Swan, Kathleen Owen and Mark Hofer. “Trend Alert: A History Teacher’s Guide to Using Podcasts in the Classroom” (2009)

Educators often struggle to keep pace with the latest technology – including the use of podcasts in the classroom. A “podcast” is essentially a broadcast of digital files on the web that users can listen to on their computer or digital audio player. Podcasts can be automatically delivered to an iPod or computer whenever new content is available. This unique feature of podcasts frees teachers from having to surf the web to seek out new episodes. Additionally, past episodes may be accessed from the websites that serve as searchable digital archives. While this technology is still relatively new to many teachers, the authors offer multiple ways to help understand podcasts as well as strategies for creating podcasts. They suggest guidelines for podcast choice, and give their ratings (using a scoring rubric) for a large range of podcasts that may be of use to history teachers.