Podcasting 101: What is podcasting? : Tech ELT Blog

Posted on | February 11, 2013 | No Comments

Coming this week, a series of posts with the content from my "Podcasting 101" talk at the IH Barcelona ELT Conference last weekend. Particularly if you came, do post comments, doubts etc, and I'll be happy to clarify them?

Image from my presentation: What is podcasting?

What is podcasting?
The terms podcast and podcasting come from the combination of the words ipod and broadcast, according to wiktionary.org, which defines a podcast as "an audio programme in a compressed digital format, delivered via an RSS feed over the Internet to a subscriber and designed for playback on computers or portable digital audio players, such as the iPod".

It should however be noted that it's not necessary to have an iPod in order to be able to listen to or create podcasts.

What it involves
Essentially podcasting involves the stages outlined in the slide, above, some of which we might skip for a language classroom, where we might want to simplify the process.

1. Scripting and rehearsal
2. Recording
3. Editing which we could do if we were to download, install and configure Audacity, though personally I think it's far more productive for language learners to rehearse and re-rehearse and re-record, if necessary, rather than sit there silently editing
4. Uploading the recording to the web (though we can amalgamate Stages 2-4 into one by using a site like SoundCloud.com
5. Being found and listened to by an audience (for which iTunes is brilliant)
6. Having people subscribe to our podcast (for which we would again want iTunes)
7. Automatically "syncing" our iPod or other mobile device; having our computer download any new episodes of podcasts we've subscribed to
8. Commenting on what we've listened to on the podcast's website

From the language learning point of view Stages 1 and 8 are the most interesting as that's where the most language practice really takes place.

If we skip Stage 3, and ? to keep things private, as we should ? don't concern ourselves with Stages 5, 6 and 7, either, we're left with a simpler version of podcasting optimised for use with language learners:

1. Scripting and rehearsing
2. Recording
3. Sharing (digitally, online, preferable in a private space like Edmodo)
4. Commenting (which can be done both online and face-to-face)

Over the next week, I'll be looking at the simplest possible tools our learners could use to create their own podcasts and suggesting tasks that will ensure language learning actually takes place.

Coming next: Active or passive podcasting?

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Source: http://blogs.ihes.com/tech-elt/?p=3021

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