|
A way of distributing audio files and other multimedia in MP3 format over the Internet to subscribers is through podcast. The subscriber just needs the correct software that will periodically check for new episodes and automatically download them to the computer. Many people use portable audio players or iPods to listen to podcasts, but being typically MP3 files, they can played directly on the computer using software like iPodder or browsers like Firefox and Apples iTunes. There are podcasts that can be used in a classroom. LibriVox offers audio books, such as like Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice, free of charge from the public domain. Audio guides for places of interest like the Museum of Modern Art in New York can be accessed at http://mod.blogs.com/art_mobs. As is true with the Internet in general, not all podcasts are suitable as educational tools. It is advised to carefully review the content of a podcast and download them through reliable educational sources. To create a podcast, one needs a site on the Internet that will host the podcasts, a software recording program, a way for people to locate and subscribe to the podcast, and most importantly, an attention-grabbing content. Audacity and Apples GarageBand are two popular software tools for recording audio files. The telephone is an alternative recording tool, but it delivers lower-quality audio files. There are free and for-a-fee sites that offer hosting services, including Ourmedia and GoDaddy. A schools Web server is also an ideal Internet location on which to store podcast files. Lastly, podcasts need RSS capability to allow ones podcasts to be identified by subscribers. A site that offers RSS capability is FeedBurner.
|