iTunes offers great sites for listening to and subscribing to podcasts. It is a free download for both Mac and Windows.
You DO NOT need an iPod or iPhone to podcast.
You do need a podcatcher and the most used one is iTunes. The iPod is only if you want to have access to your computer's iTunes podcasts when you are away from your computer. The "pod" is the structure that holds your music of podcasts.
iTunes serves as a browser for sound files. It is designed similar to Internet Explorer which is a browser for websites. If you download iTunes, you can browse and subscribe to podcasts on a Windows or Mac computer.
If you want tutorials on using iTunes:
Atomic Learning has great tutorials if you are a staff member in Kerrville and have your account setup.
Apple also has some video tutorials on their site on using iTunes and the iPod.
Educational Podcasts
If you really want to take advantage of free podcasts to learn something new, go to iTunes and click on the link on the left to access iTunes Store. In the browser window, select Podcasts on the left and then choose Education for the Category. There are tens of thousands of FREE podcasts in the category of Education.
A really extraordinary set of podcasts can also be found in the category of iTunesU. This is the category of lectures and classes available from an international catalog of colleges and universities. You can watch or listen to lectures and classes online.
This is a video I found on YouTube of someone explaining how to access Educational Podcasts on iTunes and how to subscribe to them. If you want more free tutorials on using iTunes, I suggest you carefully search Google or YouTube.
Tools to Download and Use to Make Your Own Podcasts or Audio Files
For the Mac, you can use Garage Band which is in the iLife programs that come with a new Mac purchase. Garage Band will offer the easiest solution for developing audio content.
For Windows, you can download and use a free editor called Audacity. Audacity is a FREE sound editing package available to all Windows users under the GNU guidelines for creating and sharing software applications.
Audacity allows you to export sound files as MP3s, Wavs, and even MIDI formats. You may have to get some additional plugins for Audacity like WinLAME - http://winlame.sourceforge.net/ (makes the MP3 export work without error). Tutorial site for Audacity - http://aquaculturepda.wikispaces.com/podcast4 or you can use your district Atomic Learning website which also has tutorials for using Audacity.
Resources for Musicians
If you play your own instrument and are looking for a partner to jam with, check out http://musigy.com/ - where you can connect globally with other musicians and play together online.
Want to find some audio clips?
AltaVista* Audio Search Engine - Search specifically for MP3, WAV, WindowsMedia, Real AIFF, and other sound files on the Web.
FindSounds - FindSounds.com is a free site for finding sound effects and musical instrument samples on the Web. It is a Web search engine, like Google and AltaVista, but with a focus on sounds. Audio files containing obscenities are filtered out so this site is safe for children. Allows you to choose the type of sound file, the maximum file size, and more. Given any sound, FindSounds.com can automatically find similar sounds on the Web. Provides a colored wavform display for any found sound.
KidsClick: Kids' Search Tools - Several sound search engines on one page, plus special sound collections such as sounds from history, animals, the human body, and national anthems. Not just for kids! A great starting place for finding sounds.
Podscope - Podscope lets you search the spoken word for audio and video that interests you.
Singing Fish - Search for audio and video. Singingfish only indexes multimedia formats, including Windows Media, Real, QuickTime, and mp3s. Search through categories spanning music, news, movies, sports, TV and radio, and finance.
Yahoo! Audio Search - Find audio files from across the Web including music, podcasts, interviews and more.
A1 Free Sound Effects - This site is made for Internet Users who need FREE sound effects for Non-Profit Use and intend to use them in schools, churches, any home computer user, anything that will not make a profit from the use of our sounds.
If you need more sound effects or clips, I suggest you add these keywords to your search: free, music, mp3, wav, creative commons, sound clip, audio
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.