npr podcasts

Introduction to Podcasting - Part 1: What is Podcasting? Jim Williamson Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development What is a podcast? Why are podcasts so popular? Do I need an iPod? How does a podcast differ from streaming audio? What makes a podcast different than a radio program? How can I listen to podcasts? Where can I find podcasts? How do I create a podcast? These are some of the questions you might be asking if, like many people, you are confused about podcasting. To boil it down, a podcast is simply an audio file created along with some computer code that enables the file to be downloaded to your computer. That’s it. At its core, a podcast is just a computer audio file. Introduction 2005 may well be known as the Year of the Podcast. In a surprisingly short amount of time, the terms “podcast” and “podcasting” have burst upon our media landscape with remarkable intensity. It seems everywhere you turn these days, whether it is the website of the local newspaper, national public radio stations, or your next-door neighbor, everybody seems to be offering podcasts. It helps to think of a podcast as a radio show delivered to your computer. Like a radio show, podcasts often consist of episodes released on a regular, periodic basis or can be special, onetime events. Unlike radio, where you are limited to what the broadcaster is providing in your reception area, podcasts enable you to reach out across the geographic-boundlessness of the Internet and choose what you want to listen to, when you want to listen to it, and how you want to listen to it. Also unlike broadcast radio, podcasting can use a subscription model, enabling you to have your favorite shows automatically delivered to your computer. In this manner, podcasting has been likened to TiVo for the Internet. As websites seemed to blossom everywhere overnight, in much the same way so have podcasts. Because the technology behind podcasting is relatively simple, distribution of podcasts has Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID become a sensation. Podcasts provide traditional media another outlet for distribution and, like blogs, have also posed a populist alternative to corporate-controlled content. This article will provide an introduction to podcasting, offer some ways to get you started, give you a look into the Next Big Thing (“vodcasting,” or “screencasting”), and point you to resources for further exploration. A follow-up article will explore implications for instruction and creating podcasts for your own distribution. How Can I Get Started? Although similar to radio broadcasting, podcasting differs from traditional radio distribution because you use a computer rather than a radio, and you can: • • • subscribe to shows schedule the automatic download of these shows to your computer automatically transfer these shows to your portable digital music player. It is important to know that podcasting has no necessary connection to Apple’s popular iPod music player. The popularity of that portable music device lends its name to the podcasting phenomenon, but you do not need to own an iPod (or any portable music player, for that matter) to listen to or create podcasts. The iPod is a device; a podcast is the show. What you do need, though, is: • • • • a computer with sound capabilities podcasting software in order to subscribe to shows and schedule downloads an Internet connection, preferably fast a portable music player (optional). Because sound files tend to be large, a fast connection makes receiving podcasts far less painful than the same procedure would be over a telephone modem. Along with the computer, you need software to manage your podcasts. Just as you use a web browser like Firefox to view and bookmark your favorite websites, so too you need software to best make use of podcasting’s unique capabilities. In fact, you can get started listening to podcasts with nothing more than your browser, but to get the full benefits of podcasting you should use software designed for receiving podcasts. If your computer is always on the Internet, as with a campus connection, a DSL, or a cable modem, you can schedule automatic downloading of podcasts to your computer as they become available. Additionally, if you own a portable digital music player, such as Apple's iPod or Creative's Zen Micro, the podcasts can automatically be transferred onto the player and subsequently taken along for playback anywhere you go. Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 2 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID The fact that you download and store podcasts on your hard drive is one of the differences between podcasts and streaming audio, such as Internet radio delivered by RealPlayer. Because you do not retain the streamed audio, you cannot save it or transfer it to portable music devices. Automation, subscription, and portability are some of the key differences between podcasts and other forms of media. Podcasting leverages the power of the Internet and the computer’s automation of routine tasks to provide a wonderfully convenient way to obtain and enjoy media. The World of Podcasts As with websites, podcasts span the range of human endeavors and, like other Internet-based content, finding podcasts that suit your tastes or interests is relatively easy but finding items of worth takes a bit more perseverance and discernment. Since podcasts are similar to radio shows (or, in some cases, like NPR's podcasts, actually may be portions of or whole broadcast radio programs), new podcasts appear with some frequency. Many people jumped on the podcast bandwagon early and learned that the real force behind podcasts is not the technology, but the content, so sometimes you will run across podcasts that promise continued treasures but sputter out