Podcasting in Plain English
Another great explanation from the folks at Common Craft. Here’s their newest one, released yesterday, “Podcasting in Plain English”:
Confessions of a Podcast Junkie: A Student Perspective
(The following was cross-posted in the blog, EdTech Bits)
What are some student perspectives on podcasting? Carie Windham, former undergraduate student, North Carolina State University, and current graduate student, University of Ulster, Northern Ireland presents her own views and experiences with podcasting as well as views from several students she interviewed in the paper: Confessions of a Podcast Junkie: A Student Perspective.
In “Confessions…”, Windham recounts her own introduction to and involvement with podcasting (and how she became a “podcast junkie”) and cites student data and interviews from University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of British Columbia, Bentley College, Duke University, and DePaul University. Some of the conclusions are as follows:
All the students identified the same benefits to podcasting technology:
• The ability to access course content on a 24-hour basis
• The chance to take their learning mobile so that listening can be done on the bus, at the gym, or on a walk between classes
• The creativity factor when making podcasts: they can present the content in a way that they choose
• The ease of access: podcasts can be easily downloaded from the Internet for free
For teaching and learning, the students saw concrete benefits to podcasting projects, especially when compared with standard modes of testing, such as writing a paper or doing a class demonstration:
• They were able to get “intimate” with course material, either by re-listening to course lectures and supplements or by teaching the rest of the class.
• They could showcase their projects to the rest of the community, expanding the reach of
the classroom to their friends or members of the community.
• They had the opportunity to review course material during pertinent moments in the semester, such as before exams or during course projects.
• They learned new technical skills, whether they were downloading files or creating new ones.Finally, all the students reported that they enjoyed their classes more because of the inclusion of podcasting, and all hoped that more faculty members would use podcasting in the future. Michael Martinez-Mann said it best when he said of podcasting: “The possibilities are absolutely limitless. If there’s an idea, there’s a way to do it.”
Some of the sections of the paper also include:
- Podcasting in the Real World: Student Use (and Misuse) of Podcast Technology
- Notes on the Go: Offering Lectures and Class Notes via Podcasting
- In Their Hands: Students as Podcast Creators
- A Microphone and an Idea: Nonacademic Podcasting on Campus
- If I Were in Charge: Tips for Faculty
Windham’s paper is informative, well-written, and entertaining, and was published in EDUCAUSE Review, Vol. 42 (May/June 2007). It also appears on the web in the resource-rich ELI Discovery Tool: Guide to Podcasting in the section “What Do Students Think?”
While whitepapers, research, and case studies are certainly useful, it’s definitely refreshing to get student perspectives directly from students in their own voices.
Related posts
Podcasting: A Teaching with Technology Whitepaper from Carnegie Mellon
The Center for Teaching Excellence at Carnegie Mellon University released a comprehensive whitepaper last summer on teaching and learning with podcasting. The whitepaper covers file production, podcast publication, and delivery and playback of podcasts, as well various case studies from 2006 and 2007 which explore the different uses of educational podcasting:
Abstract: Sharing audio and video files on the Web has been possible for most of the last decade. Why, then, in the past two years has podcasting exploded onto the scene and become such a hot topic in educational technology? How does this new technology and its widespread adoption create new opportunities in education? Is it just a passing trend, or is there genuine potential to improve the quality of the educational experience and learning outcomes? This paper attempts to answer these questions through the exploration of educational podcasting in three realms: the creation and distribution of lecture archives for review, the delivery of supplemental educational materials and content, and assignments requiring students to produce and submit their own podcasts.
Some highlights of student uses and perspectives on podcasted lectures revealed the following:
- Most students perceive lecture podcasts as a tool for review, rather than as a replacement for attending lectures
- Many students who use recorded lectures for review believe the practice has a positive impact on their performance. In a UM study, 85% of survey respondents who used the lecture archives believed it had a positive effect on exam grades
- 20% of students in the UW study listened to more than 75% of recorded lectures. In addition to picking and choosing which lectures to review, many students also scan the lectures, fast-forwarding to specific points or sections, and listening to particular portions multiple times
- The convenience of RSS subscription increases the likelihood that students download files
The paper is available for download in PDF format from Carnegie Mellon University.
Related posts
Where Are All the Honey Bees? Pedagogy and Podcasting
I recently listened to a very engaging podcast from Penn State on the educational uses of podcasting. It was delivered last summer as part of the series, “What Works in Educational Technology” by the Teaching and Learning with Technology staff. This particular 20 minute episode includes faculty interviews and explores ideas and examples for podcasting as part of the curriculum. The discussion moves from podcasting lectures to having students create informative podcasts in a science course for an active learning experience.
Last spring, a group of Penn State students (non-science majors in a science course) collaborated with their professor and created the informative Honey Bee Podcast (for bee keepers) while exploring the recently discovered phenomenon now called Colony Collapse Disorder. The public podcast grew in popularity and was ultimately cited in a testimony before the United States government on this wide-spread issue.
I highly recommend listening to the podcast for ideas, inspiration, and to learn more about the Penn State Podcasting Initiative. This episode can be downloaded from directly from iTunes U. Enjoy!
Related posts
Tips: Using the Griffin iTalk for Audio Podcasts
Faculty and staff have been using the Griffin iTalk Pro this semester with much success to record lectures and presentations. A group of students took one to El Paso, Texas, for Alternative Spring Break to record a series of interviews with Habitat for Humanity staff, local residents, and the students in the group.
While there are a couple of posts here about using an iPod with the Griffin iTalk for audio capturing, below are a few things to keep in mind to avoid snafus and to cut down or eliminate editing after you’ve recorded (although in some instances, and for more refined productions, editing will be unavoidable).
