. Video Podcasting is Going
to be Huge. Blog: The
Cult of Mac.
Newvine, C. iTunes
spins more than just music. The
University Record, September 26, 2005.
Software for Listening to Podcasts on the Desktop via RSS Subscription (‘Podcatchers') :
iTunes 4.9 or better
Other desktop podcatchers
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