This document provides an introduction and overview of podcasting as a Web 2.0 technology. It discusses how podcasts use syndication and XML feeds to allow audio and video files to be pushed to users through RSS feeds. This allows podcasts to be downloaded and listened to offline. A brief history of podcasting is given, noting key events and people involved in its development. Examples of common uses of podcasts like personal expression, radio stations, marketing and education are listed. The document recommends some sites for finding podcasts and podcast software.

1. Part 1: Introduction and overview

2. Web 2.0 Podcasting is part of a set of technologies that make the Web a 2-way medium. These are often called Web 2.0 (web two point oh)

3. Web 2.0 e.g. Weblogs, Wikis, commenting, conversations, social bookmarking Web 2.0 is about collaboration and sharing online

4. Web 2.0 You may have seen Google Maps, another popular Web 2.0 technology

5. Or perhaps Flickr see my photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/dkeats

6. Social bookmarking on sites such as Del.icio.us is another Web 2.0 phenomenon

7. Some of the Web2.0 memes Tim O'Reilly created a Meme map for Web 2.0. Scan it to get a sense of where podcasting fits

8. Podcast : An online radio program that you can listen to online or download onto a mobile device and listen to offline MP3 (ogg vorbis, video)

9. Podcasts can also be done with video, in which case the are sometimes called vodcasts , a silly term. I will stick with podcast to cover both audio and video. In this seminar, though, we will focus only on audio . Podcasts can also be done with video!

10. Dave Winer and Adam Curry meet in New York City 2000 MP3 players and weblogs reach critical mass 2004 iPodder application created Hundreds of thousands of podcasts online 2006 Your first podcast Podcasting added to KEWL.Nextgen 2005 History 2007 Podcasts have exploded only very recently

11. Syndication : making Web feeds available from a site in order to provide other people an updated list of content (for example latest forum postings, news, blog, podcast, etc.) Normal webpages are pull technology; podcasts are push technology made possible through syndication

13. RSS and Podcast Syndication

14. RSS Feed from KEWL.NextGen This is what an RSS feed looks like. You never need to see this, but can be useful to know what is under the hood!

15. Play Podcast in the page In KEWL and other KINKY based applications, the podcast can also be played in a web browser

16. Popup Podcast player link The link allows the file to be opened in a full online MP3 player.

17. Podcast player in KEWL.NextGen The built in MP3 (podcast) player.

19. Finding podcasts http://podcasts.yahoo.com There are a number of sites that aggregate podcasts, and make them easier to find.

20. Finding podcasts Podcasts on interesting topics!

21. Finding podcasts http://recap.ltd.uk Educational podcasts abound.

23. End for this section Derek Keats [email_address] http://ics.uwc.ac.za http://avoir.uwc.ac.za http://elearn.uwc.ac.za Visit the digital freedom exposition at http://digitalfreedom.uwc.ac.za/ Come join us for the Expo on April 19-20, 2007 at UWC. See part 2 for more on podcasting in e-learning