Slide 1

Podcasting  is  the  big  thing  in  the  virtual  learning  environment.  Broadcasting  was  once  the  province  of  professional  that  spoke  proper  BBC  English  and  knew  one  end  of  a  microphone  from  another  and  had  a  wide  audience–  and  now  with  the  advent  of  podcasting  we’ve  all  got  to  do  it.  

Slide 2

What  is  a  podcast?  It’s  a  digital  file  that  is  downloadable  to  a  device  such  as  a  phone  or  computer  so  that  it  can  be  listened  to  or  viewed  at  any  time  by  the  user.    The  best  ones  can  be  short,  informative  or  funny  GeekBrief  made  Cali  Lewis  an  authority  on  technology,  the  BBC  catches  lapse  time  audiences  by  podcasting  their  programmes.  But  those  are  the  pros  and  technically  podcasting  has  some  similarities  to  broadcasting  –  so  it  can  seem  like  too  much  trouble  

Slide 3

For  the  hard  pressed  teacher  the  expectation  on  them  to  do  a  podcast  can  seem  too  high.  If  it’s  video  there’s  issues  of  lighting,  obviously  make-­‐up  self  image  and  mise-­‐en-­‐scene  –  not  mention  learning  new  software  to  edit  and  finding  the  time  amid  the  paperwork,  teaching  hours  and  marking  to  make  a  completely  new  resource.  

Slide 4

But  nowadays  for  better  or  for  worse  most  teachers  do  ppts.  A  simple  voiceover,  much  like  the  narration  you  would  use  in  class  can  be  applied  to  a  ppt  and  there  you  have  it  –  a  podcast.  

Slide 5

You need ppt, a software called Audacity, free and easily downloadable, you also do need a mac, briefly with Keynote. Try as I might I could not export with sound from ppt. However I did make some nice silent movies which in themselves can be useful.

Slide 6

Divide  your  script  up  into  the  narration  you  want  on  each  slide  open  Audacity  –  create  a  new  file  take  a  deep  breath  click  record  and  speak  –  I  find  this  easier  with  a  headset  and  microphone  but  most  machines  will  record  with  a  built  in  mic  –  just  remember  though  they  can  hear  everything.  track  as  a  .wav  file  (you’ll  find  that  under  the  Export  menu)  name  the  Slide  1,  Slide  2  etc.    

Slide 7

When  you  want  to  play  back  drag  the  playhead  line  back  along  the  track  and  listen.  If  you  don’t  like  it  select  all-­‐  delete  and  try  again.  Make  a  new  file  for  every  and  record  slide  by  slide    that  should  give  you  a  fair  chance  of  a  getting  a  good  take  –  you  can  edit  –  but  if  you  don’t  want  to  just  re-­‐record  until  you’re  happy.  

Slide 8

So long as you have labelled everything appropriately it is just a drag and drop job.

Slide 9

Now  find  a  Mac  and  load  your  ppt  onto  it  and  open  it  in  Keynote,  Keynote  will  open  it,  although  it  might  look  slightly  different  and  you  may  have  to  adjust  layout,  transitions  slightly.  At  worst  you  may  have  to  drag  and  drop  you  sound  files  in  again  but  not  necessarily.  

Slide 10

Now export to Quicktime from the Keynote menu.

Slide 11

Don’t  for  get,  keep  it  big  and  keep  it  short!  It  has  to  be  readable  on  a  tiny  device.  

Slide 12

Slide 13

There is a Linked Narration facility in ppt, which allows you to talk through your slide but that is more difficult than it sounds. Moreover it also leaves the sound files behind when exported. In addition, I have used GarageBand importing the slides as a movie and attaching the sound files. It’s very visual and easy to sort timings, but if you have used GarageBand, it can be intimidating.

Slide 14

What  to  do  with  it  then?  Upload  it  to  your  VLE  to  your  blog  or  to  both  and  hope  the  students  find  –  you  can  even  play  it  through  the  computer  in  class  –  while  you  catch  up  on  some  marking  –  no  I’m  sure  no  one  would  ever  do  that  –  really  don’t  be  tempted  there’s  no  substitute  for  you.  Enjoy