Podcasts and Wikis: What Are They and How Can You Use Them in Your Teaching? CTL Fellows Meeting December 5, 2006 Kathryn Shaughnessy Instructional Services Librarian

Podcasting in the Classroom A podcast is… A growing method of delivering audio information –Time-shifted –Place-shifted An informational “broadcast” saved as an audio file (mp3) and distributed via the web (strictly speaking via RSS) Listeners download/listen at their convenience via desktop/laptop or on a personal player

Podcasting in the Classroom Podcasting timeline… August 2004: “iPodders” search for a way to retrieve old blogs and audiofiles – develop RSS (Winer) and podcast software (Curry) July 2005: iTunes supports/distributes podcasts, get 1 million subscribers in first 2 days August 2005: 8,000 podcasts, 6 million listeners December 2005: Podcast selected as “Word of the Year” by editors of New Oxford American Dictionary: "a digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio player" Hobson and Holtz Report, 8/4/ ) Oxford University Press, US website,

Podcasting in the Classroom Podcasting evolution … Personal / information sharing Business applications Religious groups Education & Distributed Learning

Podcasting in the Classroom DUKE: benefits of podcasts in learning/instruction playback of difficult content/material multiple repetitions for listeners who have difficulty with English allows for review/enjoyment of materials while multitasking (e.g.: commuting or exercising). inspired creation of podcasts among listeners increased “frequency and depth” of learner interaction, especially in language & music increased communication between faculty, library and IT; led to improved collaboration and planning, both within & among institutions. Duke Report,

Podcasting in the Classroom Current Uses of Podcast /Webcast Resources in Academia –Reference-quality lectures (NPR, LOC, Stanford & Princeton)NPRLOCStanfordPrinceton –Student Instruction / Orientation (Drexel)Drexel –Community News (U. of Western Ontario)Western Ontario –Outreach to potential students (Peterson’s)Peterson’s –Scholarly Communication (U. of Florida)U. of Florida –Audio tours (Purdue)Purdue

Podcasting in the Classroom Finding Podcasts: Google search “podcast directory”: iTunes iPodder.org Yahoo –Blogs and your favorite websites (helps to keep up with Newsgator RSS feedreader, they merged with FeedDemon publisher so feed has capability to download the podcast in a compatible FeedStation player or right-click and “save-as”) –Coming Soon: iTunesU (Wiki collaboration)

Podcasting in the Classroom Creating Podcasts: John’s Libraries: –Poetry Readings/ Author visits –Guest Lectures –Student essay winners, e.g.: Service Learning Essay –Instruction Audio Tours Resource Tutorials Distributed Learning Professional Development

Podcasting in the Classroom Practical Questions for creating podcasts: –Investment of Money: Computer (Laptop or Desktop) Audio editing software (Audacity = free) good microphone ($50) headphone equipment ($40 - $60) Can record using a Laptop with Mic or purchase a digital Voice recorder ($40 – 80) to use with or without a lapel mic ($25) (see equipment handout for more information)

Podcasting in the Classroom Practical Questions for creating podcasts: –Investment of time: learning editing software -- not long to learn basics of Audacity editing -- this takes the most time, if lengthy session annotations – depending on how/whether you want to make it easy for your users to preview or skip to point within a podcast Adding metadata – not long, but important Uploading – not long

Podcasting in the Classroom Technical Questions: –How many files/downloads can the server handle? 8 minute podcast, saved bit rate 64 size: 7 MB time to download on T1: 10 seconds 70 minute lecture, saved bit rate 64 size: 28 MB time to download on T1: 22 second –How do we index / store / retrieve? –How do we handle preservation/archiving of files

Podcasting in the Classroom Legal Questions: –Release form for electronic recording Library developed one, should have it approved by counselone –Clarify extent of distribution to lecturer On main website: available to all CMS or intranet: Although password protected, once in digital format, it is relatively easy to duplicate.

Wikis in the Classroom What is a wiki? –Website that can be updated quickly, by many people Good for collaborating on a big project or paper Good for a site that covers dynamic content Editing capabilities can be open or password protected at site or page level

Wikis in the Classroom How to use/incorporate a wiki? –External examples: Wikipedia Encyclopedia of Earth –Internal examples: DiscoverNY Podcasts

Podcasts and wikis in the Classroom Strengths of using external/internal podcasts & wikis: –facilitates development of information literacy and life-long learning –enriches primary-resource research & reference base –coach vs. sage – facilitating/motivating individual learner inquiry and peer discussion –engages different styles of learning –assists low-vision and ESL students

Podcasts and wikis in the Classroom Podcasting and wikis and future trends in academia –Scholarly publishing –Public/Open Access –Archives –E-Portfolios –?????

Podcasts and wikis in the Classroom Please contact me with any questions/suggestions –Kathryn Shaughnessy, x1454 St. John’s University Library