There has been a lot of talk lately regarding a new technology called podcasting, and people are now beginning to realize the value that podcasting can have as a teaching tool.
To that end, Penn State has developed a podcasting Web site (http://podcasts.psu.edu/) that will help faculty take full advantage of this new technology by making it easy to create and update podcasts and offer them to their students. The podcasts could include classroom lectures, additional information on a specific subject, a student driven activity, or whatever the faculty member's creativity can produce.
The site has been available since the spring 2006 semester, with classroom recording for podcasts available to a limited number of faculty participating in a controlled pilot at University Park. Faculty at all Penn State campuses will be able to post podcasts to the site beginning in fall 2006.
Podcasting, still considered to be a new technology, involves making a recording (which will become a podcast), digitizing that recording, and putting the digital file of that recording online for others to access. Using podcasting software, users may download podcasts to their computers through a subscription method called Real Simple Syndication (RSS), or they may choose to download individual podcasts without using RSS. Penn State will offer access to the free podcasting software on the podcasting Web site.
One of the big advantages of the podcast is its portability. While a student or faculty member can listen to a podcast at his or her desk via a computer, he or she can also download the podcast onto an MP3 player. This allows the user to listen to a class lecture, radio program, or broadcast event whenever and wherever he or she chooses.
Podcasting opens an entirely new way for faculty to reach students in the world of technology, where many students are comfortable. A faculty member could podcast a recording of his or her lecture for the student to revisit later or create a podcast to further explain a concept already covered in class. For example, a history professor could podcast a lecture about the Hindenburg disaster, create another podcast explaining the impact the Hindenburg crash had on German aviation, and even create a podcast of one of the original radio broadcasts describing the disaster. Later, the professor could quickly record feedback and comments regarding a class project on the disaster and deliver them to students instantaneously via another podcast.
Despite all the recent talk about podcasting in education, creating podcasts and getting them to students can still be confusing. The http://podcasts.psu.edu/ has been designed to help faculty use this new technology with ease, including tutorials in the form of audio, video, and screencasts; opportunities to attend training; and contact information for additional help.
"The buzz over podcasts in higher education is tremendous right now and it is a technology that gives faculty a new way to reach their students," said Cole Camplese, director of Education Technology Services (ETS), a unit within Information Technology Services (ITS). "We want to make sure that all Penn State faculty have the ability to create podcasts by giving them a simple, time-saving way to do it."
The design of the site makes it easy to capture, index, and share classroom events. It has an easy-to-use Web interface for submitting files, including a simple metadata entry format. Metadata is information about a file (such as titles, descriptions, course numbers, etc.) that makes it easy to find individual podcasts with a basic site search. Once a podcast is posted, it is available immediately to registered users of the site.
"The goal is to provide a suite of services that will make it easy enough for staff, teaching assistants, faculty, and students to learn how to create, post, and retrieve podcasts in less than an hour," Camplese said.