DMP

About Podcasting

What is a Podcast?

A Downloadable Series of Media Content Files + Subscription

A podcast is a series of online audio or video files that can be downloaded using special software, like iTunes. The software “subscribes” to a podcast, using a feed (often RSS or Atom), allowing it to automatically check for, and download new episodes. The episode files can be played either on your computer, or can be transferred to a portable device (like an iPod) depending on the file format.

Podcasting has been the buzz word since 2005, when it was pronounced the word of the year.  It is especially popular for the digital native generation, who are now the majority population of higher ed students.  Schools and instructors who want to engage their students, most likely have been, or at least have considered, using podcasting in their courses.

Quick Facts

• Podcasts are different from streaming, or webcasting, as the entire media file is downloaded to the user’s computer before it can be played.
• Content can be played on the user’s computer, or transferred to a portable device, like an iPod. iPods, specifically, are not required for users to access podcasts. The ability to put a podcast on a portable device depends on what type of media files are used and what the portable device can play.

What does it mean to ‘subscribe’ to a podcast?

Think of a ‘podcast’ as you would a television show. Each podcast has multiple ‘episodes’ that are posted on a regular basis. When you ‘subscribe’ to a podcast, you are telling your software (called a podcast aggregator) to check for new episodes regularly – and to download them to your computer and/or mobile device.

Types of Content

• Audio: The ‘original’ podcast format, it is still the most common format. Currently, mp3 is the best option for audio content, since it can be played on many portable players as well as on computer software.
• Video content is more challenging and can vary between players. For example, iPods cannot play Windows Media files.
• Documents: Currently, iTunes will allow the use of PDFs and EPUB ebooks in a podcast. Some mobile devices, however, may not be able to open these types of files.

Some Uses for Podcasts

• Class Content: make audio or video of course-related content, lectures, guest speakers
• Weekly “shows”: discuss a topic, play some music, show a video
• Training: offer visual tutorials, featuring screencasts (recording your computer screen to demonstrate special software or techniques)
  
• Orientation: audio walking ‘tour’of the library, of the campus, etc.

Please keep in mind that copyright laws apply to any content that you choose to put in your podcasts, including background music, video footage, etc.

Considering Podcasting

Why should I use podcasts in my course?

Will podcasts help my students learn the course material?

• Podcasting can extend the learning experience beyond the classroom. If an instructor records and digitizes a portion of a lecture, for example, they can make it available to the students for on-demand playback from anywhere at any time via a podcast.
• Students can re-listen to the explanation of a difficult concept and take the time to understand it at their own pace.

Is using podcasting an effective way to present concepts that the students need to learn?

• In any course, typically there are difficult concepts, called instructional bottleneck or instructional challenge, that can be explained better with the aid of images/diagrams, animation/video clips, or simply by listening to the lecture repeatedly. 
• Providing some helpful diagrams, images, animations, video clips and/or narratives can help the students learn the concepts. The ability to access the media multiple times allows the student to learn through repetition.
• Podcasting is a great way to make these supplemental materials available.

As an Instructor

How will this affect my workload as an instructor?

Known time consuming areas:

1. Learning curve: Podcasting may be a new concept for you. It will be important to have a good understanding of the concept before trying to develop a podcast. Also, the technical knowledge needed to make good quality audio and video files can take some time to learn.

2. Selecting a Method: There is more than one way to do podcasting.  You may want to try the various methods to find the solution that suits you best.  In most cases, as with other technologies, the most effort is spent in trying out, learning the process, and getting comfortable with the technology.  Once this phase is passed, it may become second nature. Feel free to contact the DMP to help find a method that best suits your needs.

3. Post-production:  Your audio or video content will likely need some work after it has been recorded. The post-production phase may include things like editing, adding titles and converting to a file format that can be used for podcasting. These things tend to take more time than people think, so be sure to leave enough time for this phase.

The DMP can help you with any of these areas, as we can help to determine the best process for your podcast project.

How do other instructors incorporate podcasting in their courses?

• Hossein Rahmana, a Computer Science instructor at Ryerson, captures audio, video and slides from his class lectures to produce a podcast.  The students then can review the lecture at any time.  (See the full story on the Ryerson Website)

• Professional Communication, including instructors Isabel Pedersen and Martin Chochinov, are in the midst of running a pilot combining the use of iPods and podcast content in their courses. Their first course on iTunes U, "The Art of Podcasting" is running in Fall 2007.

Are you using Podcasting at Ryerson? Let us know how you are using it! We would love to add you to our list of great Ryerson podcasting examples!

Subscribing to Podcasts

What does it mean to ‘subscribe’ to a podcast?

• Think of a ‘podcast’ as you would a television show. Each podcast has multiple ‘episodes’ that are posted on a regular basis.
• When you ‘subscribe’ to a podcast, you are telling your software (called a podcast aggregator, or "podcatcher") to check for new episodes regularly – and to download them to your computer.

Subscribe using iTunes

The "Easy" Way...

Click ‘Subscribe’ buttons/links found next to podcast info on webpages. As long as you have iTunes installed, you will automatically subscribe to the podcast.

You can also go into the iTunes music store to subscribe to podcasts

The 'Advanced' Way...

