Podcasting and Blogging in Education -- Focus Session / presented by David Staton and Edwin White (Apple Computers), January 20, 2006 at Winthrop University

• Resource Links from the presenter's page  -- including full-length presentation, creation guides and backbone guides (how to set up a server).

Summary

This 3-hour session on creating podcasts for educational contexts covered everything from deciding on content to creating, producing, metadata-tagging, and publishing a podcast. In the spirit of "go to where the students are" many different teaching scenarios in several universities -- lectures, material compilations for students etc -- reflect the growing importance of incorporating instruction into the widely used ipod. As instructional technologies evolve, the library’s information role stands to gain from plugging into ipod instruction delivery.

Historic changes in media and evolving approaches to information

Historically, behaviors toward seeking and gathering information have evolved with the major shifts in media: Newspaper --> Radio --> TV --> Talk shows (e.g. lucrative book & product promotions on talk shows) --> Internet --> Blogs/Podcasting. The internet presented "time shifting" -- no longer was information accessed "by appointment" but by user initiative. Blogging and Podcasting represents a "space shifting"; no longer is information "made" by traditional journalists and news organization, but information is made & disseminated by "citizen journalists" who post information of local interest and other topics of knowledge. In turn, traditional news organizations have taken note: most major news sites now have blogs, and CNN invites "citizen journalists" to post (on its blog) leads for CNN for journalistic follow-up. According to a recent Macworld article, "podcasting" was 2005's "word of the year, which illustrates the ever-growing prevalance of podcasts. More in Tim O'Reilly's online article "Inventing the Future".

"Alpha geeks" look for ways to innovate totally new uses for existing technologies and invent new technologies to fill gaps. "Renaissance geeks" are lifelong learners and adopters of evolving technologies. More about the ways of geekdom & cyberspace in the online article "The New Gatekeepers".

Anatomy of podcast-building

For those familiar with making computer videos, the process of building a podcast has similar drop-and-drag video/still and audio timelines and video/audio editing tools. Follow-up steps include metadata-tagging them with a user-friendly graphic user interface (GUI) for searchability, then upload to one's blog. Workflow:

• Content decisions: lectures, multimedia files (slides, movies), etc

  • Possible formats & recording locations:

    • mobile interview / portable studio

    • classroom / lecture hall

    • distance learning room / a smart classroom

• Acquiring the sound file (recording from scratch, or an existing file)

• Production (sound/video editing, style decisions such as intro/outtro)

  • file creation --> how to post/publish depends on software & platform:

    • metadata tagging the file

    • uploading the metadata-tagged file

    • RSS feed --> podcast feed

• Access ("podcatching")

• Limitations:

  • currently a problem being solved in testing: authentication to access and view content, but access can be channelled through a local proxy server for user authentication

  • no digital rights management (DRM) built in

    • this version does not have DRM, but future versions of Apple's blog/podcasting platform will eventually incorporate DRM

• Capabilities:

  • Content management

  • Repository of data on a server

  • seaarch & browse

   

• Some notes on iTunes U:

  • hosted service with integration/authentication

  • an iTunes U site can be organized any way deemed appropriate to the content

  • downloads are manual, not automatic

  • easy to publish

  • not good for large repositories

Podcost-building tools:

• Microphone (many different types, inexpensive snap-on voice recorders) -- makers of inexpensive mics: Extreme Mac, Belkin

• Audio software: Garage Band, Podcast Factory Deluxe, Audiocity, Quicktime Pro

Podcast Sites:

• Duke University's ipod initiative

• Stanford University itunes site (set up and linked as an Apple itunes store)

• Georgia College & State University's ipod site

• Journalism.org's links with tips on interviewing to get the story (and podcast) right

• Podcast Rigs, a blog devoted to podcast-building equipment

• Apple's "Podcasting in Education" site

Page last updated on Thursday May 29, 2008 04:28 PM .