“Integrating Podcasting into the Classroom

Experience“

Rick Shelton M.Ed.Assistant Coordinator for Academic

ServicesCenter for Teaching and Learning

Northeastern State University

Top 5 Reasons to Podcast

5. Your Wollensak cassette recorder finally gave out

4. Your pet has its own podcast and you don’t 3. You are not really sure why but ever since that

nice neighbor left that pod in your laundry room you just feel the need to make one yourself

2. On vacation, you read a computer manual faster than those mortals who are reading John Grisham novels

1. You already bought a Captain Kirk chair with a built-in keyboard, microphone and mouse

Overview

• How do we make sense of it all?• Netcasting in a nutshell• What’s good about it?• What’s the downside? • Three Methods

– iPod– Digital recorder – Windows Movie Maker

• The Future

Netcasting in a Nutshell

What is Netcasting?

• Netcasting, information is automatically delivered to users' desktops. 1

– The more generic term for netcasting is podcasting

– Podcasts fall into two categories• Podcasts

– Audio based presentations

• Vodcasts– Video based presentations

Content Types

• Educators can use podcasting to provide students with course materials useable anytime– Podcasts deliver course content in audio,

video, or graphic formats

• Instructor created

• Student created

• Outside resource

Instructor Created Podcasts

• Lectures

• Notices

• Examples

• Tutorials

• Shows– Interviews– News– Etc.

Student Created Podcasts

• Class projects– Philosophies– News shows– Capstone projects– Portfolios– Interviews– Reflections– Discussions/debates

Outside Resources

• Expert guest lecturers

• Commercial broadcasts

• Amateur broadcasts

• News

• Interviews

• Shows

• Etc.

Websites

• Focus on established websites– Beware of dubious websites– Try to use sites with

• .edu• .gov• .org

– .com sites are commercial– Others are personal in nature

Podcasts

• Education Podcast Network– http://epnweb.org/

• Podcasting news– http://www.podcastingnews.com/

• National Public Radio– www.npr.org

• iTunes U– http://

www.apple.com/education/solutions/itunes_u/

Podcasts

• Podcast.net– http://www.podcast.net/

• PodcastAlly– http://www.podcastalley.com/

• iPodder.org– http://www.ipodder.org/

• NASA– http://feeds.feedburner.com/brainbites/nasa

• Podcast 411– http://www.podcast411.com/

Audio Book Podcasts

• LibriVox -- Volunteer Voices, Classic Books • PodioBooks

-- New, Original Science Fiction and Fantasy • Urban Art Adventures -- Classic 'Erotic' Audio

Books

• Maria Lectrix -- Public Domain Books with Catholic Themes

• Dead White Males -- Public

How do we make sense of it all?

How do we make sense of it all?

• Technology today can quickly overtake a classroom with its complexity and the endless options available to the instructor

How do we make sense of it all?

• Develop a plan

• Stick to your basic plan

• Build in flexibility

• Technology cannot instruct

• Technology is a tool, not a solution

How do we make sense of it all?

• Use reliable sites for video and audio content

• Use content that fits the lesson

• Be sure you have the software and hardware you need

• Ask questions of your support staff

What’s Good About It?

What’s Good About It?

• “Today’s digital kids think of information and communications technology (ICT) as something akin to oxygen: they expect it, it’s what they breathe, and it’s how they live.”1 John Seely Brown

What’s Good About It?

• Emphasis is on content, not the instructor

• Increases instructor’s resources

• Students are familiar with medium

• Learning is expanded beyond the classroom in real time

• Most schools now have the needed infrastructure

What’s Good About It?

• Interactivity is increased

• Instruction on the Internet accentuates the "student as worker" and the "teacher as coach" paradigms2

• Cost-to-benefit ratio is excellent

What’s Good About It?

• Basic equipment is all that is needed– Computer– Speakers– Internet access– Media players installed

• Quicktime• Windows media player• Flash

– A projector depending on classroom or lab– Digital recorders– Digital camera– Microphone

What’s the Downside?

What’s the Downside?

• Many instructors fear technology– Feeling that students are more capable than

instructor

• You must be able to recognize good materials

• Some work is required to sort the good from the bad

• There are a lot of bad sites out there

What’s the Downside?

• Some sites may be down

• Your network may be down

• Virus threats from files

• Tendency to treat technology as the solution

• Technology choices seem overwhelming

• Information could be dated

Create Your Content

Create Your Content

• Content can be anything you like– Audio books– Music– Radio/TV type shows– Interviews

• There's no formula for creating the content• The beauty of podcasting is that your shows can

be anything that you want them to be

Create Your Audio Content

• It doesn't matter what platform or application you use to record the audio– Audacity - open source, cross-platform, free

and let's you mix together multiple files– Windows Movie Maker – installed on XP

operating systems with SP2 or greater – GarageBand - popular choice for Macintosh

based computers

Create Your Audio Content

• Save the finished audio show at maximum quality in the native format

• Convert the file to MP3 format– Increases portability

• Save your MP3 files to your web server• Test them with any MP3 player

– Files can go anywhere on your site– However you may want to put all of them into

one directory

Create Your Video Content

• Tools needed– Digital video camera– Webcam– Computer– Editing software– Speakers– Microphone

Create Your Video Content

• Plan it out– Use a storyboard– Generalized script– Develop a theme or focus

• Record your video

• Edit the video– Produce and compress

Three Methods

Three Methods

• iPod

• Digital Recorder

• Windows Movie Maker

Audio Podcasts: iPod

• With adapters you can record directly on your iPod

• Stereo and mono

• Variable quality

Digital Recorder

• Records anywhere

• Uses software to transfer to computer

• iTunes used for compression– Note: WMA files not recognized by iTunes currently

Windows Movie Maker

• Audio and video are imported

• Placed into storyboard

• Transitions and effects added

• Additional Audio added

• Produce the movie in desired format

Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker

Lets Make a Podcast

• Break up into groups of 4-5

• Discuss how an audio podcast can help inform your fellow faculty about this concept

• As a group come up with a quick discussion to record what you would want to tell them

• Record the audio

The Future

• Interactive podcasts– Vaestro– CrowdAbout– Waxxi

Vaestro

CrowdAbout

Waxxi

Other Resources

• Podcasting@the University of Wisconsin – Madison Retrieved May 20, 2006 from http://engage.doit.wisc.edu/podcasting/deliver/index.html

• Make Your First Podcast. Podcasting News. Retrieved April 16, 2006 from http://www.podcastingnews.com/articles/How-to-Podcast.html.

Questions

Reference Sources

1. Tom Sheldons Linktionary http://www.linktionary.com/n/netcasting.html2. Growing Up Digital: How the Web Changes Work, Education, and the Ways

People Learn, by John Seely Brown 3. “The Effects of Internet-based Instruction on Student Learning” - Dr. Scott B.

Wegner, Associate Professor

4. Impact of the Internet on Learning and Teaching - Hossein Arsham http://www.usdla.org/html/journal/MAR02_Issue/article01.html

Integrating Netcasting into the Classroom ExperienceTrack: Track 1 – Authoring Learning ObjectsPresenters: Richard Shelton

Borgne

This workshop will address key issues relevant to using technology intelligently in the classroom. We’ll take a brief look at the popular media of netcasting, podcasts, and vodcasts then explore their use as instructional tools and discuss ways to integrate them into the classroom to avoid problems and enhance the curriculum. The workshop concludes by creating a short group-produced podcast.