15 Mar, 2008
GarageBand and Audacity are both free programs that allow you to create, record, edit, and compress audio podcasts. GarageBand comes free on the Mac and Audacity is a free software program that you can download for Windows. (Links to these programs found in the right column of this blog.)
Penn State’s Educational Technology Division has created some excellent, short video screencasts detailing how to use each program. These screencasts are available as podcasts on Penn State’s iTunes U page.
To visit this page and view these screencasts, click the link below (requires iTunes installed on your computer). Screencasts are about 3 minutes in length and are enough to get you up, running and creating podcasts in no time!
Take me to Podcasting at Penn State Tutorials
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15 Mar, 2008
Do you need to capture what is happening on your computer screen for your podcast? There are a few great tools that allow you to record your screen and your voice simultaneously, great for training videos and tutorials.
Screen Recording on a Mac:
Ambrosia Software’s SnapzProX 2 Movie Capture ($69) for Mac is a lightweight program which runs in the background and can be called up at any time to record what is going on on your screen, a particular window, or your whole desktop. All movies are recorded in QuickTime format (and can be compressed later using QuickTime Pro). There is a 15 day free demo for download on their website.
Vara Software’s Screenflow for Mac ($85 for education) is a brand new tool for screen recording that offers everything Snapz Pro does, but also has more features enabling you to edit your screencasts, zoom in on certain parts of the screen, highlight areas, dim areas, and add transitions, among other things. There is a demo available on their website.
Screen Recording on a PC:
Tech Smith’s Camtasia Studio ($299) for the PC is a powerful program that allows you to record any part of your screen and (and your voice) and to edit your recordings after you complete them. Camtasia exports to multiple file formats, including iPod video, QuickTime, flash, RealMedia and others. There is a 30 day free demo available on their website.
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11 Mar, 2008
ACU is one of at least four pilot schools this year giving every incoming freshman a choice of either an iPhone or iPod Touch (see Reuters). The Mobile Learning section of ACU’s website includes great resources and inspiring visions for 21st Century Learning and is worth exploring.
Also, Apple has posted a QuickTime stream of the iPhone Roadmap March 6th Event which — about 2/3 of the way through — demos some pretty amazing applications and possibilities for the future.
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11 Mar, 2008
Apple’s QuickTime Pro is $29 and allows to you to record audio and video, and also enables you to compress and export these and other media files to various web-ready and iPod-ready formats, and works on Macs or PCs (internal or external microphone and/or internal or external webcam needed for capture). QuickTime Player is free and required to upgrade to the Pro version. The Player comes on every Mac, and on a PC when you download iTunes. If for some reason you don’t have the Player on your computer, you can download it free.
Apple has some tutorials for QuickTime Pro posted on their website:
Mac:
Creating an audio podcast with Quicktime Pro
Creating a Video podcast with Quicktime Pro
PC:
Creating an audio podcast with Quicktime Pro
Creating a Video podcast with Quicktime Pro
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27 Feb, 2008
This short 90 second clip covers how to use the Griffin iTalk to record audio on your iPod, which you can later convert to podcast ready formats. Use it to capture lectures, record interviews, discussions, forums, guest speakers, etc.
Easily Convert Voice Memos & WAV files to Podcast-ready Formats in iTunes
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25 Feb, 2008
Cell or landline, you can create a podcast on-the-go without access to a computer or other equipment. First, you visit http://drop.io to set up your account, or “drop”, as they call it.
Next, you choose a url name and a password. You are then given a unique phone number and extension to call. When you call, you are prompted to record. Later, you visit your site and there is your MP3 file, ready to listen, share, embed, or download. Very cool, and free! I have attached instructions with my sample test. Try it out!
Instructions for Using Drops
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20 Feb, 2008
If you are using Blackboard (or not) and you would like to request that an iTunes U page be created for your course, log in to Blackboard and choose the course you are teaching.
- Once in the course, find and click Control Panel on the lower left navigation box.
- In the Course Tools content box, find and click CAS iTunes U
- A message that your course has not been set up yet will appear. Hit the Submit button to make a request.
After your request has been sent, you should receive an email within 48 hours letting you know that your course has been set up. (Further instructions on what to do to add content will follow).
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19 Feb, 2008
If you are using Audacity and can’t export your project to the MP3 format, you can export it as a WAV file. WAV files are extremely large. This is fine, but if you want to upload that file to iTunes or Blackboard, you will want it to be smaller and compressed, in either AAC (m4a) or MP3 format. Here’s how you can use iTunes to accomplish this:
Convert to AAC (m4a)
- Drag the file to iTunes.
- While the file is highlighted click the Advanced menu at the top.
- Choose Convert Selection to AAC (for MP3 conversion see below)
iTunes makes a duplicate copy of it in the new format. To check the file type (since you now have the original WAV file and an AAC file with the same name, right click your file and choose Get Info. There you will see the file type and be sure you choose the converted one). You can also add information to the track, as well as podcast artwork that you have designed. Drag converted the file out of iTunes to your desktop for easy uploading.
or Convert to MP3
- Follow the directions above using the Advanced menu, but prior to doing so, go to iTunes > Preferences > Advanced > Importing
- There, change the Import Using: AAC to Import Using: MP3 Encoder
- Now when you highlight the track and choose Advanced on the top menu, you will see Convert Selection to MP3 rather than AAC.
Thanks Doug Seidler over at NESAD for pointing this out to me!
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4 Feb, 2008
[UPDATE: Suffolk University is now pursuing a university wide contract. The College will be migrated to that site, and further details will be posted as they come. In the meantime, you can already begin podcasting by requesting your course be added. To do so see related post above.]
The College of Arts and Sciences has signed a contract with iTunes University! Academic Technology is working on getting everything up and running, and shortly you will be able to access your own iTunes U page 
right within your Blackboard course! You may see a link to CAS iTunes in your control panel. Clicking that will send a request to us to create your course, and later you can access it there. We are looking forward to launching it officially and so far all the faculty and students we’ve talked to are excited as well! We will keep you posted on our progress and announce when CAS launches officially. In the meantime, please feel free to contact Michelle Bolser at CAS Academic Technology for help and assistance podcasting your course.
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28 Jan, 2008
The National Endowment for the Arts released their study last November, To Read or Not to Read. They cite startling statistics about how time spent reading is on the decline (most significantly among 15 to 24-year-olds, but also among older adults as well). In fact, there was a decline in every age group studied.While good reading and writing skills are of the utmost importance, this study provides more reason to explore new media technologies as additional pedagogical tools to enhance learning for today’s busy, mobile, networked learners.
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