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, 8/4/2005 http://forimmediaterelease.biz/index.php/weblog/2005/08/05/ )
Oxford University Press, US website, http://www.oup.com/us/brochure/NOAD_podcast/?view=usa
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, 2004 - 2005
Podcasting in the Classroom
Current Uses of Podcast /Webcast Resources in Academia
– Reference-quality lectures (NPR, LOC, Stanford & Princeton)
– Student Instruction / Orientation (Drexel)
– Community News (U. of Western Ontario)
– Outreach to potential students (Peterson’s)
– Scholarly Communication (U. of Florida)
– Audio tours (Purdue)
Podcasting in the Classroom
Finding Podcasts: Google search “podcast directory”:
• iTunes http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/
• iPodder.org
http://www.ipodder.org/directory/4/podcasts/categories
• Yahoo http://podcasts.yahoo.com/
– 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:
http://www.stjohns.edu/academics/libraries/resources/podcasts
– 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
counsel
– 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 http://www.wikipedia.org/
• Encyclopedia of Earth http://www.eoearth.org/
– Internal examples:
• DiscoverNY http://discoverny.pbwiki.com/Brazil
• Podcasts http://podcastresources.pbwiki.com/
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
Shaughnk@stjohns.edu
St. John’s University Library