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PODCASTING

What is Podcasting?

Wikipedia defines PODCAST as: a media file that is distributed by subscription (paid or unpaid) over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback portable media players, mobile devices and personal computers...like 'radio', it can mean both the content and the method of syndication. The method by which the content is syndicated is termed podcasting . The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster .

Though podcasters' web sites may also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a podcast is distinguished from other digital audio formats by its ability to be downloaded automatically using software capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or Atom.

About this Tutorial

This tutorial was designed in a "book" format, which includes chapters and sub chapters organized under the table of contents.

To navigate this book
Chapters and sub chapters can be navigated easily by clicking on the chapter name on the left hand side table of contents. In addition to the links in the table of contents, you may move through the book using the arrows located to the top-left and bottom-left of the content.

To print this book You can print the entire book with all its chapters or you can choose a selected chapter to print. Click on the appropriate icon found on the top of the screen.

To save a copy of this book Download the PDF version of this book.

Creating a Podcast

To create a podcast you need to have an audio file which can be either a recording that you record by yourself (A lecture, presentation, discussion...etc) or any other audio file. This tutorial will teach you how to record your audio. To record an audio file, you need to follow two steps:

First: The text that you will record in your podcast should be ready and final. So first of all you need to work on revising the text as much as possible so that you don’t waste time repeating and recording over and over again as you are refining your text.

Second: You need to create the media file. You can use Audacity which is a free audio-editor and recording software. Follow the bellow steps to have Audacity ready on your computer:

Download and Install Audacity from ACC Software.
Install Audacity on your computer.
Once done, go to the Start Menu choose ALL Programs > Audacity

Have a microphone connected to your PC.

Using Audacity

Audacity is user friendly and easy to use. The following image is a screen shot of how Audacity application looks like:

The three basic buttons in Audacity are the:

	The red Record button begins recording.

	The blue Pause button pauses the recording. Pressing it again will continue recording.

	The yellow Stop button stops recording.

Recording Audio

To start recording you need to have a microphone connected to your computer. Place the microphone close to your mouth:

NOTE: Before we start recording notice on the lower left corner of the Audacity application you see the Project Rate: 44100, set it to 11025. This will reduce the quality of your recording and therefore will reduce the size of the file.

Click on the record (red button) to start recording.
Start reading your prepared text, or if you memorized it just start saying it.

recording

NOTE: As you are talking, Audacity will show you the recorded sound waves in blue. See above image.

You can pause at any time to take a break by clicking on the pause (blue button). And to continue recording click on the record button.

To stop recording click on the stop (yellow button).

Saving the Project

Once you are done recording. And you are satisfied with it. You can save it to your computer by going to:

File > Save Project As. (if you think you will edit it later on).
You will get a warning message click on Ok.
The Save Project As window will open. Specify a location to save your project such as My Documents or Desktop.
Specify a name for the recording and click save.

Recording Tips

It is not necessary that you are satisfied with the result of your recording from the first time. With practice you will reach a satisfactory result. An advice is to keep on recording until you reach a satisfactory point.
Also try as much as possible to make your recording short, even if it means that you have to split your recording into 2, 3 or even 4 times. That will make it easier for you to record.
Adding a short music clip at the beginning and end of the audio file will make it smooth.

Adding a music clip to your recording

Adding a short music clip at the beginning and end of the audio file will make it smooth and more entertaining. You can use PODSAFE material in order not to violate copyright law. Podsafe means that you are using materials that are safe to use in your Podcasts. Here are some links to websites that provide Podsafe music clips. These clips could either be for free or for a small amount of money.

Following are the steps to add a music clip to your recording:

With Audacity still open, once you finish recording your text.
Click on Project from the menu bar.
Select Import Audio.
Choose the Podsafe file you have previously saved on your computer.

The Podsafe audio file should now appear under your recording track.

recording track

If you click on play (green button) the two audio files will play together. You might want to have a Podsafe audio to play through out your Podcast as a background music.

In the following example you will add a Podsafe audio file that starts playing and ends when your recoding will start, then in the end when your recoding is over, another copy of this Podsafe material will start playing.

Step 1: Put the cursor at the end of the audio track that you recorded but aligned with the end of the Podsafe audio track. See image below.

step 1

Step 2: Go to Project from the menu bar. Select Align Tracks and then Align with Cursor. This will align the track with the cursor. The Podsafe file should shift to the right.

step 2

Step 3: Now when you play the project, your recording will start playing as soon as the audio clip is over.

To add the same Podsafe file but this time at the end of the recording.

Step 4: Since you are using the same Podsafe file create a new track. Click on Project from the menu bar. Then click on New Audio Track. Now go to the track that contains the Podsafe clip. Select it by putting the cursor at the end of the Podsafe clip, then click and drag. Go to Edit > Copy.

Step 5: Go to the new track and select Edit > Paste.

Step 6: Now you will need to align it. Do the same as you did with the previous alignment but instead put the cursor on the new Podsafe clip track and not on your recording track.

Step 7: Go to the track you added. The cursor should be on the new Podsafe track but aligned with the end of the recording. Go to Project from the menu bar. Select Align Tracks > Align with Cursor. Now the audio track should be at the end of the recording and will only play when recording is over.

first

podcasting-1

Saving the Audio file

When you finish working and recording your audio project, you need to save it in an audio format.

