In this blog I want to provide some interesting links to resources I found useful so far in relation to my research of podcasts.
1.
In this article from 2004, Ben Hammersley looks into the emergence of audio broadcasting on the internet. The piece is of interest as it documents the emergence of podcasts as a popular form of online broadcasting, and shows us some of the reasons why they are now so popular.
2.
The article ‘Collaboration Toolbox’ by Bob Violino, which can be found in the UL library database, looks into some of the business uses of podcasts. When read in light of the previously mentioned newspaper article, it shows how the usage of podcasting has evolved to the point where they are now used in business to deliver sales pitches and deliver CEO addresses to employees for example.
3.
On a slightly different topic, I also wanted to provide a link to the Audacity audio recorder mentioned in some earlier blogs. This can be downloaded at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/ This is easy to use and its audio files can be converted to mp3 using the Lame plugin. There are also numerous tutorials on you tube to help with any problems anyone may have have in setting this up - if so inclined.
Some Reflection.
In terms of usage, it seems that podcasting provides a good way for people to capture various forms of human communications be they broadcasts, speeches or discussions, and to deliver them on the internet for the consumption of interested listeners. Hopefully these articles shed some light on this and give clues as to how they can be effectively used in collaboration.
I will be sure to post any more interesting articles I find over the coming days.
Brian.
My team decided not to investigate podcasts, but I found your own investigation of the tool interesting. I see that you used it in tandem with Skype. Do you think it's always necessary to piggy-back podcasts on other tools, such as skype? One possible approach that occurred to me would be that a team could all listen to a particular podcast (say a keynote address), and then use another collaborative tool (e.g. discussion forums) to discuss it. In both cases though, with skype and the discussion forum, aren't these really the interactive tools rather than the podcast? Or do podcasts work as a collaborative tool by encouraging use of other tools to talk about them?
ReplyDeleteIn our team we found that podcasts do not work well as the sole means of communication in a collaborative team. Podcasts work best when used in conjenction with other tools, which is also a feature of the example you gave. Podcasts for me, provide a team with extra options. For example it might suit a team to listen to audio reports of team meetings in their car, rather than have to read through them. I agree with your comment about podcasts encouraging the use of other collaborative tools and I think that is a also good example to show how podcasts can work collaboratively.
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