A few years ago, blogging gave the world the power to publish anything. Now, podcasting is giving the world a voice. For the most part, a podcast is a combination of blogging and radio talk shows. Podcasts are audio files linked through a file format called RSS (Really Simple Syndication). RSS pages are used to link and describe clusters of media. Then programs like iTunes or news aggregators such as the one in Firefox as described above, can be used to monitor and subscribe to different podcasts. So how is podcasting being used in education?
| So how is podcasting being used in online education? |
Simple, faculty members are publishing their lectures in the form of podcasts. Students can then download the podcast and listen to them on the way to work or in their spare time. Recently, Purdue University created Boilercast, a site which stores podcasts of university lectures. Stanford University has also announced that faculty can post information on Stanford on iTunes. With so much information on podcasting, it is kind of difficult to get a grasp on the subject. Fortunately, there are many podcast directories online that can be used to help you find information that you want.
• http://podcasts.yahoo.com/
• http://www.learnoutloud.com/
• http://www.techpodcasts.com/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcasting
• http://epnweb.org/
• Stanford on Itunes - See how Stanford is using podcasts
If you would like to learn more information about podcasting, contact IDEAL at ideal@bgsu.edu.
Common podcast question:
Do I need an ipod or ITUNES to listen to a podcast?
Not at all. Podcasts are simply MP3's embedded in special code that enables you to use podcatching software such as the Itunes player, Yahoo! Music Engine, JUICE, and others to download the most updated podcasts that you subcribe to right to your computer. That way you don't have to go to their website looking for updated episodes. The podcatcher automatically downloads the latest feeds. Just like the Firefox Live Book mark feature, Podcasting uses RSS technology with MP3's instead of text. If you want to take your podcast with you, any MP3 player or iPod will work. |
When most people hear the words “open-source” they immediately envision computer programmers sharing useless applications that they developed in their basements to each other. Thankfully this could not be further from the truth. In this day and age, open-source technologies are being developed by world renowned engineers and programmers at some of the most prestigious institutions in the world. Open-source is licensed software which permits the free distribution of source code to individuals interested in using or modifying the software. BGSU, along with 38 Ohio two and four year institutions, has formed a partnership with the Ohio Learning Network (OLN) to pilot several open-source technologies. For one year, the technologies will be made available within a shared environment to test and examine. Of the four open-source technologies that will be tested, the course management systems Moodle and Sakai have segregated themselves as the technologies most Ohio universities are interested in examining. To paint a clearer picture of the impact open-source has had in education it should be stated that Moodle has been adopted by over 6000 institutions and the numbers progressively increase everyday. The distance education division of BGSU, IDEAL, has been placed in charge of this momentous task and would like to extend an invitation to any and all faculty interested in examining for themselves the potential of open-source technologies. If you are a part-time or full-time faculty member who defines yourself as an innovator and understands the potential of open source technologies in academia, 