This presentation is an excellent first introduction to podcasting. And while the making of a podcast is shown at the end of the session, participants do not sit in front of a computer to actually make a podcast. Rather, this presentation provides a fairly comprehensive overview of what a podcast is, the types of podcasts, the tools that are available (for Windows, Macs, and online) to create podcasts, and the hardware that is typically used in the creation process. Dr. Tyson also presents information about syndicating the podcast series through RSS and how to leverage the iTunes Store (Windows and Macs) for your class or school's podcasts. (This portion of the presentation can be scaled to match the technical expertise of the attendees.) A generous number of short examples are shown to illustrate how effective this technology can be as a communication and a learning tool in the school environment. This is a must-see presentation for teachers and administrators.

The workshop, Making Your First Podcast, is an excellent follow-up session in which Dr. Tyson guides participants through the making of their first podcast in a hands-on class.

While not solely for administrators, this presentation is a must-see for principals and superintendents. Dr. Tyson will guide educators through the design and implementation of MabryOnline.org, a collection of about 100 staff members blogs (from the cafeteria, media center, guidance counselors, nurse, teachers, etc.), and the school's sole web presence from 2005 through June, 2007. He discuses the impact the site has had on the local school's learning community as well as the education profession on an international level. Dr. Tyson discusses the impact of web transparency and the sense of invitation this type of web presence affords. If you are not satisfied with your school's or district's web presence, you need to learn more about the impact of school-wide blogging as an infrastructure for the participatory school.

One of the most powerful features of the podcast is subscription: the ability for end users to subscribe to a podcast series and have new episodes automatically delivered to their machines as they are published by the podcast series' creator. The subscription process is made possible through RSS, an incredibly powerful and perhaps little-understood internet technology. All of the podcasts that appear on the iTunes Store do so by using the RSS file, which "sits" on the file server that is used by the creator of the podcast series.

In this presentation Dr. Tyson will show attendees how this technology works. He will then go through the process of creating the RSS file, commonly called the index.xml file. You will actually see what an index.xml file looks like in a text editor (One is pictured in this post.), learn how to code your own index.xml file from a sample you can use as a template, and learn about some very inexpensive tools that can write this file for you. Finally, he will show attendees the simple steps used to have your podcast series appear on the iTunes Store--which is completely free of charge. Yes, you and your students' work can go into immediate global distribution!

This session is by no means "rocket science," yet it does have a higher "geek factor." Dr. Tyson says, "If I can figure all of this out on my own, anyone can learn to do it with a little bit of guidance!" However, participants who have access to a file server, have a rudimentary understanding of ftp, and are already comfortable writing basic web page html will find this session easier to understand "on first blush." Even without that background, don't immediately assume you will not understand this! Most attendees will find this session helpful in adding to their understanding of this power-packed technology!