Episodes | Publications | Technology used

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What is a Podcast?

A Podcast is an audio or video file that is distributed over the Internet using some type of syndication. Currently there are two popular methods for syndication RSS and Atom. The simplest way to think about syndication is to think of subscribing to a magazine. When you subscribe to a magazine it is delivered to your door every time a new issue is published. If you had not subscribed you would have had to remeber to go out and buy the latest issue. RSS is the same as a magazine subscription but you are subscribing to a website. When the website is updated you will get the new content through the RSS subscription and don't have to remember to check the website for new content. To read RSS subscriptions requires a special software program or browser plugin.

The i.t department has begun to experiment with Podcasts. This page holds the Podcasts about Instructional Technology and for speakers appearing on campus. In the future detailed documentation on creating Podcasts will also be available.

• Kauke Podcast

  The file which is linked below is an enhanced Podcast episode containing both images and audio. The episode takes you on a tour of the Kauke renovation project. You can view the episode by clicking on the words "Kauke Podcast" which should launch Apple Computer's QuickTime Player. If you do not have QuickTime Player you will need to go to the QuickTime site and follow the directions for installing the free QuickTime Player. You can also Right-click (Control-click) the link and choose to download the episode for later viewing in QuickTime Player.

  Interacting with the audio file in this manner is not taking advantage of the features of a Podcast. To do that one would need to use iTunes or other special Podcast client software which is mentioned in the Technology section

  • Kauke Podcast (This should start to play in the QuickTime plugin. If you do not have QuickTime you can get it from the QuickTime site. The movie will be small in the browser but you can right-click or control-click to download the file for larger viewing in the QuickTime Player.)

• Podcast blog

  • Speakers@Wooster

• Podcast episodes

  • RSS episode
  • Political Secrecy and Hidden Agendas, Sept 15th Forum event by John Dean.
  • Death and Taxes: The Political Economy of Ethiopian Revenue Reform, Sept. 20th Faculty at Large lecture by James Warner, Ph.D.
  • Daring to Lead: Women as Change Agents, Oct. 6th Forum event by Kavita Ramdas.
  • Globalization and Inflation, Oct. 11th James R. Wilson Lecture in Business Economics by Federal Reserve Governor Donald Kohn, Ph.D.
  • Newman on Mind and Matter in the University, Oct. 18th Faculty at Large lecture by Ronald Hustwit, Ph.D.
  • Gender, Spirituality, and the Environment, Nov. 14th Theologian-in-Residence lecture by Terry Tempest Williams
  • Designer Molecules: Modeling Mother Nature, Nov. 15th Faculty at Large lecture by Judy Amburgey-Peters, Ph.D.
  • The Vorotan Project: New Archaeological Fieldwork in Southern Armenia, Nov. 16th Archaeology Lecture Series lecture by John Cherry, Ph.D.
  • Who's Responsible for Human Rights?, Jan. 25th Great Decisions Lecture Series lecture by Erin Kelly, Ph.D.
  • Can Our Economy Remain Strong?, Jan. 31st Great Decisions Lecture Series lecture by Robert Samuelson
  • Can We Stop Genocide?, Feb. 7th Great Decisions Lecture Series lecture by Stephanie Nyombayire and Bec Hamilton
  • Wither the United Nations?, Feb. 14th Great Decisions Lecture Series lecture by James Sutterlin
  • Sex, Brains and Mice: Biological Influences on Cognitive Abilities, Feb. 21st Faculty at Large lecture by Amy Jo Stavnezer, Ph.D.
  • Will China Democratize - and Should It?, Feb. 21st Great Decisions Lecture Series lecture by Marc Blecher, Ph.D.
  • Will America Decline?, Feb. 28th Great Decisions Lecture Series lecture by David Hendrickson, Ph.D.
  • Making Stories of Our Lives: Rewriting the Mother-Daughter Plot, Mar. 28th Faculty at Large lecture by Joanne Frye, Ph. D.

• Podcast feeds

  • i.t Cast@Wooster feed
  • Speakers@Wooster feed

• Publications

  Here are some publications which discuss the use of podcasts in the classroom. They address such questions as "How do I make a podcast?" and "What does it add to the course experience for the student?"

  • PoducateMe by Micah Ovadia
  • Podcasting and the Liberal Arts by Bryan Alexander
  • Podcasting for Learning by Aixa Almonte and Kathleen Gilroy

• Technology used

  Software for producing Podcasts and RSS

  The audio file for the RSS episode was created using Audio Hijack Pro on a 12" Powerbook using an iSight camera as the microphone. Audacity could also have been used to create the audio file. After the audio file was created, Feeder was used to create the actual Podcast RSS feed which is located here. The latest version of Apple's Garageband provides a very intuitive and self-contained solution for producing an episode for a Podcast. We are also experimenting with ProfCast for producing an enhanced episode from a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation.

  Software for subscribing to Podcasts

  • iTunes is a a free application available for both Windows and OS X which will allow a user to subscribe and listen to Podcasts. A user can browse the Podcasts on the iTunes Music Store and hit the subscribe button to subscribe to a Podcast. The Wooster Podcast is called Speakers@Wooster and should be the first Podcast listed in a search for Wooster.
  • Juice is an Open Source Podcast receiver supporting multiple languages, multiple media players, and with accessibility features.
  • Transistr is another Open Source Podcast and vlog aggregator. It was known as iPodderX but is undergoing a name change. It should be available sometime in March 2006.

  or reading RSS

  • Apple's Safari browser on 10.4.* systems
  • SharpReader on a Windows XP machine
  • NewsFox extension for Firefox which will provide a cross-platform solution

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