Turn the Faucet On! Investigating and producing podcasts for teaching and learning Merlot 2006 Pre-conference Workshop Patrick Lyons Educational Development Centre Bob Burk Department of Chemistry Bengt Neathery Intergrating Solutions Inc.

Overview of Session  Introductions  Objectives  What is podcasting?  Small group activity - Build your own podcast  Group presentations  Next steps, observations  Applications for teaching and learning Questions are encouraged!

Objectives  Develop a good understanding of podcasts,  Be able to produce a simple audio podcast,  Begin to understand how podcasting might be used to enhance teaching & learning,  Identify advantages and disadvantages in the context of teaching and learning

What is podcasting?  iPod + broadcasting –Distribution of audio or video files via RSS feeds and the Internet. Usually for listening on mobile devices.  A 1980’s Analogy: –Student using a tape recorder to record a lecture and then dubbing the tape and giving a copy to all their classmates.  Vodcasting –Video on Demand + broadcasting

The “how to” of podcasting  Overview of process –Plan –Capturing the media (sound and/or images) –Encode for distribution –Tagging your files (RSS feed) –Upload to server and access

A word on distributing your podcast  Podcasts are downloaded from a central server, in their entirety. That means that if many people download at the same time, the cumulative load on the server can be high;  Your podcasts should be served from a location that has very high bandwidth available, that won’t be decimated by other uses;  Reliability is critical, and your servers should be redundant to make sure your content gets delivered.

Streaming vs. Podcasting  Streaming and podcasting are different in a few key ways, that provide certain advantages to both:  Streaming delivers small pieces (30 seconds for example) at a time, therefore can be watched right away – also since the entire contents aren’t downloaded, copyright issues can be mitigated  Podcasting is a full download, therefore the user can share the podcast with different units, such as their iPod, media centre, PDA etc. without having to have an Internet connection for subsequent viewings – once it is stored, it can be watched as many times as desired with no extra bandwidth cost.

Group activity  Brainstorm/Development –Think podcast - not just an episode –Stuck? Ask for help  Storyboard, outline, script(?) an episode –Provides structure and routine –Helps avoids umms and ahhs  Record audio –Obviously quiet location important –Pretend you are talking to someone  Encode (compress the audio to mp3 or m4a)  Upload & Author RSS Feed (.xml)  Submit RSS feed to podcasting directories

Why use podcasts?

Student Feedback ... helps us prepare for lectures and have questions ready ... good for big rooms like theatre B ... makes things easier to understand for visual learners ... students might get the idea that they don’t have to go to class. That’s what I did last year and that’s why I’m still in first year.

Viewer Reaction  Over 2000 subscribers to CHEM 1000 lectures.  Over 4900 subscribers to class demos! “These are excellent examples for why chemistry is important. Thank you for the podcasts.” Major Gray “Hoorah for the Pickle! Excited Sodium Yellow. Got it ;-) What a great idea for a podcast. Thanks to Prof. Bob Burk and Carleton University. More please. Thank you. Elena Haskins

Someone is watching… loaded Number of Downloads

Students still come to class!

CHEM 1000 Lecture Streams

Procrastination ?

iTunes U  Institutionally branded iTunes store  Free, hosted service  Integrates with CMS  Automatically generate podcast feeds  Instructors and students can upload content  Both secure and public access

Issues and Caveats  Class Attendance?  Instructional design  Copyright, IP and your materials  Commercialization  Time  Technical issues 1. File storage:  1 hour of audio = 20 MB  1 hour video = 100 MB 2. Bandwidth

IP and Copyright IP  “Employee retains all rights related to literary work created by that employee which includes, but is not limited to lectures (whether televised or not), copyright in computer in computer program software, industrial design and artistic work…” Copyright  Copyrighted material cannot be placed in a podcast without receiving permission of rights holders.  The law is currently being amended and may allow greater flexibility.

Ideas  Course updates (weekly status report, explain objectives, answer questions, clarify assignments and expectations)  Entire course (video/audio)  Student/group assignment  Oral language learning  Guided tutorials  Lab techniques, problem solving skills,  Others?

Thanks!  Apple Computer Canada for loaning equipment  Matthew, Ben and Ryan