(cross-posted at TechLearning)

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.”
Blanche DuBois
“A Streetcar Named Desire”

It’s been over fours years in the making, but I am publishing my 100th podcast this week at Bit by Bit. In honor of this numerical celebration, I went back and listened to Show #1: June 29, 2005. The topic of that show? Explaining what a Podcast is.

Back in 2005, I had already spent half a year podcasting with my 3rd/4th grade students for their show “Room 208″ (we have Wikpedia status!), but decided it was time to start my own podcast show. I picked June 29, 2005 to start the show because it was the day after Apple updated their iTunes software to include the Podcast channel. I state in the podcast that I believed this to be a “tipping point” date and that Podcasting was about to become a household word, known and understood by all. Here’s what Wikipedia says about it:

Version 4.9 of iTunes, released on June 28, 2005, added built-in support for podcasting. It allows users to subscribe to podcasts for free in the iTunes Music Store or by entering the RSS feed URL… The addition of podcasting functionality to such a widespread audio application like iTunes greatly helped podcasting enter the mainstream. Within days after iTunes 4.9 was released, podcasters were reporting that the number of downloads of their audio files had tripled, sometimes even quadrupled.

As I celebrate my 100th show, I think I would be hard pressed to find someone who has never heard of podcasting. A large majority of folk at least know how to subscribe to podcasts, and I believe that iTunes (Apple) is largely responsible for this. Podcasting has evolved to share the stage with Vodcasts and has become more “mainstream” as “traditional” media has taken advantage of the podcast forum (such as NPR, CNN, The New York Times). These podcasts take up a large part of the real estate on the iTunes podcast page, and are even marketed as “Featured Providers.” Even now, when giving workshops, I use these podcasts as “hooks” to get folks interested in subscribing, but hope that they continue to dig down deeper and find some of the great podcasts that are being produced by individuals without a major production budget.

The reason I started my “Bit by Bit” Podcast back in 2005 was to answer many of the emails that I was getting from other educators on the topic of podcasting. It was much more expedient than answering individual emails and helped me document and reflect on technical tricks and tips as well as purpose and pedagogy. In the early days, most of my shows explained the successes and hurdles I had experienced in podcasting with students with the goal of assisting other educators wanting to bring podcasting into the classroom. I hoped to simplify the process for educators and once the “how” of podcasting was accomplished, I centered on the “why.”

My podcasting and my career has certainly evolved over the years. I’ve shifted from the “regular” classroom to teaching in the computer lab, and though I still have students record their learning with audio, it isn’t true podcasting (since it has no RSS feed and can’t be syndicated). My own show, “Bit by Bit” has taken a back seat to the “Seedlings” podcast, which is an almost weekly live show at edtechtalk.com (through the school year) with my great friends and collaborators, Cheryl Oakes and Alice Barr. Each week, we have a new guest on to interview, and I have learned so much from them and Cheryl and Alice over the past year and a half of the show’s running. I quickly learned that podcasting with other people is much more fun than doing it by myself, and so my “Bit by Bit” podcasts are much more infrequent than the “Seedlings” show.

I still use my own podcast to reflect on my practice, though mostly, I use it now to bring subscribers recordings of great workshops and presentations that I attend. It is amazing how many people have allowed me to record their presentations and post them on the Internet. I can’t thank them enough for sharing their work freely with the world. Out of all the conferences I’ve attended over the years, I can count on one hand how many people did not grant recording permission. My own podcast show has become a conduit to share the great work that I’ve been able to attend with a much larger audience. Clearly, according to my hosting site statistics, many people have taken advantage of these offerings. Just in the past year, 469.28 GB of my site’s bandwith have been used for audio files alone (that’s 92 % of my total bandwith).

I can’t tell you how much I myself appreciate when someone has podcasted a presentation that I was unable to attend. I’ve never been to the NECC conference, but have traveled there vicariously through the great recordings that others have shared. I try to pay back the kindness of others by making sure I have my recording studio whenever I go to a conference: my iPod Nano and microphone. The entire thing fits in my pocket. As mentioned above, most presenters have granted podcasting permission. Most of my 100 podcasts are recordings of presentations from other people. They’ve been downloaded across the globe thousands of times. Honestly, they took little effort on my part. I’m just the guy holding the microphone.

So when I celebrate the 100th Podcast, I really am celebrating all of those wonderful people who have filled up my shows with amazing learning opportunities for us all. I raise my glass to them.

“Thank you!”

I was sitting with my one of my most favorite podcasters the other night: Wes Fryer. Wes has brought me some of the best professional development I’ve ever received from his own reflections and presentations, as well as the presentations of others. Wes and I had just completed a 2 day workshop at ACTEM in Maine. Over Maine Lobster and Fish and Chips, Wes and I talked about the lack of podcasting at the workshops we’ve been attending lately. To my knowledge, for instance, he and I were the only ones recording at the ACTEM workshop. We wondered why this was and lamented the lost opportunities of being able to hear presentations that we aren’t able to attend. We both agreed that we would write about this and put out a “call to arms” for folks to audio-capture conferences and workshops. I realize that not everyone has a podcast feed to attach their audio to, but there are plenty of alternatives to share the audio with the rest of the world. Back in August, I wrote an entry called “Share the Infinite” which gives some tips and ideas on how to join in on the fun.

Today I’m going to take a more direct approach with you. With the technology these days, it is incredibly simple to record and post audio of presentations. With the incredible willingness of presenters to be podcasted, there are entire libraries of material that are being lost to the ether because no one has hit the record button. I ask you —no, I beg you — to consider helping to capture all that great content in order to share it with the world. Administrators: consider providing teachers with recorders to bring to conferences and have them ask presenters for permission to record. When presenters are invited to your own districts, ask them to give permission for recording privileges. If nothing else, the audio could be shared within the district. The audio could be stored in libraries, ready for new teachers to listen to or existing teachers to re-listen to.

So, climb aboard and join the “conduit” campaign. It’s a great feeling sharing your opportunities with others and knowing that you’ve helped presenters reach more ears. I thank you and “raise my glass to you” in advance!