In our last session, it was decided that between then and our next meeting on May 7th, we would all have a go at podcasting. Exactly what this means is unique to each individual: some participants with more advanced skills will likely be full-blown podcasters by May. Those who are newer to technology are encouraged to make an audio recording to bring along in May. It’s really important that everyone realise their is no judgment connected to these outcomes. Just as we want our students to start wherever they are, the same holds for us. It’s the individualised learning that’s important, not any comparisons or standardised expectations. Grapes, wine and sultanas are all lovely!

Overview

Here are some main pointers on creating Podcasts as well as a comprehensive tutorial for our specific purposes. Also remember the Podcast Resources page on this blog as well as many other great online guides.

Definition

Let’s start with a basic description of podcasting.

“Podcast – A Podcast is like a broadcast of media, usually audio, that nearly anyone can create. Podcasts are downloaded, usually onto Portable media device, like an iPod so they can be played back at a later date. These are great for traveling when you might not have the ability to listen to live broadcasts, like in an airplane. They are also fairly easy to create and share, so even the average user can tell a story to capture your attention and share it with the world.” from A through Z computing

We’ll start with the notion that a podcast is an audio file. This was how they began even though now many of the best podcasts are “enhanced” with images or actual video podcasts (sometimes called “vodcasts”). If you like to work with video best, begin with that, otherwise, let’s record some audio.

PC / Windows

Most beginning podcasters on Windows machines use free software called Audacity. It works fine for the purpose of recording your voice.

Jason Van Orden presents great support from his site “How to Podcast”. I’ve linked to what I found to be the most important guides.

Overview: Podcast Tutorial: Four Basic Steps

• How to Download and Install Audacity (get the latest stable version)
• Good flash tutorials on recording and editing with Audacity
• A note about ID3 Tags

Here are other good tutorials for people using Audacity.

• Creating a Podcast with Audacity on a Windows PC – from PennState (video)
• Audacity Tutorial – from Guides-and-Tutorials

Macintosh

You could use the same software and tutorials above for Audacity as it is cross platform, but the software on a Mac is far easier and powerful, so let’s use that. Here are a few online guides:

• Podcasting with QuickTime Pro (pdf)
• Podcasting with QuickTime Pro from Apple
• Recording your Podcast with Garageband from Apple
• Podcasting with Garageband 3 – from Lynda.com – great movie tutorials
• Creating a Podcast with Garageband – from PennState (both video & complete pdf)

Uploading your audio file

Download this tutorial, to add a link to an audio file within a blog post like this: Bright Ideas for Education Intro. You could also get a podcast icon from this page (or another) so that you have an image to signal a linked podcast file to your visitors.

Thinking About Content

Again, Jason Van Orden does a great job helping us think about what we should actually podcast about and how to organise it. Look through these link and consider making this a class activity where students participate in the overall design of a program.

• Choosing a Topic for Your Podcast
• Choosing a Format for Your Podcast

Just to get the creative juices flowing, here are some possible topics:

• “A Day I grew Up”
• Our Real World Heroes
• Famous speeches that changed the world
• “Books on Tape” for the visually impaired or younger learners
• Radio Program (like the ABC’s Encounter, Background Briefing, etc.)
• Public Service Campaigns like World Vision’s Stir Your World or Connect
• Music Video
• Mashup like these Imagines (audio / video)
• Museum Tour
• ??

Use the Comments on this post to ask questions, share resources or announce your podcast.