This method isn't 'advanced' because it's hard, but because you need to use the 'Advanced' menu in iTunes to subscribe to a podcast.

1. Get the URL of the podcast (sometimes you will have to find the link or button to the podcast and use right-click and 'copy link location' to save the URL).
2. Go into iTunes, click the Advanced menu option, then click Subscribe to Podcast.
3. Paste the URL of the podcast into the window and click OK.

Creating Podcasts

Podcast Creation Overview

There are certain things that you need in order to create a podcast. The following sections will cover the different stages of podcast development.

1. A Concept - What is your podcast about? Who is your podcast for?
2. Media Files - Creating the audio or video files that make up your podcast, and things you need to consider.
3. A Delivery Method - How will your podcast be published to the internet? How will your users access your podcast?

Developing A Concept

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Why are you making a podcast?
• What is your Podcast for?
• Will it need audio only, or audio and video?
• Who will be your audience? How do you want them to access your content (at their computer, via an iPod)?
• How often will you add another episode?

DMP Can Help

The DMP is a great resource for helping you create podcasts

• If you want to start your own podcast, you can book a DMP faculty suite computer to make use of audio and video editing software. We also have resources to aid in the creation of the media for your podcasts (audio and video).

• If you want the DMP to help you create a series of podcast episodes, please contact us. We can discuss your ideas and give you an idea of what the project entails and our rates.

Please see the DMP website for details: www.ryerson.ca/dmp

Creating Multimedia Files

File Formats

Before you start creating a podcast, you need to choose your format. Keep in mind that your decisions may limit how and where users can access your podcast episodes.

Some questions to ask yourself:

• Does my podcast require both an audio and visual component?
  If not, consider starting with an audio-only podcast. These can be played from any computer, and most portable devices. They also produce smaller files, which may be important if you have limited file storage on your web server.

• Where and how do I want my students to be able to access my episodes?
  If the answer is 'anywhere', consider that not all students have portable devices - and those that do may not have ones that will play video files.
  
  
• Will I be recording a live event?
  If so, keep in mind that you will need to take a look at the location in advance to make sure it is appropriate for recording. It is also a good idea to run a test, with all of the equipment you plan to use at the actual event. Live events can be tricky, since you aren't in control of all of the elements, and don't have the chance to do a second take!
  
  
• Will I need to edit my material together after the fact?
  In some projects, you will be recording a variety of takes or sources and will have to edit different elements together. Editing does add quite a bit of time to your project, so be sure to budget for editing time!

Podcast-able file types:

• Audio: generally, mp3 is still the standard
  • some sites use other formats, like aac, to take advantage of advanced features (like digital rights management and chaptering), but these formats are limited and may not play on all portable devices.
  • decent quality mp3 files can be a reasonable size, as long as you don't make too long of an 'episode'
• Video: there is currently no standard for video files
  • since iTunes is widely used for podcasts, it is recommended that you stick to a format that iTunes will accept, Quicktime compatible (such as files that end in ".mov" or ".mp4").
  • if you are formatting your files for use on an iPod, it is best to use a tool that creates iPod specific files, usually ending in .mp4 or .m4v (like the Apple iLife suite, or iTunes player, etc.)
• Document: iTunes will accept PDF files, but they cannot be viewed on an iPod

Consider The Content of Your Media Files

• Copyright – if you didn’t create the content (sound, video, text - ANYTHING) you need written permission to use it in your podcast.

• Duration – try keep episodes to 10 minutes or less. If your file is longer, consider breaking it into pieces or editing to include only the most pertinent parts.

• File Size – media files are large, compression is used to keep the file sizes down. You will have to sacrifice some quality for a smaller file.

Creating Your Media Files

At this time, we highly recommend that you contact someone in the DMP to help you determine the best way to create your media file.

If you want to start your own podcast, you can book a DMP faculty suite computer to make use of audio and video editing software. We also have resources to aid in the creation of the media for your podcasts (audio and video).

Delivery Methods

Podcasting at Ryerson University

Ryerson’s interest in podcasting had been continuously growing over the past few years, throughout various departments.  In addition to what we present here, there are a number of departmental or individual instructor initiatives of podcasting implementation, typically course-based.

The Digital Media Projects Office has explored various podcasting solutions and is continuously updating the technologies/methods to support podcasting.

Weblog Tool (Wordpress)

Some blogs allow podcasting by generating an RSS 2.0 feed. Depending on the size of your files, you may need to upload the media file to a separate webspace first.

Current favourite blog & Ryerson supported: blog.ryerson.ca (uses Wordpress Multisite blog system)

• Requirements: media file, authoring access to a blog in blog.ryerson.ca, filespace on a web server (if media files are too large)
• Password required for users to access: no

Your Own Website

This option requires that you have webspace and have the technical knowledge needed to build web pages and create the necessary XML files for your podcast.

• Requirements: website with server space, media file, XML file
• Password required for users to access: no

Accessing Podcast Files

To view/listen to podcast, portable devices like the iPod are not required.  Users can simply play the files on a computer, using media playback software, such as iTunes.

Please note that each software type is limited to the playback of certain file formats. Consider this before choosing the format you produce your podcast episodes in.