Podcasting for Professors
Harvey C. Foyle
Marcus D. Childress
Emporia State University
Introduction
What do Stanford University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison have in common? They are members of iTunes® U (2007). The Apple® service iTunes U enables universities and colleges to have a variety of academic online podcasts for students, faculty, and the general public. Podcasting of multimedia content (audio, images, video, text) in the form of lectures and other educational content is available to professors today. The combination of multimedia-type radio/TV-like broadcasting and the Internet has potential for professors. Podcasts are now used, developed, and implemented for educational purposes.
Podcast Definition
“A podcast is an audio blog – you listen to it rather than read it. It’s like having your own radio show that everyone around the world can tune in to whenever they want, not just at the moment you happen to be recording or broadcasting” (Williams & Tollett, 2007, p. 5). In fact, podcasting has expanded to include video, known as a video podcast, videocast, vidcast, vodcast, video blog, or vlog. The video podcast is an audio podcast with an added video or movie clip.
Podcast Examples
One only needs to type the word podcast into a search engine to find hundreds, if not thousands, of podcasts. Most podcasts are tied to the listener’s specific areas of interest. Below are some examples of widely followed podcasts:
- This Week in Tech, a discussion about technology and innovation, is supported by such technology gurus as Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, and John C. Dvorak (TWIT, 2007).
- The Duke Digital Initiative (2007) is a university’s approach to providing a wide range of technological innovations to its students. Podcasting is one of those elements.
- The E-Learning Queen (2005), aka Susan Smith Nash, provides one example of an individual professor’s podcasts centered around educational issues. She is the associate dean of liberal arts at Excelsior College, Albany, New York.
- Bering StraitSchool District (2007). Professors of K-12 education may find the Bering Strait School District video podcast interesting.
Pederson (2007) gives a brief explanation about podcasting in education in his article in the Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Podcasting started to become useful for professors as early as 2004. Dannie Gregorie is believed to be the first person to refer to “podcaster” as a term for the specific activity in its current form (Morris & Terra, 2006). Podcasting instructions were being provided by a variety of independent users, such as Torrone (2004). Geoghegan (2004) provided equipment and software instructions that were deemed easy to work with but today would appear cumbersome. In just a few short years, podcasting has become easier and more useful for professors operating both the PC and Mac computer equipment. When a professor uses appropriate audio editing software, Web application software, and Web server hosting space, podcasts are now less problematic and even fun and enjoyable to create.
Planning the Podcast
Good organization and planning are the keys successful podcasting. Van Orden (2005) suggests that the podcaster should consider the podcast topic, format, length, and timeliness of releases. Although the term “topic” is self-explanitory, more elaboration is required regarding format, length, and frequency of release require. Van Orden (2005) recommends asking the following questions, when deciding upon the format of a podcast:
Will you be doing the podcast solo or will you have other hosts?
What segments do you want to do (e.g. tip of the day, reviews, breaking news, interviews, etc.)?
How long will your podcast be?
How often will you release new shows?
Will you just be talking or will you play music as well?
Maybe you will buck the norm and come up with something completely different? (¶1)
The length of the podcast should also be taken into consideration when planning the podcast. One might ask, “How long should my podcast last?” One answer might be, “as long as it takes to accomplish your objectives.” With that said, a good rule of thumb is to start with short podcasts, and then move to longer podcasts as podcast production and creation skills improve. Remember, until you have mastered the technique, your first two-minute podcast may take several hours to plan, create, host, and publish. Another factor when planning a podcast is the frequency of podcast releases (posts). Will new podcasts be released monthly, weekly, daily? The frequency of releases will most assuredly affect the planning of your podcasts.
Podcasting Educational Content – A Word of Caution
The first inclination of most professors integrating podcasting into their teaching is to record lectures (audio), and then make them available via podcast. Soon after this thought, the next logical statement is, “But, if I make my lectures available online, the students will stop attending my live lectures.” This raises a good point. Professors should resist the temptation of simply posting lectures before or after the class. The authors’ response to the above statement is, “If you do nothing more than lecture during your class session, then perhaps your students may be better off skipping your class and listening to the lecture podcast.” The point is, making podcasts available before and/or after class provides the professor with a wonderful opportunity to do something other than simply lecturing during class. For example, the pre-class podcast can be used not only to lecture, but to set the scene or provide a compelling introduction for a rich and engaging activity during class. Similarly, the post-class podcast can help students assimilate and explore topics that were covered during that same engaging class activity. Podcasting gives the professor an opportunity to break out of the monotonous class lecture paradigm, while addressing the mobile, multi-tasking lifestyles of the students.
