Podcast

PODCAST

TSL 641

Faculty of Education

WHAT IS IT?

A podcast is an audio file that you download from the Internet.

Podcasting is the publishing of audio or video via the Internet, designed to be downloaded and listened to on a portable mp3 player of any type, or on a personal computer (for example, an iPod or iRiver).

PODCASTING

Stanley (2006): “What puts podcasting apart from other ways of

delivering audio online, such as streaming, is the idea of automatically downloaded content.”

Other terms: Autocasting, blogcasting, learncasting. MMS

podcasting, mobilecasting, narrowcasting, peercasting, podstreaming, photofeed, sound seeing tour, vodcasting, voicecasting, audio wikinews andphone casting [Tynan, Colbran 2006].

USES of PODCAST

Higher Education Recording of lectures, review notes, or

preparatory materials Have students produce podcast about specific

topics of their studies Tynan & Colbarn (2006)

Identified podcast as m-learning instead of e-learning

PODCAST & ESL / ELT

Can be used creatively to encourage students to practice language outside of the classroom ESL podcast / Teacher podcast Native-English podcast / Authentic podcast Podcast for test preparation Student produced podcast

PODCAST & ESL / ELT ESL podcasts

to teach English as a second language by providing audio lessons or themes, such as"giving directions" or English idioms.

Native-English podcasts Produced for an audience that is fluent in English. Learners of English can learn the language in an authentic context

Test Preparation podcasts Many universities request that non-native speakers pass an English

test by approved examination bodies, such as IELTS and TOEFL, before they admit them.

Podcasts focusing on test preparation are available for students preparing for such tests.

Student-produced podcasts produced by the students themselves as part of a task.

PODCAST & ESL/ELT

Podcasting should not, however, be the centre of attention in an English language course.

Instead, it should be integrated into the curriculum, and, essentially, be invisible [O’Bryan, Hegelheimer, 2007].

The advantage of podcasts over other invisible tools (for example, compact discs) is their mobility.

For example, a podcast is a tool that can be used to assist with listening exercises, which is similar to the ways a compact disc or projector are tools used in the classroom.

SAMPLE PODCAST SITES

http://iteslj.org/links/ESL/Listening/Podcasts/

PODCASTING & ESL THEORIES

Here

PODCAST ACTIVITIES Use available podcasts specially made for ESL

learning Use native speakers podcast e.g. news broadcast,

lectures/talks by prominent figures

PODCAST ACTIVITIES Student produced:

Conversations / dialogue Speech Reading aloud Radio play Poem recitation Dramatic monologue Radio broadcast / show Advertisement Role – play

Oral diary Picture description Story telling Chained story telling Agony aunt – giving

advice Creating riddles Jazz chants

http://www.eslcafe.com/bookstore/jazz.html

Example

ELT Rap

PRODUCING YOUR OWN PODCAST Producing a radio- a long popular project choice, especially with

young learners. Now students have the opportunity to reach a wider audience by

offering their radio show as a podcast on the World Wide Web. One advantage of recording a show and uploading it to the Web

Students will probably take more care with the preparation, knowing that it could be potentially listened to by people all over the world.

Involve discussing and planning the contents, writing and rewriting scripts which they will revise with their classmates (and later their teacher) ensuring that the content is understandable and there are no mistakes.

Rehearse the show before finally recording it. Finally, the students can invite their family and friends to listen to

it. The fact that they have a real audience for their show should act as a great motivator

WHAT DO YOU NEEDTo be able to produce your own podcast, you require: A means of recording audio in the mp3 file format

You can do this on a PC equipped with speakers and a microphone. However, if you want to record students in your classroom, you will need a handheld mp3 player with recording facilities.

Audio editing softwareThe program Audacity is a powerful free tool that is popular with many podcasters. Although you can simply record the show in order, using a tool such as Audacity allows you to edit out the mistakes, change the order of students and add music and sound effects, creating a more professional show. Don't worry, Audacity is remarkably easy to use. You need LAME MP3 encorder

A weblogThis is your podcast's home on the Web. Here you can publish show notes to accompany the podcast.

An RSS feedA subscription feed that supports 'enclosures' is available free at Feedburner. Feedburner makes it very easy to produce the feed that people use to subscribe to podcasts. The feed is created by ticking checkboxes in a list.

Space online to store the audio filesThere are now some sites such as Our Media that offer this for free.