Introduction to Podcasting. Joshua Stern, PhD

Transcription

1 Introduction to Podcasting Joshua Stern, PhD

2 Millions of podcasts are currently available for free and thousands of new podcasts are created every day! What s s the big deal about podcasting? Why has it become so popular? Why should you get involved?

3 What is podcasting? Pod a mobile playback device such as an ipod or any other MP3 player (a laptop or desktop computer also works). Casting derived from broadcasting. Podcasting is the distribution of multimedia files, such as audio and video, over the Internet for playback on mobile devices and/or personal computers. Most podcasts are shared (syndicated) using the RSS format - Real Simple Syndication.

4 How is a podcast different from a plain old audio file? The key difference is the distribution model. Through RSS, anyone can subscribe to and catch podcasts, which will be automatically downloaded and managed by a podcatching program like itunes. Simple audio files must be found and downloaded manually by users.

5 What kinds of podcasts can I make? Lectures for students to listen to at their leisure. Guest speakers and special events. Student study guides. Supplemental materials for students. Help online students feel more connected. Ideal for Speech, ESL, Foreign Language, Physical Education and many more types of classes. Have students create their own podcasts as part of your course. Staff development and training. The possibilities are endless!

6 Why make a podcast? Students like it and are comfortable with the technology. Information comes to the students, they do not have to go get it. Audio and video files can be reused in future courses and also in i online and hybrid courses (ETUDES-NG). Ideal for audio and visual learners adds variety to your presentation strategies. Of great value to students with learning disabilities. Students can review materials/lectures as many times as they want, at their own pace. No more students missing lectures!

7 What do you need to create audio podcasts? A personal computer (Mac or PC) connected to the Internet. A microphone (built into new Macs, cheap to buy) or digital recording device. Free podcast-creation creation software (GarageBand( for Macs, Audacity or other for PCs). (You do NOT need an ipod or MP3 player to listen to or create podcasts.)

8 Step 1 before you begin Decide what you want to record. A live lecture Read from a pre-prepared prepared script Improvise from your notes or an outline Decide on a general format for your recording Intro music Introduction Segment 1, 2, 3 3 Thank you for listening Advertise your podcast Exit music Collect image files you want to use to enhance your audio podcast.

9 Step 2 live recording Open your audio recording program. Select a vocal track, press record, and begin speaking. If you make any mistakes as you speak, just keep going! Mistakes can be cut out during the editing process. Once you ve finished speaking, don t t forget to press stop. Save your recording!

10 Step 3 editing Edit out any parts of your recording track that you do not like. Add sound effects, background music, intro and exit jingles. Add images to correspond to your audio. Save after editing!

11 Typical GarageBand screenshot

12 Step 4 Publishing your podcast Select a Web server to host your podcast feed. You can easily publish directly to itunes with a.mac. account. You can publish to itunes from a PC as well, but it is more complicated. WLAC plans to support your podcasts, so soon you will not have to t worry about this step at all. A feed is Web code which communicates the location and subscription information of your podcast to the world. In other words, your podcast feed is published in RSS format which allows users to subscribe to it. If you do not care about allowing subscriptions to your podcasts,, you can instead simply upload your audio files to your Website or online course shell.

13 itunes

14 itunes For both Mac and PC users. itunes is by far the most popular hosting service, but others are available. It is FREE to upload podcasts (hosting) and download podcasts (subscribing) to your computer or mobile device.

15 Where to find (educational) podcasts Search itunes Education Podcast Network- Podcast Alley - Learning In Hand - Podcast Directory - Digg - digg.com/podcasts/view/education OpenCulture NPR - Learn Out Loud Pod Feed - Odeo - There are many other podcast directories available, just do a search for podcast directory in your favorite search engine.

16 Want to lean more? Take part in the WLAC podcasting pilot program. me and we can set up a 1-on1 on-1 1 meeting to help you get started designing, creating, and distributing your educational offers a terrific online course called Podcasting for Teaching.. The instructor led course costs ~$50; the self-paced version is free. Go to: There are lots of other free materials to help you get up to speed with podcasting. Just do an Internet search for podcast basics or podcast tutorial.

17 THANK YOU! Joshua Stern