Athipathy.G and Ramaguru.

R
Kumaraguru college of technology,
Department of information technology,
athipathy24@gmail.com,
ramaguru.90@gmail.com.

Podcasting

Sharing audio and video files on the Web has been possible
for most of the last decade. Why, then, in the past two years
has podcasting exploded onto the scene and become such a
hot topic in educational technology?

How does this new technology and its widespread adoption

create new opportunities in education? Is it just a passing
trend, or is there genuine potential to improve the quality of
the educational experience and learning outcomes?

This paper attempts to answer these questions through the

exploration of educational podcasting in three realms: the creation
and distribution of lecture archives for review, the delivery of
supplemental educational materials and content, and assignments
requiring students to produce and submit their own podcasts.
 of
P activitie Podcasting
is a means
od s and of
ca equipm publishing
sti ent audio and
video
ng involve content on
is d in the web as
a podcast a series of
episodes
m ing: with a
ea common
ns File theme.
These
of Pro episodes
pu duc are
bli accompani
tion ed by a
sh file called
in P a “feed”
g that allows
odc listeners to
au subscribe
ast
di to the
o Pub series and
receive
an licat
new
d ion episodes
vi automatic

de Deliv ally.
Some
o ery people use
co and the term
“podcast”
nt Play to refer to
en back any
t distribution
of
on audio/video
th content on
e the Web,
but
w technically
eb speak-ing,
. the feed and
subscription
T model of
her file delivery
is what
e differentiate
are s
thre podcasting
from simply
e posting files
cat on the Web.
ego Think
of
ries podcasting
like rs with less general
setti regularity, categories
ng it is of
up probably
activities
an easier to
auto just write a and
mati check. equipment
c Setting involved
bank up a in
draft podcast is podcasting
to similar. : file
pay For production
bills. content
For , podcast
that is
expe publicatio
published
nses on a n, and
that regular delivery
occu basis, like and
r weekly playback.
regul homework
arly reviews, File
over the initial producti
a steps to on
prol create a Generating
onge podcast appropriate
d are and
perio worthwhil compelling
d of e because content for
time, they save a podcast is
like students typically
utilit some the most
y effort in time- and
bills, the long labor-
the intensive
run. But
initia part of the
for content
l process.
that will
work This step
only be
of includes
published
setti planning,
a few
ng writing, and
times
up a recording
during the
bank content, as
semester,
draft well as
it probably
is audio/video
makes
wort editing and
more
hwhi file
sense to
le compressio
simply
beca n.
post the
use Production
files on a
it requires
course
save recording
web site—
s hardware,
without
time like digital
the extra
and microphone
effort of
effor s and digital
setting up
t in cam-eras,
the feed
the and
and software for
long
having editing
run.
students audio
If
the
subscribe. and/or
expe There video
nse are three segments.
occu
 In nt
additi
on to ia
the
Tech te
relev nicall
s
ant y, the
audio p
f
/vide o
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e
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ate d
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n
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g
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ry
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titles, The podcast
and ff creator can
descr e write the
iptio feed
ns of
r
manually,
e or use
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ware open to the first
that new time; once
gene subscribers, the listener
the podcast has
rates
creator subscribed
the must notify
feed
to the
the
podcast,
file. audience of
they will
A the
remain
list existence
of the subscribed
of
podcast by until they
usef choose to
publiciz-
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ing the
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urces the RSS
Delivery
for feed. Many
and
creat podcasters
playback
ing post a link
When the
to the RSS
podc listener
feed on
asts adds a new
their blogs,
appe RSS feed,
Web sites,
ars or other
the
in public Web
aggregator
spaces. The downloads
the
podcast all
App
creator can episodes
endi referenced
also list
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information
current
P about the
odc podcast in RSS feed.
ast one of At regular
pub many intervals
licat directories thereafter,
ion that the ag-
The categorize gregator
audio podcasts checks the
/vide alphabetica feed for
o file lly or by updates
and topic. and
RSS downloads
The
feed any
listener is
are episodes
able to
then added
subscribe since the
poste
to the previous
d to a
podcast check.
Web
series
serve Listeners
r. For using a
can access
the podcast
podcasts
first aggregator
directly on
pod- (software
their
cast that
computers,
in a checks
or on their
series podcast
, and feeds for portable
for updates at MP3/video
ongoi specified device. For
ng intervals). those who
series This step prefer to
that is only listen on
are
porta pod-cast portable
ble aggregator devices
devic s will automatical
es, synchroniz ly.
most e with
Podcasting: Technical Components and Interactions
 lores
Is educati Podcasting
is a fairly
pod onal
new
cas podcast endeavor, so

ting ing in there are

relatively
just three
few formal
a realms: evaluations
of its
pas educational
sin Dist value at this
g ribut point in

tren ion time. Most

papers to
d, of date are
or lect optimisticall
y
is ure speculative
ther arc about the
e hiv potential
impact of
pot es podcasting
enti for on the
quality of
al revi
educational
to ew outcomes
imp and
experience,
rov Deliver but a
e y of handful of
the suppl authors are
much more
qua ement cautious
lity al about the
of educa expectations
that certain
the tional types of
edu materi podcasting
cati als
might
establish.
ona and Explorati
l conten ons of
exp t
podcasting
to date fall
erie into three
nce broad
Assig
and categories.
nmen The most
out
ts of commonly
co discussed is
stud
me creating
ent- audio or
s? video
creat
Thi archives of
ed classroom
s
pap podc lectures.
This use of
er asts podcasting
is very
exp
similar to
(or is summaries podcasts,
argua highlightin but it is
bly g important also
the information probably
same , video among the
as) reviews of most
lectur homework requested
e problems, by students
webc or relevant — and
astin podcasts easiest to
g, the produced implement.
topic by a third Podcasting
of party. is
our Finally, particularly
Janua many well suited
ry instructors as a
2007 delivery
have devel-
white mechanism
oped
paper for
assignments
. recorded
that require
The classroom
secon students to
lec-tures
d produce and because
categ submit their they occur
ory of own multiple
educa podcasts. times a
tional This type of week over
podca podcasting extended
sting is most periods of
invol useful in time. The
ves classes subscriptio
the n model of
where oral
deliv file
presentation
ery of delivery
and/or
sup- affords
plem building
maximum
ental technical
convenienc
cours competence
e for
e in pod- students,
mater casting are sav-ing the
ials. closely steps of
Suppl related to checking
emen course Web sites
tal goals. for
mater multiple
ials
Le classes to
might download
ctu
inclu files
de
res
for several
pre- times a
recor Re
week.
ded vie
w The
lectur
es minimal
Recording additional
that
and
must effort
distributin
be required
g class
acces for content
lectures is
sed in production
considered
advan and
one of the
ce of publication
most
class
predictable is another
time,
uses for reason
podc n
astin
g
of the e
publication
class
process
xi
lectu
res is
completely s
incre automated. ti
Technicall
asin
y and
n
gly
com editorially g
mon. speaking, a
Man podcasting
a class n
y
syste lecture d
often
ms w
allo requires
w much less e
users effort than ll
to creating
-
simp new
ly content d
click specificall e
a y for
butto podcasts.
fi
n to n
start e
L
and
stop e d
recor c p
ding,
with
t r
the u a
rest r c
e ti
p c
o e
d t
c o
a t
s h
ti e
n l
g a
m t
a e
t s
c t
h t
e e
s c
a h
 n class nega-tive, in
lectures for terms of
o review educational
l purposes is outcomes,
a decades- many
o old study instructors
g strategy, express
although it concern
i has
about the
e traditionall
expectations
y occurred
s primarily
that might
at the level be
of the established
a individual when
student. institutions
n make
Whether it
d is an archives
effective or available
ef-ficient for a
c strategy majority of
certainly
u factors into
lecture
courses.
r this
discussion, Findings
r but we for Digital
e have yet to Lecture
Recordings
find formal
n evaluations We refer
t indicating primarily
any to lecture
successes podcast-ing
p or failures. reports
Nonetheles from three
r s, institutions:
o podcasting the
class University
d lectures is of
u a simple Michigan
practice (UM)
c that School of
Dentistry,
t matches an
existing Harvard
and well- Extension
School, and
e defined
the
practice to
c the latest University
of
o technologi
Washingto
es and
l product n (UW). To
capture the
o ecologies.
voice of
However,
g those
podcasting concerned
i lectures is about the
e not without potential
its critics. negative
s While effects of
. studies to lecture
date have podcasting,
Re shown little we also
cordi effect, refer to
ng positive or “Socrates
in from Fast findings
Earp Capitalism from reports
ods?: . discussed in
The To a great our
Ipodi
degree, previous
ficati
these white paper,
on of
Educ lecture “Lecture
ation, podcast-ing Webcasting.
” an reports ”
articl serve to
e corroborate

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higher for students in Spring 2006 (p. 487). improve with intense repetition—like
Presumably, the more hands-on approach learning to tie surgical knots, or practic-

se ed ing the free throw in basketball. In

to class time in the second semester gave 2004,
students stronger skills and more practice Barrett and a team of researchers pub-
ss in synthesizing and applying knowledge lished the results of a study testing the
effect of intense repetition on

m as they approached the project. students’

Although the instructors do not report ability to accurately recognize different

en any formal survey data, they indicate that types of murmurs.

