the misuse of the term podcasting

While reading looking at the use of podcasting in education I have noticed there is a lot of confusion as to what podcasting is. While there is a lot of good educational uses out there a lot of the site I have come across mix up or confuse podcasting with downloaded digital audio or video files. Which also reflect on of my biggest pet peeves the current practice of the high tech marketing people tossing out a new name to a new version of an old product and marketing it as a brand new creation or misusing a term.

Podcasting is a form of broadcasting, much in the same way radio or television a work. In the case of podcasting, the video, audio, or text file is broadcast directly to a computer and not to a Television or Radio. Using podcasting (Note if Apple gets it way we might not be allowed to call it that much longer) in the classroom is fundamentally no different then having them watch a Television programme or listen to a Radio broadcast in class only they happen to be able to do it on a computer and are not set to a fixed time.

Digital Audio or Video files are essentially the computer equivalent of Video tapes, DVD, and audio tapes. Using a computer to record a story, lesson or assignment and then letting students download it from home (Assuming you have your own web server) IS NOT podcasting since there is no broadcasting going on, it is a misuse of the term. When a software programme saves the podcast as a file it is the exact same thing as recording a programme off your TV with a VCR and really not podcasting either.

a Good article on what podcasting really is