PoducateMe: Practical Solutions for Podcasting in Education
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In Figure 4, only one episode has been downloaded (Job Search Tips for Teacher
Candidates) and the blue dot to the left of the episode indicates that the episode has not
yet been heard. Simply double-click the episode to give it a listen.
The grayed episodes have not been downloaded, but may be obtained by clicking the
Get button (A) associated with each listing in the podcast feed. Want more information
about the episode before you download it? Click the “i” button (B) associated with each
episode. If no information appears when you click this button, it means that the podcaster
has failed to put episode information or “show notes” into the feed. For shame!
Depending on your podcast settings in iTunes, new episodes will be downloaded to your
computer automatically as they are posted. You can adjust how iTunes checks for and
downloads episodes by clicking the Settings button in the bottom left corner of the iTunes
application.
The iTunes podcasts preferences pane
iTunes will not notify you when new podcast episodes are downloaded. You will need to
periodically check the podcasts area under your iTunes library for new episodes that
have been downloaded to your computer. You may also click the Refresh button in the
bottom right of the iTunes podcast window at any time to instantly check for and
download new episodes of podcasts to which you are subscribed.
Manually Subscribing to Podcasts
The podcast subscription process detailed above is pretty automated – just click the
iTunes chicklet and you’re on your way. But what if you come across a feed that doesn’t
offer an iTunes chicklet? You can still subscribe to the feed in iTunes (or any other
podcatcher). As mentioned before, if a podcast page doesn’t feature an iTunes chicklet
for feed subscription, it should display the orange feed icon or chicklet labeled with
“RSS,” “XML,” “Atom” or “Podcast.” The CareerChat page features an XML chicklet.
The XML chicklet links to the CareerChat podcast feed, which gives people who don’t
use iTunes an alternative means of subscribing. For this example, let’s say you’ve come
across a site that offers a podcast subscription, but the site displays only an XML
chicklet, such as the one featured on the CareerChat home page. In fact, go ahead and
