Using PDFs As Podcasts: The PDF Version

Welcome to the first issue, I mean episode, I mean issue... of Podcasts in Print. So which is it, a podcast episode or a print issue? You see this is a special series, Podcasts in Print, within my podcast series, iUpgrade. It's sort of confusing. Using a regular podcast RSS feed, we can actually broadcast PDFs just like we broadcast audio and video podcasts.

This special series, Podcasts in Print, is just that: a podcast series of printed material: PDFs to be exact. Each episode in this podcast series will be a print issue, a PDF. I will frequently create an audio podcast that will compliment many of the Podcast in Print episodes, I mean issues... I suppose I will just use the two terms interchangeably, because Podcasts in Print is both: podcast episodes that are print issues. Pretty cool, really.

In this very first episode of Podcasts in Print you will receive the print version of Special Delivery: The PDF Podcast. This issue is designed to introduce the whole notion of publishing PDFs as podcasts to your subscribing audience. These articles are included in this six page issue:

* The PDF Podcast

* Creating a PDF on a Mac

* Creating a PDF of a Keynote Presentation

* RSS and Your PDF

* Your Podcast Blog

* Organization Matters

This print version podcast discusses a number of reasons why you, as an educator, would want to publish a PDF as a podcast, whets your imagination with several ways PDFs as podcasts can be used in education, and describes the steps involved in connecting a PDF to a podcast RSS feed so the PDF is pushed out, special delivery, to your subscribing podcast audience.

Yes, all of the PDF documents associated with the courses you teach could be neatly filed away in iTunes by course title along with your course's accompanying audio, enhanced, screencast, and video podcasts. This will quickly become a rich and growing resource as you plan lessons next year, and the next...

Also included in this episode of iUpgrade's Podcasts in Print are some suggested strategies for keeping your podcast server organized, the step-by-step instructions for creating a PDF in any application on a Mac, considerations for setting up a blog associated with your podcast series, and some suggestions for writing that RSS feed that magically makes all of this happen through iTunes, Bloglines, etc.

Resources cited in this issue of Podcasts in Print, Special Delivery: The PDF Podcast, include:

* Adobe Acrobat Reader

* ScreenFlow

* Feeder

* flickr

* iTunes

If you do not already subscribe to iUpgrade (if you do, you automatically receive these) and wish to download this Podcasts in Print episode, Special Delivery: The PDF Podcast, just click on the icon below. The PDF will open in your browser window. You can then save it to your computer.

If you wish to subscribe to the iUpgrade podcast series in iTunes, simply click on the green and blue button at the top of the main iUpgrade page or on the bottom left of every page at drTimTyson.com.

Happy Upgrading!