Podcast Structure
Just as a network news program requires a script or a radio program requires a playlist, a top-notch podcast requires planning. And, just as good teaching requires a good lesson plan, a good instructional podcast needs structure, as well. Below, is one example of a podcast structure:
Theme Song
Introduction and Welcome
Announcements
First Segment
Second Segment
Interview with Expert
Third Segment
Review and Final Comments
Theme Song
It is important to remember that the format and content of your podcast should determine the structure, similar to the way that the objectives of a lesson influence the routine of a class session.
The Hardware
One factor that has contributed to the popularity of the podcast has been the availability of multimedia computers. Practically every desktop or laptop computer sold today has the capability to both record and playback audio. With a multimedia-capable computer and a microphone or headset, creating a podcast can be accomplished, rather easily. Although the quality of the computer is not much of an issue, the quality of the microphone or headset (headphones/microphone) can be an important factor. As a general rule, the more expensive the microphone/headset, the better the quality of the audio. The $2.00 microphone from a nearby computer retailer may not give the user acceptable audio quality. Because of the recent development of USB audio devices, the authors have concluded that a USB headset or microphone will most likely provide decent audio quality for a podcast.
Creating the Podcast
Finding appropriate software to produce podcasts may seem daunting. However, Farkas (2006) states: “Audacity is the program of choice for many podcasters, in part because it is free, but mostly because it's a fantastic, powerful, easy-to-use program. Audacity can be used to record podcasts (with an attached microphone) or to edit existing sound files" (p. 111). Available for the Mac, Windows, and Linux platforms, “Audacity is so powerful that it most likely puts a dent in the sales figures of those programs that are for sale” (p. 111). Users can download Audacity from http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/. Professors in any discipline will also find ProfCast (2005) a useful tool. ProfCast is an easy application used to create audio lectures and other content in podcast form. PowerPoint and KeyNote slide shows may also be integrated into podcasts with ProfCast.
Hosting and Publishing the Podcast
Once the podcast is created, it must now be hosted and published on a Web server. Hosting a podcast involves uploading the sound (or video) file to a Web server. This can be accomplished by using any Web server that is connected to the Internet. Most universities provide Web servers for faculty use. Check with the university’s IT department for procedures on uploading podcast (audio) files. If hosting at a university server is not a possibility, there are several alternatives. One location to publish the podcast is Libsyn(2007).The minimal cost for this service is $5.00 per month (100 megabytes storage and unmetered bandwidth/transfer). Megabytes storage refers to the available storage space for podasts (audio/video files). Bandwidth/transfer refers to the monthly transfer amount allowed for downloads by listeners (typically measured in gigabytes). Another hosting source is Podbus (2007), which costs $5.00 per month but provides more storage space (300 megabytes storage and 10 gigabytes of transfer). Yet another hosting site for podcasts (and vodcasts) is Podomatic (2007). At Podomatic.com, users can record and edit audio and/or video, and their creations are hosted free of charge. Free users are allotted unlimited storage and15 gigabytes of transfer (bandwidth) per month.
The Macintosh iLife® suite takes care of the issue of hosting. In fact, the iLife applications make it relatively easy to make audio or video podcasts (approximate cost $79). The iLife components (GarageBand, iWeb, .Mac) provide integrated start-to-finish podcasting capability (Apple Computer, Inc., 2006). Music, audio, and video editing is accomplished within GarageBand. When the podcast is completed, iWeb is opened from within GarageBand. The application iWeb, is a Web development application that readies the podcast for the Internet. With another click, iWeb will publish the podcast to an Apple .Mac account or another hosting site. The one drawback is that this is a cost item - $99.95 per year.
