Podcasting - does it have any use in education?

You may have heard of Podcasting or Podcasts, sometimes associated with Apple and iTunes, students may have mentioned it, colleagues may have mentioned it, you may have heard that the BBC provides podcasts for many of its radio programmes.

So What is Podcasting?
Podcasting is the concept of regular audio files being posted online, where the audience can subscribe to the audio files and have them automatically download to their computers and even automatically sync with their media device such as an iPod. This Audio tends to take the form of monologues on a topic, interviews, recorded debates, professional and amateur, Podcasting can be seen as a personal broadcasting medium.

Where does education fit in then? Many universities are now using Podcasting as a broadcasting medium, in a concept labelled "edupods", the most common use in education so far has been to record lectures, either students or staff themselves, and have these shared/distributed by the Podcast concept.

Imagine though, being able to record interviews with topical experts and providing this information for your students. Whether out on the street, at conferences, or in the office with your colleagues.
Imagine recording sections of your own knowledge, where it is presented in an easy to access format, and provides additional information on classroom topics. Think BBC radio meets the classroom.

What if it wasn't just the lecturing staff recording these podcasts?, what if students recorded Podcasts to share with their classmates, based on their research? What if every week a student or pair of students provided a Podcast to the rest of the class via the class Podcast stream?

Wouldn't that make learning a collaborative process.

Creating Podcasts can be very simple, reasonable quality Podcasts can be created with basic equipment, a microphone, a computer, and a quiet room; or a mp3 device. If the audio is clear, and the quality of the information is good, then the Podcast is likely to work well.

Where could you use Podcasting within education?