A 2006 Bridge Ratings study reported that “less than 20% [of users] listen to their podcast downloads on an MP3 player or other digital device. This metric has not changed since our initial study of podcast behavior in July of 2005.” In the last year, similar studies continue to challenge prevailing wisdom that podcasters are producing portable broadcasts for people on the go, but two recent updates suggest truly mobile podcasting may be closer than we think.

In September, we noted that the release of the iTunes WiFi Music Store meant that mobile nirvana was just around the corner: automatic, wireless subscriptions to podcasts and educational content downloaded directly to your portable device. Though it’s unclear when iTunes WiFi will add access to free podcasts and iTunes U content or how the iPhone would handle RSS subscriptions, the groundwork is being laid for a new way to take advantage of content on the go.

Last month a second release of even greater import to the future of mobile education came hidden in the release of Leopard Server: Apple’s new Podcast Producer. Many of us at EDUCAUSE in Seattle last month were struck by the power and simplicity of this solution for producing, processing, and publishing content from classrooms across campus.

To continue the alliterative excitement, Podcast Producer partners with the Podcast Capture program hidden in your Leopard Utilities folder. (For a glimpse of the future, launch Podcast Capture and check out the “Help” on screen capture or custom workflows.)

For educators, a solution that combines Podcast Producer in the classroom with iTunes Wi-Fi on the go could finally bring “push-podcasting” to a converged media device near you — a chance to produce and distribute content automatically. With automated encoding, podcasts could be customized with different platforms in mind, simplifying distribution of audio and video versions of the same content. In broader campus-wide deployments, additional iPhone-formatted content could capitalize on the wide screen to make screen captures and detailed bulleted slides more effective.

Apple has previously worked with partners like AT&T to improve convenience and usability through features like Visual Voicemail and seems committed to extending the visibility and access of iTunes U. We hope the arrival of push-podcasting will be another landmark in portable broadcasting — a development tailor-made for the 21st-century classroom.