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Podcasting

Welcome to the IDC podcast reference area. Here you can download a copy of our weekly podcast, subscribe in iTunes to the IDC podcast, or view the archive or transcripts of past podcasts.

If you need assistance with creating podcasts, Tom Corcoran, Media Technologist, can help you.

Podcasting References

Some References to help you understand Podcasting:

These resources were made available by the Illinois Community College Online website located at www.ILCCO.net.

Stop by the IDC and check out this amazingly simple technology which can open up more possibilities for learning by your students.

Additionally, IDC Media Technologist, Tom Corcoran has created a guide to Podcasting in Higher Education and guide to using GarageBand on a Macintosh computer. These two resources are available below:

Podcasting in Higher Education (Adobe PDF)

Podcasting using GarageBand on a Macintosh (Adobe PDF)

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So what is Podcasting?

Podcasting makes it possible for you to record a digital audio file, save it to a server, and make the file(s) available to your students via a subscription hypertext link (using a RSS feed or .xml file) into a "feed reader" such as iTunes (a free program to download). Once this is completed your students will only need to click once to subscribe to all of your content (present and future podcast episodes). After subscribing your students simply refresh their subscription in iTunes by clicking "refresh" and your new podcasts will automatically download to their computers. Once on the student's computer they have the choice of listening to the audio in iTunes or connecting a MP3 player (such as an iPod), transferring the file to the MP3 player and listening to your podcast wherever they wish.

A Microsoft Word file template for an XML Podcasting file can be found by clicking XML Template for iTunes Podcasts. In Microsoft Word you can edit the bold entries for your specific podcast information (title, author, audio file name, etc.), leave the xml tags and then save this file out with a new name and a .xml extension.

To view Apple's official page for a RSS template for podcasts see, http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/podcaststechspecs.html#example. A complete description of how to create an iTunes based RSS feed is included on that page.

To validate that your XML file is correctly formatted you can go to http://www.feedvalidator.org and test your XML file. This site will tell you if your XML file is accurately formatted and will give you feedback about any errors in the code.

Then to make your Podcast "subscribable" in iTunes, you create a hypertext link on a web site to this new XML file, but rather than beginning the link with http:// you begin the link with itpc://
This will cause iTunes to load, read your xml file, subscribe to your podcast and transfer your podcast into iTunes for listening.

You can also make your podcast part of the iTunes Podcast Directory by going to the iTunes Store and clicking on Podcast and then scroll down to Submit a Podcast (located in the middle of the screen). You provide the iTunes Directory with the hypertext link to your podcast (ex. /idc/podcasts/FEEDNAME.xml) and then login as an iTunes user and Apple will do the rest. Between a few hours and a few days later you can have a presence in the iTunes Directory. You will be alerted that your submission was accepted and given the direct link to your iTunes Podcast presence within the iTunes Podcast Directory. You can then use that link to direct users to your presence within iTunes.

Once you have a web page with a link to your xml file you can include the following line of HTML code in the <head> and </head> tags. Change out the href and the title information to represent your own podcast link and title. This will allow the browser to recognize that the page contains xml or rss content:

<link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" href="/idc/podcasts/IDCRSSFeed.xml" title="Heartland Community College Instructional Development Center Podcast" />

If you want to monitor how many people are subscribed to your podcast you can go to www.feedburner.com, paste the link to your podcast xml file and register to create an account with Feedburner and you can then see how many people are subscribing to your podcast.

If you want more information on RSS and how to make your own xml files see, RSS, building and Using a Feed, step-by-step.

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Sample XML file

The following is a sample of a basic XML file for podcasting. This can be copied and pasted into a plain text editor. Then you will want to customize the information within the tags to your podcast and specific episodes. After this is complete save your file out with a .xml extension, upload this file along with your .mp3s to a web server and create a link to this file on your web site. Each time you want to add an episode you simply copy and paste everything that is between the <item> and </item> tags, edit the information for your new episode content and save the file back to the web server. Note: The length value of each podcast episode is the .mp3 file size in kilobytes (ex 4.46 MB equals 4460 kilobytes).

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<rss version="2.0">

<channel>

<title>Heartland Community College Instructional Development Center Podcast</title>
<description>The Instructional Development Center is charged with fostering excellence in teaching and learning by supporting profesional development of faculty, recognizing outstanding teaching, and encouraging the use of emerging technology and innovative methods. This podcast contains news and events associated with the IDC as well as educational technology tips and tricks.</description>
<link>http://www.heartland.edu/idc/faculty/podcasting.jsp</link>
<language>en-us</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2008</copyright>
<lastBuildDate>Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:00:00 CST</lastBuildDate>
<docs>http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss</docs>
<webMaster>tom.corcoran@heartland.edu (Tom Corcoran)</webMaster>

<item>
<title>October 29 Weekly IDC Podcast episode 42</title>
<link>http://www.heartland.edu/idc/faculty/podcasting.jsp</link>
<guid>http://www.heartland.edu/idc/podcasts/IDC20071029.mp3</guid>
<description>Welcome to the IDC podcast for the week of October 29 - November 2, 2007. In this week's IDC podcast, a Writing Across the College workshop about "Designing Writing Assignments", the Book Discussion Group on "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows", and the next Your World Exposed HCC Speaker Series on "Reversing the Climate Crisis" are announced. In the tips and tricks section I discuss xml, RSS readers, and Feedburner and how they all relate to podcasting. Please visit the IDC web site at http://www.heartland.edu/idc/</description>
<enclosure url="http://www.heartland.edu/idc/podcasts/IDC20071029.mp3" length="4460" type="audio/mpeg"/>
<category>Podcasts</category>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Oct 2007 08:00:00 CST</pubDate>

</item>

</channel>

</rss>

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But how do I make a Podcast?

If you wish to record your own podcasts you can download a free program called Audacity, available at Sourceforge.net: Audacity.

In addition to this download you will need the LAME encoder for saving .mp3 files out of Audacity. This plug-in for Audacity can be found at Audacity: How do I download and install the LAME MP3 encoder?.

After you download Audacity and follow the steps on the website link to save the LAME encoder you will be able to record and save your audio files as .mp3 files.

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What can I do with Podcast?

Some of the ways you can utilize this technology to enhance your classroom experience include:

  • Recording lectures for repeated listening (allowing you to devote more class time to group discussion and student participation)
  • Recording pronunciation of difficult terms (especially useful for medical terminology or foreign language studies)
  • Recording guest presentations (useful for additional semesters if the lecturer is unavailable)
  • Podcasting excerpts of famous speeches
  • Recording reviews of major exams/audio study guides
  • Recording lecture "add on's" such as anecdotal examples, or applications not discussed in class
  • Recording key definitions highlighting their importance
  • Recording classroom group discussions
  • Adding music appreciation audio sound bites (with your commentary recorded over each music track)

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What else should I know about Podcasting?

References for more information regarding podcasting:

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