Linda's wiki notes

From OUCEL Wiki

Podcast categories

What are podcasts? The POD in Podcast stands for "Portable on Demand" While most people associate podcasts with Apple, the term is actually quite generic and can refer to any type of audio or video files that are sent out to the user as part of a subscription series. Subscribers sign up for the series and new podcasts are automatically "pushed out" to subscribers as they become available.

In order to podcast, the following minimum infrastructure must be in place:

A camera or ipod to capture the podcast An interface that allows the Professor to easily load the files online (e.g. i-tunes U) A streaming server to store and deliver the files A browser, website or Learning Management System where the students receives their files

Podcast Categories

Audio only files: In the simplest of all terms, a podcast is a short or long audio file that can be recorded on an ipod and posted on itunes u. The audio file can be a recording of an entire lecture, a reading or part of a lecture. Language and music courses can benefit from this type of podcasting.

Short raw, hand held Video files: Using a camera, preferably one with a hard drive so files can be dragged directly from the camera to the user's laptop, the podcaster records short video clips with little production value. This type of podcast can be used to record a demonstration of a difficult concept during a lecture, a summary of the weeks lectures, an introduction to the course, an introduction to the weeks lectures outlining the learning objectives for the week, an exterior video that demonstrates a real word issue, introducing the course instructors and TAs and on and on... These short videos should be no more that 4 minutes in length. Three minutes is preferable. Personally, I find this type of podcasting the most interesting. This is the type James Skidmore uses.

Lecture capture systems: Simultaneously record video, audio and the accompanying computer output from a presentation or lecture. The combined output is recorded and bundled into a packaged product that can be viewed synchronously or asynchronously on any computer with a connection to the internet. Some systems work with an appliance that can be permanently fixed to a podium or moved from room to room on a cart. The audio, video and computer output are sent to the appliance for bundling and then transferred to a streaming server for playback. Others are web based services that do not require an appliance for bundling. In either case, hosting can occur on or off site. The best systems offer simple, one-touch recording, alleviating the need for technical staff in the set up. Instructors or presenters simply plug in their laptop, “push” record and start their presentation as they normally would. The presentation is taped and a link where the presentation can be viewed is automatically sent to the presenter to be posted either in a Blackboard course or on any personal website.

Meeting Software Systems: Meeting systems are best used to interact with a small, authenticated group, while lecture captures record a lecture to be sent to a large group for viewing after the fact. Meeting system screens are generally busier than lecture capture screens as they involve chat functions, hand signals to ask questions, choices for video, audio, sharing, archiving and other functions. Furthermore, with meeting systems, the “meeting organizer” has to set the meeting and send participants a link so they can actively participate in the meeting while lecture capture systems are preset for one-touch recording. Although both lecture capture systems and meeting systems are similar in some ways and “technically” one could use a meeting system to capture a lecture, it would not be the best use for the product

I'm not sure if this is the place to add comments about what other institutions are doing about lecture capture and podcasting but here is what Western is up to. Lecture capture currently does not have much traction at Western. I know of only a few people who have raised this issue and it has not been related to capturing lectures in a typical undergraduate class. The lecture capture that has been talking about is the one off presentations -convocations, guest lecture/presentations that type of capture. As you can image, many people are wary of this technology with common criticisms: who own it?, too much work, where is the support?, why would I want to record me so that even fewer student come?, another tech toy that will break, and another tech fad. Sound familiar? Without a ground swell from faculty it won’t happen. I have to agree these concerns are real and need to be addressed.

As far as podcasting goes, there is more interest. The university has on its main page a link to a news podcast http://atwestern.typepad.com/wi5/

The ITS folks tell me that several instructors are podcasting content.

At a personal level I have been “podcasting” material for my first year Geography course for the past 3 years. My podcasts are not strictly podcasts as I do not RSS feed the material. I capture audio and post it to my course’s webct site using a very simple low cost process. I do this in one of two ways, as I sit in front of my Mac and record short 3-5 mins. introductions or summative conclusions to the major units in my course. These I’m fairly happy with, as I control the production. I have surveyed my class on their feelings if they find them useful etc. I presented those results at STLHE in 2007 at Edmonton and as well I talked about the process that produced these ‘podcasts’. In case you are interested I use GarageBand to edit and create the audio .mp3 files. (gotta love GarageBand) The second way that I have used podcasts, is to capture my lectures. I did this for the first time last year. I captured the audio during my lecture using a 60GB ipod with a ITalk microphone that connects to the ipod. This will capture 3 hours of my lecture at high quality and does sound very good. (the whole thing sits in my shirt pocket) The problem is what to do with a very large file? I then edit the file down into something shorter. How short? – it varies. One was 1.5 hours long, most 20 -30 minutes. The problem is editing it down as that takes time, time, time. The most successful of these have been the shorter ones. What will I do this coming year? I will continue with the short intro/conclusions to units and will rethink if I want to record the lectures and edit them. If you have questions- please ask. Kim Holland email kholland@uwo.ca