with only one episode. There is a reason radio professionals get paid: any person can record their voice and post a podcast, but it takes dedication, skill, and above all, something interesting to say to make a successful podcast. There is a host of podcast directories available, and many ways to reach these directories, such as with websites, specialized software for displaying podcast listings, or integrated solutions, like iTunes. Because iTunes is a full-featured application (it enables you to find, subscribe, manage, playback, and transfer podcasts to an iPod or other devices), runs on both Windows and Macintosh computers, and is freely available from Apple, we will focus on iTunes throughout this article. Fortunately, iTunes can work with portable devices other than an iPod, so if you own a different iTunes-compatible device, some of the details that follow may differ for your player. At the end of this article, though, we will point to alternative software you can use. Downloading and installing iTunes is easy, but you need version 4.9 or later to receive podcasts. As of late September 2005, the most recent version is iTunes 5.01. If you own a modern Macintosh, you most likely already have iTunes installed; just make sure to run the Software Update command (under the Apple menu) to ensure you have the most recent version. If you don't have it installed or are on a Windows machine, you can download iTunes from Apple's website (http://www.apple.com/itunes/). Installing it is very simple and can be done by following the instructions in the installer. (Note that iTunes wants to manage your music for you, and if you have existing music files on your computer, it will ask you if you want to use iTunes to manage all your music. If you already use another application to manage your music you can decline this offer. If you simply do not Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 3 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID want to use iTunes, you can find alternative podcast software choices following this article.) To begin, open iTunes and click on the Music Store. Although you do not need to purchase most podcasts, Apple's podcast directory is found within the Music Store (see Fig. 1). Figure 1: Locating the podcast directory Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 4 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID The podcast directory boasts a number of features to help you find, preview, and manage your podcasts. You can either search via keywords or browse podcasts by categories. The browsing window allows you to get a sense of how many different podcasts are available; as of this writing Apple's directory lists more than 15,000 available podcasts (see Fig. 2). Figure 2: Podcast directory The iTunes podcast browser allows you to wander through various categories and find podcasts. In the example below, we have browsed to the Higher Education subcategory and highlighted "Cornell University New Student reading Project," a podcast being offered by Michele MoodyAdams, Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and others at Cornell University (see Fig. 3). Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 5 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID Figure 3: Browsing podcasts On the right side of the "Album" column (which, granted, is an odd name for a podcast column), you will find a small arrow. Clicking this arrow will bring you to a page with more information about the selected podcast. Below is an example of a typical podcast page within iTunes. This screen provides information about the selected podcast, including: the name of the podcast; the author of the podcast; a general description of the podcast; a button to download individual episodes; a button to learn information about a specific episode; details of the podcast, such as number of episodes, category, and language; a listing of the available episodes for this podcast; and a "Subscribe" button (see Fig. 4). Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 6 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID Figure 4: Podcast details A few things to note: first, this is only the listing as in iTunes; podcasts may be cross-listed on other directories or not found in iTunes at all. There is no universal list of all podcasts. Second, the information provided about the podcasts typically comes from the authors, not from the directory host. Third, Apple's iTunes directory may not display all available podcasts for download: some podcasts have associated websites, and visiting those sites may reveal additional episodes not downloadable via iTunes. When subscribing to a podcast, iTunes presents an "Are you sure?" message. Since subscribing allows for the automatic download of the files, and since audio files can be quite large, managing your podcast files is important so that the files do not consume too much hard disk space. A little later we will take a look at how iTunes uses a number of convenient preferences to help make managing podcasts easier. When you click "Subscribe," you move to a screen similar to that shown in Figure 5. On the left side of the screen you will see that you have moved from the Music Store's podcast directory to a list of your personal podcasts. In the screen image, you will see that download indicators reveal the automatic retrieval of the subscribed podcasts has already begun: iTunes is downloading audio files from Cornell and Winecast. These files will be stored on your hard disk and added to your iTunes Library. Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 7 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID Figure 5: Subscribing to podcasts As mentioned, automatic subscription to podcasts can quickly fill up a hard drive. To make this process a bit easier to manage, iTunes has a few settings that, once set, will work transparently in the background. These settings are explored in the following three illustrations. Figure 6 shows how to set the frequency at which iTunes should check for new episodes of the podcasts you have subscribed to. Some podcasts are very infrequent, whereas some authors release new podcasts everyday. Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 8 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID Figure 6: Check for new episodes If a new episode is found, Figure 7 shows the choices available to you: Download the most recent, download all episodes, or do nothing. If you choose this last setting, recent episodes will appear in your podcast listing and you can manually download them by clicking the "Get" button. Figure 7: Controlling episode downloads The final choice is a good setting to pay attention to. This asks you to specify how many episodes you want to store on your hard drive. As you can see, there are many choices available. It is probably best not to choose "Keep All Episodes" unless you are very organized and are good about manually deleting files from your computer when you are done with them (see Fig. 8). Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 9 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID Figure 8: Storage considerations iTunes has a built-in "safety" feature that stops automatic downloads of new episodes if there are five unplayed podcasts. You can override this by manually downloading new episodes, but it does act as a nice buffer to prevent your hard drive from filling up. After you've downloaded one or more podcasts, the files can be listened to on your computer or transferred to your portable music player. With an iPod and iTunes, this is handled as with your music files: syncing your player to computer automatically moves the podcasts as it does your music files. The Next Big Thing Is Already Here Just when you feel you have podcasting under your belt however, the Next Big Thing has already arrived: video podcasting, also known as "vodcasting" or "screencasting." Video podcasting follows essentially the same process as podcasting except uses video files instead of mere audio files. iTunes can be your gateway into video podcasting, too. The steps below will show you how to find vodcasts using iTunes. To begin, navigate to the podcast directory by clicking on the Music Store then Podcasts. Enter the term "video" in the iTunes search box and hit enter. Along with the search results, you'll see that a new Search Bar has been revealed (see Fig. 9). Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 10 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID Figure 9: Search Bar Because vodcasting is relatively new, much of the polish with finding podcasts has yet to be delivered. As of now, there is no quick way to identify a vodcast from a podcast, other than the appearance of the small video icon. Sometimes choices are obvious, with titles like "Chris Daniel's Video Blog" or descriptions like "Video tutorials for the Mac or PC." The key is look for the video icon, as shown in Figure 10. Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 11 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID Figure 10: Video podcasting icon and viewer Finding video podcasts will certainly become a more streamlined process as more and more people begin producing and distributing them. As vodcasting becomes more widespread, iTunes should remain a good integrated choice because in addition to the subscription and directory features of podcasting, iTunes allows you to play the video without opening another application. And, by clicking on the video viewer in the bottom left corner, iTunes will open a large window (see Fig. 11). Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 12 Introduction to Podcasting TEC@OID Figure 11: Large video viewer I hope this article has provided you with a thorough background and practicum for understanding podcasting. A follow-up article will discuss creating podcasts and vodcasts and implications for instruction. Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 13 Introduction to Podcasting Additional Podcasting Resources TEC@OID Directories Podcast Network http://www.thepodcastnetwork.com/ "Unlike a directory, all of the content available on The Podcast Network is managed by a central production team ensuring not only the quality and consistency of the actual content itself but also of the audio quality and the other technical elements." Podcast Bunker http://www.podcastbunker.com/ "We're about Podcast Quality, not Quantity! We only list The Very Best Podcast!" NPR Podcasts http://www.npr.org/podcasts/ "NPR Podcasts include selections from Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other award-winning programs from NPR and partner organizations." Podcast Alley http://www.podcastalley.com/ "Podcast Alley is the podcast lovers portal. Featuring the best Podcast Directory and the Top 10 podcasts (as voted on by the listeners). You will also find podcast software, the podcast forum and great podcasting info." Podcast.net iPodder Vodcasts http://www.podcast.net/ http://www.ipodder.org/ http://www.vodcasts.tv/ Podcast and Vodcast Software Windows iTunes http://www.apple.com/itunes/ iPodder http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/index.php iPodderX http://ipodderx.com/ Doppler http://www.dopplerradio.net Mac iTunes iPodder iPodderX DTV Beta Other Apple http://www.apple.com/itunes/ http://ipodder.sourceforge.net/index.php http://ipodderx.com/ http://dtvmac.com/ (Full launch/Windows version "coming soon") http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93548 List of iTunes-compatible music players Teaching Enhancement Center UCLA Office of Instructional Development p. 14