Podcasting as Mobile Learning

Debuting as “audio-blogging” in September 2004, podcasting has evolved to a much more stalwart technology and a greater societal adoption (Geoghegan & Klass, 2005). The public awareness of podcasting was marked by the integration of podcasting into Apple’s music downloading extravaganza called iTunes® in June 2005 (Lafferty & Walch, 2006). However it was in 2006-2007 that the steep incline of adoption became obvious (Li, 2007) as the iPod® became more popular. Podcasts are digital audio files which are hosted on the Internet and published via a special scripting language. Podcasts are usually produced in a series, so that there are multiple episodes. And the scripting language, XML (Extensible Markup Language) and RSS (Really Simple Syndication), enables updates of the series to be sent to the listener’s computer or wireless device automatically (King & Gura, 2007). However, readers may ask what connection does this popular broadcasting phenomenon have to distance and online learning? Or then again, how could MP3 players, iPods®, and the movement of new media have any impact or relationship to formal and informal learning