What is podcasting?

Podcasting is a way to receive media files over the Internet. Podcasts can be audio or video files, PDFs, or other types of electronic communication. Many content providers offer podcast feeds at no cost. These feeds deliver syndicated broadcasts to your desktop. You can listen to or view these files on your computer or load them to your portable media player and take them with you.

Feeds are also known as RSS, or "Really Simple Syndication." In essence, the feeds themselves are simply web pages, designed to be read by computers rather than people.

By subscribing to podcast feeds, you are able to see when websites have added new content. You can get the latest podcast in one place, as soon as it is published, without having to visit the websites you have taken the feed from.

Getting started

All you need to get started is podcast subscription software. Once you download and install the software, simply add one of COE's podcast feeds. The podcasting software will automatically check for updates and download the files to your computer so you can load them on your MP3 player. Two popular podcast subscription software are: