Podcasting &Slidecasting

for Dissemination in Teaching and Learning

Norm.Friesen@gmail.com

Flickr - socalgal_64

Overview

• Definitions & Examples• Pedagogical and research value• A bit of Media Theory...• Technology involved: laptop or mic, Websites• Options for licensing and distribution• Steps involved• Tips and tricks

Definitions and Examples

• Podcasting: “distribute (multimedia files) over the internet for playback on a mobile device or a personal computer” (Wordnet)

• Slidecasting: “an audio podcast that is combined with a slideshow... presentation.”

• www.slideshare.net commercial slide provides services for:– Uploading slides (& audio)– Combining (optional)– Accessing them

Value for Teaching & Research

• OF COURSE: record your lectures for your class• BUT: There are many other pedagogical uses:– Record presentation in one context and provide as

supplementary info in another class or context– Record presentation in face-to-face class to

possibly use online– Record your presentation at a conference to

disseminate it more broadly via your CV, etc. (some conferences are now run this way)

A bit of media history/theory

• Podcasts (audio, video, synchronized .ppt) capture and recast the “lecture”

• Lecture: action of reading, perusal: “That face, whose lecture shewes what perfect beautie is” (Sydney, 1586)

• Words not separated scripta continua

• St. Ambrose of Milan: some say hewas the first to read silently

Lectures as Reading Aloud• Was a way of reproducing texts

before the printing press• A text by an ancient authority

would be “read”• One of the first people to

lecture by reading text of their own composition was Fichte, in the 1790’s

Contradictory form of Lecture

• “Guide on the side” vs. “Sage on the stage”• “Chalk and Talk;” “industrial model” • Randy Pausch Last Lecture; Walter Lewin,

lectures on classical mechanics• mediatrans.ca/test/Sean_B_Franzel.html• New Media Studies Centre: nms.tru.ca • Lecture as oral genre; combines with

text/multimedia with great flexibility

Technology needed for Slideshare

• Presentations: pdf, ppt, pps, pptx, ppsx, pot, potx (Powerpoint); odp (OpenOffice); key, zip (Apple Keynote).

• Documents: pdf, doc, docx, rtf, xls (MSOffice); odt, ods(OpenOffice); Apple iWork Pages

• MP3: the only audio format• 100 Mb upload limit

Technology: First Option

• Stand-Alone Mic: Samson H2 - Handy Recorder

• Records audio as .wav format– Needs to be converted to mp3

• Audio can be transferred toyour computer via a USB Cable ora SD card

• Excellent quality; flexible re: position

Technology: Second Option

• Built in microphone in your laptop• Almost any laptop made in

the last 4 years will have a mic built in

• Need to check volume and settings

• Varies in quality and sensitivity • Requires you to stay in front of your laptop

Audio editing & converting

• Free software (is good for recording on your laptop too)

• Need to download a separate file for .mp3 conversion: http://learningspaces.org/lame_enc.dll

• Will demonstrate this later• Can upload mp3 file in isolation

for download

Options for Licensing and Distribution

• You retain the copyright to your presentation on Slideshare (& in other contexts by default)

• You can license it for particular kinds of use using Creative Commons licensing for Canada:– Attribution always required– Non-commercial use only– Others can/cannot modify– Others have to continue to share it

• Applies to all contents, incl. photos, etc.

Steps involved (after your presentation)

1. Save Audio2. Edit Audio3. Upload Audio and Slides4. Combine and synchronize audio and slides on

slideshare.net; see demo at: http://www.slideshare.net/jboutelle/slidecasting-101

5. Share with your students, colleagues, friends! E.g. http://learningspaces.org

Tips and Tricks

• Try different settings in converting audio to mp3 to “satisfice” file size and quality

• Use a photo (with an appropriate CC license) from Flickr for your title slide

• You can delete the “ums” and “aahs” from your audio file easily using Audacity

• Re-load the audio-to-slide synch tool in Slideshare if controls not showing initially

Collections

• TED Talks: http://www.ted.com/• Webcast.Berkeley:

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/• iTunes U:

http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/• BookTV: http://www.booktv.org/• Conferences in your field; e.g.:

http://mediatrans.ca/test