Podcasting is going to be a great new tool for education. From pre-produced courses to live recording of in-class lessons and discussions, podcasting is a terrific way to reach students (and parents) with teachnig materials. Likewise, It would be very easy for schools (often with strapped budgets) to share content, create “best of the best” feeds of educational lessons, leverage guest speakers, share announcements and the list goes on.
As part of its Education solutions, Apple has announced the podcasting server. This is a smart step for Apple as it will empower schools to extend the Ipod market. From what I’ve read, it seems that the platform is generic enough to be accessed by end users on non-ipod devices and non-itunes aggregators (it would be a poor idea for schools to embrace Apple’s solution if that were not the case as it would exclude too many devices). It seems like a decent first step for a school district looking to use podcasting to enhance education. Likewise, it’s a win-win for kids and Apple when the teachers begin to encourage their students to purchase Ipods (“but mom, I need it for school!”).
Having said that, it seems there are other approaches that could work better for schools. One thing to consider is where schools want their podcast content to be accessed. It seems that having the server on the school’s private network would be limiting as the real advantage is in students (and parents) subscribing to content and having it delivered to their homes regularly (that’s right kids, now you can even access your lessons on weekends!). This means that the server would need to be placed outside of the school’s firewall, which can prove to be challenging for many smaller districts with limited Internet bandwidth and administrative support.
A more robust solution would be to use a hosting company external to the school. Perhaps Libsyn or aubioblog or a similar entity should create “educational” packages where schools can purchase blocks of blog accounts and media space at a reduced rate. The package could start out with a “build your blog” type wizard allowing the school to put together the right set of tools, categories, and permissions for their specific needs. This approach would eliminate administration, storage, and bandwidth concerns that most schools are too strapped to deal with anyway. For the hosting providers, it’s a no-brainer as well. A certain percent of students are going to want to keep blogging and podcasting long after they have moved on to the next grade and most would be likely to sign up with the provider with whom they are familiar.
Additional Reading: Podcasting in Education; Apple’s Podcasting In Education; Education Podcast Network; Education Podcasting
