This April the New Media Consortium (NMC) held an online conference on personal broadcasting (aka podcasting/vodcasting). As the technologies and practices around the publishing of personal syndicated media are still in their infancy (see wikipedia history of podcasting) I’ve written up some notes highlighting key issues and themes that emerged throughout the conference. Also see the conference program notes.

How does podcasting differ from other web-based media?
• Content is syndicated usually via RSS. What this means is that listeners can subscribe to a podcast. When new content is published it will be automatically download to their computer and even synchronized with their portable playback device (iPod, iRiver).

How is podcasting successfully being used at other higher ed institutions?
Successful podcasts formats
• Dialogue versus talking head “course-cast”. Podcasts where two faculty are having a conversation are proving more successful than simply recording a lecture.
– Models process of learning. Students can more readily imagine themselves approaching a topic through having a conversation

• Integrated with blog site provides the searchable text-based framework for the material.
– allows for the text summary and pushes the interactivity at the blog site
– students can discuss and comment on each podcast

• “Serialized Academic Audio Book” see the podcast Out of the Past: Investigating Film Noir
– worked to produce scholarship that models process as much as product

Interactivity
• SUNY architectural students walk through NYC while listening to podcasts their faculty have prepared about certain architectural sites. They then photograph portions of buildings (often with their cell phones) and upload them to Flickr (a free web-based photo repository). Students are able attach descriptions about each image they upload and classmates discuss the photos using Flickr’s built-in discussion tool.
– By moving text into the audio format, students’ visual senses are freed up allowing them to take in other visual information and engage more closely with the subject

Keeping it Simple
• MIT checks out portable voice recorders for faculty use – web support for uploading, transcribing and future integrated text/wav audio searching
• Have a student in the class responsible for recording, editing and uploading lectures

What are the potential advantages?
• Faculty can learn about their teaching through listening back
• Using video to help students become better speakers. Encourages them to not script audio but to work from an outline
• Students develop a critical eye towards audio/video
• University Channel – uc.princeton.edu
– pooling lectures so that it becomes a public service. Schools are posting public talks to the University Channel.
• Students tend to work harder when they know their material will be listened to by a broader audience

What are the concerns?

Time
• How do we make it simple?
• A critical issue for faculty is time. Is podcasting worth their time?
– how easy does it have to become?
– are the students gaining value from these podcasts?
– podcasts cannot add value if they demand too much time from the faculty
• How do you avoid the post production time sink?
– balancing production value and faculty time

Quality
• If everyone is broadcasting, is anyone listening?
• We need professional responsibility for how we manage and share podcasts.
– How do we move from fad and fashion to something of real academic value?

Engagement
• How do we make the podcast multi-directional, one concern is that the information is unidirectional? How do we engage students and enable them to create their own podcasts?

Copyright
• What are the copyright issues involved? If we ask our students to remix materials that are copyrighted, what are the issues?
• What are some solutions to working around copyright and distribution laws so as not to open the institution up to liability?
– Password protect podcasts so only students can access
• Do faculty like having their voices “out there”?

Access
• How do we prevent dead ends for students who don’t have access to the technology?
• How do we manage this content into the future? What are the costs? Where does that data migrate to? How is its accessibility maintained?
• Accessibility issues – captioning of content

What are the challenges and lessons learned from other institutions who have used podcasting in the curriculum?
• Podcasting inherits the problems of a linear medium and needs to be meaningfully indexed, and if possible “chunked” or separated into meaningful sections
– MIT is working on a web based service that semantically indexes audio called CSAIL
– A companion blog works to provide a searchable text index of podcasts
– Enhanced podcasts provide the ability to create chapters so listeners/viewers can quickly access “chunked” content
• Good audio quality is essential and if done properly takes the least amount of time and provides the highest return on overall quality

What are the potential challenges for Evergreen?
• Does Evergreen have the hardware, software and support staff to make podcasting a positive experience for both faculty and students?

Next steps
• Continued discussion around some of the concerns outlined above.
• A one day podcasting faculty summer institute has been proposed in a joint effort with Academic Computing and Media Services. Please sign up with Jan Sharkey if you are interested in participating.
• iTUnesU
– Evergreen is signed up to participate in Apples new iTunesU service starting in the Fall of 2006 and is looking for programs interested in participating in this pilot service.
– The service will provide video/audio and enhanced podcast hosting.
– Podcasts can be password protected so that only members of a program can gain access to certain materials.
• Continued support of programs and faculty currently engaged in podcast-like activities:
– Sally Cloninger and Julia Zay – Mediaworks
– John Perkins, Martha Henderson, Ralph Murphy- The Legacy of the American Dream