several students in the Spring semester Using a heart sound simulator, Barrett
“openly expressed dislike for the podcasts” and a team of researchers created audio
ts due to the “‘extra’ work outside of class recordings that represented “classical
that should have occurred in class” (p. examples” of various types of murmurs.
& 488). However, many students also
They interspersed those sounds
with

St acknowledged that this was “the most “clinically relevant comments such as the
realistic and practical class they had location, timing, and shape of that mur-
taken as undergraduates” (p. 489). mur” (p. 471). These clips were recorded
ud It is worthwhile to mention that in this onto a one-hour audio CD that included
case as well, the instructor found that 250 repetitions for each type of murmur.
ies “many (and maybe most) students elected
to watch the podcasts on their computers “[T]he
Ca at home,” rather than on the video iPods
recognition
se that were specifically provided for that of cardiac murmurs
purpose (p. 488). is a technical
skill
Listening as a Technical Skill that, like learning to
The following case study from the field tie surgical
of medical education involves the use
knots,

of audio files that were not delivered as requires repetition.”

podcasts. Nonetheless, it has received Michael J. Barrett, MD, et al.
significant media coverage as a suc-
cessful example of teaching with iPods.
Students who listened to
We include it here because it illustrates approxi-
mately 500 repetitions of each type
several important lessons about teaching of
with supplementary audio materials. murmur fared nearly three times better
Cardiac auscultation is the practice on post-tests than students in the control
of listening to the heartbeat with a group, who had only the traditional
stethoscope for diagnostic purposes. instruction. (Students in the intervention
group recognized murmurs with
Traditionally, the approach to teaching about
cardiac auscultation is a 1- to 2-hour 85% accuracy, while those in the control
group were only about 30%
lecture, sometimes accompanied by accurate.)
the opportunity for students to listen This study was released with little fanfare
to irregularities in a volunteer patient. outside the medical community.
Constraints of the physical setting and As Barrett and his research team con-
tinued their studies, students began
patient availability meant that students to
are able to listen for fewer than 2 or 3 copy the audio files from CDs onto their
minutes each. diagnosis: “iPods help doctors
The results of this approach are demon- not an intellectual theory or concept that improve
strably poor, with as few as 20% of students stethoscope skills,” “iPods are
can be taught in a standard classroom set- good
able to accurately diagnose murmurs. for your heart,” and “Study: Dr.
ting (Barrett et al., 2004, p. 470). iPod
Dr. Michael Barrett hypothesized that the He argues that these types of skills only can double successful heart-condition
approach failed because “the recognition
of cardiac murmurs is a technical skill,”
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11

Whether and This report is intended to serve as an
introduction to various educational uses
how for podcasting, and to summarize find-
podcasting ings from the limited number of formal
impacts evaluations completed to date.
educational
outcomes Podcasting does not
depends contain any inherent
largely upon value. It is only
how the valuable inasmuch as
technology it helps the instructor
is put to use.
and students reach
their educational goals.
As with any educational technology,
whether and how podcasting impacts
the quality of the learning experience
and/or educational outcomes depends
largely upon how the technology is put
to use.
Does podcasting enhance education?
The answer to that question depends
entirely on the educational context,
including goals and appropriate learning
activities, and on how the tool is imple-
mented. Podcasting does not contain any
inherent value. It is only valuable
inasmuch as it helps the instructor and
students reach their educational goals,
by facilitating thoughtful, engaging
learn-ing activities that are designed to
work in support of those goals.
References
Barrett MJ, Lacey CS, Sekara AE, Linden EA,
Gracely EJ (2004) “Mastering Cardiac
Murmurs: The Power of Repetition.” Chest
126, 470–475.
http://www.chestjournal.org/cgi/content/
abstract/126/2/470 [last access: 05.24.2007]
Barret MJ, Kuzma MA, Seto TC, Richards P,
Mason D, Barrett DM, Gracely EJ (2006) “The
Power of Repetition in Mastering Cardiac
Auscul-tation.” American Journal of Medicine
119, 73–75.
Brabazon T (2006) “Socrates in Earpods?: The
Ipodification of Education.” Fast Capitalism,
2(1).
http://www.uta.edu/huma/agger/fastcapitalism/
2_1/brabazon.html [last access: 05.24.2007]
Brittain S, Glowacki P, Van Ittersum J,
Johnson L (2006) “Podcasting Lectures.”
EDUCAUSE Quarterly, Vol. 29 No. 3, 24–
31. http://www.
educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/eqm0634.pdf
[last access: 05.24.2007]
Campbell G (2005) “There’s Something in the
Air: Podcasting in Education.” EDUCAUSE
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