Podcasting: Co-opting MP3 Players for Education and Training Purposes

Abstract

Podcasting and podcatching provide trainers and teachers with powerful, personal tools for delivering exactly the right content to learners at teachable moments—anytime, anywhere. The strength of podcasting lies in the potency of voice communication, which cuts through the dense text of the Internet and offers a human connection during distance training. In addition, podcasting offers the ability for learners to multitask and to time-shift content. Trainers, professors and librarians have already begun using podcasting for myriad training and learning situations, and new tools are making podcast production possible for novices. Copyright, security, searchability, archival, and diversity are some of the current concerns podcasters must address as they develop this new instructional avenue. Podcasting: Co-opting MP3 Players for Education and Training Purposes Podcasting is the term for creating a Web-based broadcast series that is delivered to subscribers automatically through the use of RSS (Really Simple Syndication) software. The term is a combination of two words: iPod (one brand of MP3 player) and broadcasting ( Podcasting , 2006) Podcasts are used to record and disseminate audio content. Podcatching refers to selecting and then receiving audio file subscriptions automatically. Both podcasting and podcatching are somewhat misleading terms because iPods are not essential to either process. Podcasts are received and managed by the subscriber's PC. The subscriber has the option of listening to the file at the PC or downloading the podcasts to any MP3 player, CD, or other mobile device. Many users configure their software to download podcasts automatically. The point of podcatching is to “capture audio content that appeals to one's interests” (Gordon-Murnane, 2005, p. 47). Although podcasts originated for entertainment purposes, podcasting and podcatching provide trainers and teachers with powerful, personal tools for delivering exactly the right content to learners at teachable moments—anytime, anywhere. Training and development (TD however, Smith (2005) said that people respond to voice differently than to text. He said, “Voices poke through and relieve us of an oppressive environment of text and images” (p. 32). Voice is personal, and it can bring information to life. The addition of tone to a message creates a greater personal connection. Smith also argued that storytelling is the main reason that podcasting is rocketing to popularity (p. 32). What is more personal than hearing a story precisely as the storyteller intended with the words enhanced by tempo, rhythm, pitch, accents and style? For example, one can read Isabel Allende's (2005) essay “In Giving I Connect with Others” on the NPR This I Believe website, but listening to her read it through the linked audio file is an utterly different experience. A powerful text message becomes super-charged through the addition of Allende's distinctive voice. To link this to TD Gordon-Murnane, 2005; Smith, 2005). This feature is especially helpful for participants who are absent from meetings or classes. Using an iPod or other mobile device, learners can receive all the content they need in spite of scheduling conflicts or emergencies. Weinstein (2006a) described other benefits T&D professionals can reap from the time-shift capability of podcasting. Those benefits include preparing learners for training through pre-course work, following up and reinforcing training through post-course work, as well as reaching new hires before they even start the job. Consider how giving new employees an iPod and asking them to listen to a number of short files outside of a training environment is far different from confronting them with thick, impersonal manuals to read and digest. Likewise, consider the benefits of delivering content in short bursts, rather than intensive orientation workshops. Some companies are already exploring the possibilities. For instance, Bose Corp. is using podcasts to guide new hires through a tour of the facility in Framingham , Mass. , and Capital One Financial Corp. starts new employees on an assignment using an iPod and recorded book the same day they accept a job (Weinstein, 2006a). Finally, Wilson (2006) pointed out a chemistry professor at Drexel University who has shifted his lectures to podcasts so that class time can be used for deeper learning and application. In these ways, podcasting allows trainers to expand the training experience beyond traditional boundaries of class time. These four factors—the intimacy of the voice communication, the opportunity for increased learner control, and the abilities to multitask and time-shift content—make podcasts ideal for the creative applications described above. In addition, to the instructional benefits, podcasting is not prohibitively expensive. Weinstein (2006a) said that Capital One Financial Corp. has found that if an employee listens to just six hours of content, the company breaks even on the costs of the program (p. 23).