Recording:
- Be sure the iPod is fully charged and has sufficient space before using it to record.
- When the iTalk is connected, use the highest quality settings for recording so you get the highest sound quality possible.
- Be sure the device is as close as possible to the speaker.
- The iTalk captures your audio segments in clips depending on when the device is started and stopped. Use this to your advantage depending on what you are trying to capture (more below).
Lectures:
- If you are recording a lecture or class in its entirety, try not to stop and restart the device during the lecture or class. (Doing so will give you separate audio clips that you will have to connect later using an audio editing program.)
- Keep the device near-by the speaker at all times
- If there is a long introduction for a guest speaker, you may want to start the recording when the introduction ends and the speaker begins talking. Alternatively, you could record the introduction and the speaker in two separate clips just in case the introduction is something you may not want in the final production.
Interviews:
- Be sure the interviewee knows when the recording begins
- Have a list of questions ready (you may want to share these first before the interview begins). Also, engage with responses with further questions for elaboration. And let the interviewee do more of the talking.
- Make sure that the interviewer and the interviewee are in close proximity to each other and the device (for interviews on the fly and not in a formal setting, you may hold the device like a microphone and move it back and forth between persons speaking).
- If you are doing a series of interviews with different speakers that could be separate productions, stop and restart the recording so you have separate audio clips for each interviewee.
Editing and Producing:
- Editing of clips can be done in Audacity on Windows and Garageband on Macs (both free programs).
- If no editing is required, renaming, compression, conversion and adding the proper metadata to these tracks can all be done in iTunes.
- Keep in mind that all files from the iTalk recordings are large and must be compressed and converted for delivery in podcasts.
(Click the tags on the right for more posts and information on using the iTalk or for any of the topics mentioned here.)
Related posts
Tips: Using the Flip Video for Video Podcasts
The Flip Video Ultra has been a big hit among faculty, staff, and students who have used it this semester. The video and sound quality are impressive for such a small, easy to operate, uncomplicated device. So far it has been used to record short student presentations, capture video of projects, and to video short student-related events. I promised to write a little something about using the Flip Video Ultra camera for video podcasting, so here’s a brief overview of what to do and what to keep in mind when using it.
Shooting:
- The camera runs on double AA batteries, and video recording uses a lot of power, so buy rechargeables and keep some handy.
- It can record 60 minutes of video clips before it is full (this is the Ultra series only, prior models only record for 30 minutes).
- The Flip software will put your videos into separate clips based on when you start and stop the camera, so use this to your advantage.
- To capture decent audio, make sure the camera is not too far away from speakers.
- Digital zoom can become pixelated, so it’s best to move closer to the subject rather than relying too much on this feature.
- A small, portable, 10″ tripod is available for the Flip for $29 to avoid shaking and moving, and it also can be mounted to almost any other larger tripod.
Editing and Compression:
Related posts
Top Five Things to Think About for a New iTunes U Site
Today I discovered that Apple recently posted a document with the story behind the Stanford University iTunes U site with tips for schools new to iTunes U. Here’s an excerpt with things to keep in mind when starting your own site:
“Top Five Things to Think About When Starting Your Own iTunes U site:
1. Content, Content, Content
- At a university, the most important thing is substance. So make sure you cast a really broad net that draws the best intellectual content to the site. The worst thing you can do is show yourself in a way that doesn’t represent the core values of your university.
2. Stay Focused
- Start small. Don’t go into it thinking you have to change the communications landscape overnight. Just get a good, coherent, small program running. It’s better to start with a few great pieces than a lot of mediocre ones.
3. Get Support
- Enlist the support of critical allies in the university system. They could be alumni; or staff from the president’s office, the chancellor’s office, or development; or any combination thereof. It’s important to leverage the success of your iTunes U site to build awareness and get the right people on board.
4. Staff Properly
- Look to student interns for staffing options. They’re much more affordable Read the rest of this entry »
Related posts
Flip Video for Video Podcasts
Do you need to capture video for your podcast? The Flip Video Ultra pocket video camera is a perfect solution for capturing video on a shoestring budget. There are no cables, no extra pieces, and no manual required; simply start and stop recording in a snap. Then, pop out the USB arm and connect to your computer. The camera comes with software installed that lets you name, edit, mix, and compress your video clips. Watch the short video on Amazon about just how easy this camera is to use.
This is a great solution for those needing to capture short clips in the classroom or on the go. The Flip is small and lightweight, has two double AA batteries, and records up to an hour of video. The software will compress your video files to just the right size for web delivery. I’ll be creating another post in the near future with some tutorials, but for now check out David Pogue’s recent review of The Flip in the NY Times. For an entertaining Pogue-esque spin on the joys and ease of using this nifty little video camera, see the video he created (using the Flip) too!
Related posts
Using Blackboard and iTunes U
Are you using iTunes U for a course you teach or would you like to? iTunes U access is integrated into Blackboard through a Building Block from Vanderbilt University. To learn more about requesting and managing an iTunes U course page, Read the rest of this entry »
Related posts
AAC or MP3 Audio Files? The Difference.
There is some confusion over AAC and MP3 audio files. AAC is the newer format (popularized by Apple’s adoption of it in its music store) and has many advantages over the older MP3 format, including higher sound quality and smaller file size. The iTunes Music Store supports both AAC and MP3 formats. If you read up on the two, you will see that AAC is slated to replace MP3 as the most widely used format. (FYI: the MP3 extension ends in .mp3 while the AAC extension ends in .m4a)
If you have an older MP3 media player that doesn’t play AAC files but plays MP3 files, no problem! Read the rest of this entry »
Most troubles you may encounter here are usually browser related. If you experience any issues accessing or viewing the content or videos found here, or if you feel that they do not display properly in your browser, try using Firefox.
