Mississippi State University conducted a pilot project during the Spring 2006 semester to determine the functionality of the project. The participants included 4 instructors and 203 students. It was important the instructors each taught in a different environment and had different class sizes to fully evaluate the results. Those participating had the option to integrate their podcasts directly into their WebCT course which allowed for immediate podcast updates and the availability of direct audio from their WebCT course. The students, as well as the instructors, were able to listen to these podcasts via WebCT using the default audio player on their computer. The students were also given access to the URL for the course podcast and were able to go to iTunes- or any other podcatching software- and subscribe to their instructors podcasts and place them on their iPods (or other MP3 device) or listen to them using their podcatching software.

In addition to podcasts, instructors could also add rss feeds to their courses from pertinent sites related to their discipline using third-party software programs to generate a javascript. The rss feeds will also update daily within WebCT to provide students with the most current information available.

In this session MSU will share the results of the podcast pilot and plans of implementation to the rest of campus.