Conclusion
Podcasting gets simpler as each day passes. Only a few short years ago, recording audio on a personal computer was a rather cumbersome task. Only one year ago, hosting and publishing a podcast was cumbersome, as well. With the advent of software suites such as iLife, audio and podcasting applications such as Audacity and ProfCast, and free podcast hosting/publishing sites such as Podomatic, the podcaster can now spend more time planning and creating engaging content, instead of wrangling hardware and software. Additional print resources (including ISBNs) pertaining to podcast production and the integration of podcasts into teaching and learning can be found at the end of this article. Additional web resources (including web addresses) can also be found at the end of this article. The reader is encouraged to explore these important and informative books, articles, and Web sites. In the hands of a creative professor, podcasting has the possibility of becoming yet another tool in an educator’s arsenal of teaching tools.
References
Apple Computer, Inc. (2006). iLife 06. Retrieved April 11, 2007, from http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/
Bering Strait School District. (2007). Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://sbt.bssd.org/
Duke Digital Initiative. (2007). Retrieved April 11, 2007, from http://www.duke.edu/ddi/
E-Learning Queen. (2005, November 3). Why Online Collaborations Fail. Retrieved April 13, 2007, from
http://elearnqueen.blogspot.com/2005/11/why-online-collaborations-fail.html
Farkas, B.G. (2006). Secrets of podcasting: Audio blogging for the masses.
Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press.
Geoghegan, M. (2004, December 27). Podcast about the podcast. Reel reviews:
Films worth watching. Retrieved April 12, 2007, from
http://reelreviewsradio.com/archives/2004/12/27/podcast-about-the-podcast
iTunes U. (2007). Apple Education Products. Retrieved April 11, 2007, from http://www.apple.com/education/products/ipod/itunes_u.html
Libsyn. (2007). Retrieved April 11, 2007, fromhttp://www.libsyn.com/
Morris, T., & Terra, E. (2006). Podcasting for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
Pederson, C. M. (2005). Podcasting in education. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology.
Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/podcasting/start.htm
Podbus. (2007). Retrieved April 11, 2007, from http://www.podbus.com
ProfCast. (2005). Retrieved April 13, 2007, from http://www.profcast.com
Torrone, P. (2004, October 5) . Engadget podcast 001 - 10.05.2004 / How-to: Podcasting
(get podcasts and make your own). Engadget. Retrieved April 12, 2007, from
http://www.engadget.com/2004/10/05/ engadget-podcast-001-10-05-2004-how-to-podcasting-get/
TWIT. (2007). This week in tech. Retrieved April 11, 2007, from http://www.twit.tv/TWiT
Van Orden, J. (2005). How to Podcast. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/index.htm
Williams, R., & Tollett, J. (2007). Podcasting and blogging with GarageBand and iWeb. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press
Podcasting Print Resources
Apple Computer (2007). iPod in Education: The Potential for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved May 2, 2007, from
http://education.apple.com/contact_me/rethink/pd/iPod_in_Education_Whitepaper.pdf
Bryant, S. C. (2006). Videoblogging for dummies. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
ISBN 10: 0-471-97177-4
Dedman, J. & Paul, J. (2006). Videoblogging. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc.
ISBN 10: 0-470-03788-1.
Van Orden, J. (2006). Promoting your podcast: The ultimate guide to building an audience of
raving fans. N. Potomac, MD: Larstan Publishing, Inc. ISBN 978-0-9776895-5-2
Verdi, M., Hodson, R., Weynand, D., & Craig, S. (2006). Secrets of videoblogging:
videoblogging for the masses. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press. ISBN 0-321-42917-6.
Walch, R., & Lafferty, M. (2006). Tricks of the podcasting masters. Indianapolis, IN: Que
Publishing. ISBN 0-7897-3574-1
Podcasting Web Resources
Indiepodder. Podcast Directory
http://www.ipodder.org/
MacCast. For Mac Geeks, by Mac Geeks
http://www.maccast.com/
Podcast Alley
http://www.podcastalley.com/
Podcast Central
http://podcastcentral.com/
Podcast411 - Podcast directory and information
http://www.podcast411.com/
Podcasting News
http://www.podcastingnews.com/
Podcast Pickle – Podcast and vidcast community
http://www.podcastpickle.com/
Podcasting Tools - Resource for podcasting
http://www.podcasting-tools.com/
Yahoo!® Podcasts
http://podcasts.yahoo.com/ |
