PoducateMe: Practical Solutions for Podcasting in Education
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Printable copies of the guide are available for purchase and immediate download at
as a SD card in a card reader, or a PDA's expansion card using Missing Sync). Windows
users can download BadApple (Free, PC, www.badfruit.com/), a free iTunes plugin that
does essentially the same thing as SyncTunes. If you have a Microsoft Zune MP3 player,
check out FireAnt’s Feed Your Zune (Free, PC, http://www.feedyourzune.com/).
You might also consider myPodder (http://www.podcastready.com/), a free, web-based
podcatcher that allows users to subscribe to and manage podcast subscriptions anytime,
anywhere. myPodder, account holders can log onto the myPodder Web site through any
Internet-connected computer and download podcast episodes directly to any computer,
MP3 player or memory card.
Something to note when choosing a podcast player: Only Quicktime, iTunes and iPods
with a color screen are able to play “Enhanced” podcasts, which contain graphics and
clickable links. Enhanced podcasts will be discussed later.
Planning Your Own Podcast
Ok, so now that you’ve got a firm grasp on how to find and download podcasts, you’re
probably itching to get started creating your own masterpiece. First, it might be helpful to
you if I detailed a few of the challenges and considerations we faced in creating the
CareerChat podcast.
Technical Challenges
The technical challenges podcasting presented were formidable. Because no one on the
Career Services staff had any experience working with digital audio and no one on
Miami’s campus was podcasting at the time, it was up to us to figure out how to bring it all
together.
The “Successful Interviewing” episode was informative, but, as an audio technician later
told us, it was recorded too “hot” (loud). With each successive recording, we made
adjustments in our setup to improve the audio quality. By the twelfth episode, I think we
managed achieve a pretty good recipe for achieving decent sound with the equipment we
had at our disposal. However, we’re still learning new techniques to improve the sound.
Educational Challenges
While the technical challenges podcasting presented were daunting, we faced a more
formidable hurdle in educating students about the new technology and how it might
benefit them. Because podcasting wasn’t even a year old at the point we began planning
our project, we suspected that the vast majority of students coming to campus in the fall
would not even have heard of podcasting, much less know how to receive podcast
episodes.
We felt that the growing attention podcasting was receiving in the press and elsewhere
would do much to familiarize students with the technology and help remove some of the
instructional barriers we would be facing. However, that fall, after asking groups of
