What is a Podcast?

A podcast - or course cast as it is sometimes called at a university - is a digital audio recording of a regular course lecture posted to an online site or service for download. Students may then retrieve these digital lectures and play them back, either on a computer or from a portable MP3 player, at their convenience.

Course podcasting has proven to be a very popular service at universities that offer it. Students with access to online course recordings can now review lecture material whenever and where ever it suits them best.

Tulane's program is just getting uderway. Some instructors are already podcasting, but there's room for many more. If you feel you and your fellow students would benefit from online course recordings, encourage your professor to look into Tulane eNotes.

Downloading and Listening

Tulane is currently using three different podcasting services to deliver course lectures. All of the serrvices use MP3 files for audio playback, though you may occasionally find other file types available for download as well. Which service your professor uses depends on which features he or she finds important. You can connect to any of the services from the Tulane eNotes main page: enotes.tulane.edu.

Tulane eNotes - Although the overall Tulane podcast/coursecast initiaitve is called eNotes, it's also the term for one of the three course podcast services. All course podcasts listed in Tulane eNotes are open and available to anyone. No login is necessary for eNotes access.

myTulane - Your professor can load podcast episodes into a myTulane course. As with any file associated with a myTulane course, you need to be a member of the class to view the file.

iTunes U - The Apple iTunes Store has a section for university course content. To subscribe or download, you need to have iTunes installed on you computer and you need to have a Tulane e-mail account.

If you have any questins or problems with the Tulane eNotes site or with any of the podcasting services, please write to eNotes@tulane.edu or call the Tulane Helpdesk at 862-8888.