Go to File > Export as MP3.
You will get a warning message, click on OK.
Give your file a name and click on Save.

Adding a Podcast to Moodle

So far, we created the Audio file. Now, we need to create the Podcast from the audio file. There are two usage options in Moodle:

Resource: you can upload the audio file to Moodle as a resource, you will have an Audio file.

Podcast in Moodle: If you upload it to the Forums activity and activate the RSS feature, then you will have a Podcast. The RSS feed will allow subscription through RSS Feeders such as Microsoft Outlook 2007 or Omea Reader.

The following steps will describe how to add a podcast

In your Moodle course homepage go to Add an activity > Forum
Forum Name: Name of the Forum ( example, “Global Warming”)
Forum Type: Choose one that suites your forum
Forum introduction: And introduction to this forum for your students. ( example, “This Forum will cover Global Warming”)
Can a student post to this forum?: Discussion and Replies are allowed
Force everyone to be subscribed?: Subscription not allowed
Read tracking for this forum?: Optional
Maximum attachment size: 20 MB (could be more depending on the audio file size)
RSS feed for this activity: You can select between two types of forums: Choose Posts

Discussions: Using this, generated feeds will include new discussions in the forum with their initial post.

Posts: Using this, generated feeds will include every new post in the forum.
Number of RSS recent articles: This option allows you to select the number of articles to include in the RSS Feed. A number between 5 and 20 should be appropriate for most forums. Increase it if the forum is very used.
Click on Save changes
Now Click on Add a New Discussion Topic.
Now link Global Warming to the Podcast 1 sample.
Select Global Warming; make sure that you have selected the 2 words. On the upper menu there is an icon that looks like a chain, it is the Insert Web Link. Click on it. The Insert Link pop-up page will open. Now click on Browse. (see picture above)
Click on Browse > Locate the saved audio file and select it. Click on Ok.
Click on Upload and the file is now in your Moodle files. Search for the Audio File and click on it once. Now you should be back to the pop-up window. Click on Ok. Global Warming should now be underlined and in blue.
NOTE: If you have another audio file that you wish to add, follow the same steps.
When you finish, click on Post To Forum.
In the upper right side and you should see the RSS icon.
Click on it and a new page will open.
The URL has an rss.xml extension. This is the URL you need, to retrieve the Podcast through Feed Readers.

You have just added a podcast to your course. The next section describes how a student or you can retrieve the Podcast using the .xml URL.

Retrieving the Podcast (Omea Reader)

Omea reader is a free RSS aggregator that will allow you to retrieve your Podcasts and any other RSS feed.

Download and Install Omea Reader from: http://www.jetbrains.com/omea/reader/index.html

NOTE: Why use RSS and not subscribe to the forum and send post to email?

When allowing subscription and sending the post to the email, you are using your email quota. When you subscribe using RSS your email quota is not affected.

Go to Start > All Programs > JetBrains Omea Reader > Omea Reader

Omea Reader will open.

Subscribing to the Podcast

The feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. To subscribe to a feed, you must know the URL (.xml) of the feed data file. This is the URL that you and the students get from Moodle. See previous section.

Select the Feeds tab in the Main window.
You have four different ways to subscribe to the feed
- Choose Tools | Subscribe to Feed on the Main menu.
- Right-click the white space in the Feeds pane and choose Subscribe to Feed on the context menu, or...
- Click the Subscribe to Feed icon on the Items List toolbar .
- Press Ctrl+N on the keyboard.

The Subscribe to Feed wizard appears.

Enter the URL (address) of the feed on the web. This is the address of the Podcast that you copy from Moodle.
If the feed you are subscribing to requires you to log in so that you could access, then check the box next to The feed requires an HTTP login . Specify your Moodle Log in and password for this case.

omea

Click Next .

If you entered a valid URL for the podcast, the window offers you the option of specifying a title to appear in the Feeds pane, and of specifying a Feed Folder or creating a new Feed Folder in which the feed will appear in the Feeds pane. Change the Title to Global Warming and click Finish to complete the subscription.

Opening the Podcast

On the left you will have the list of feeds. Locate the podcast and click on it. On the right side you should see two panes. The first Pane will contain the list of podcasts sorted by date. The far most pane will show you a preview of the message/podcast.

omea

You will be able to see the content of the message on the right.
That is only a preview of the podcast. You need to retrieve it now. Next to the date there is a small square.
This is the download icon. If you move your mouse over it, it will indicate not downloaded. Click on it once and it should start to download and you will get a green mark, once download is done.
Now on the right side you will see exactly what was added in Moodle.

Global Warming should be highlighted. Click on it once. It will open a page similar to Moodle; specify the Moodle username and password, if you are asked.
Click on the Global Warming link under enclosure. You will be asked to open or save.

save

Retrieving the Podcast (Outlook 2007)

You can also use Outlook 2007 to retrieve the podcast.

NOTE: Why use RSS and not subscribe to the forum and send post to email?

When allowing subscription and sending the post to the email, you are using your email quota. When you subscribe using RSS your email quota is not affected.

Go to Start > All Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Outlook 2007

Outlook 2007 will open.

Subscribing to the Podcast

To subscribe to a feed, you must know the URL of the feed data file. This is the XML URL which you and the students get from Moodle. To subscribe to a feed:

Go to Tools > Account Settings.
Account Setting pop-up window will open. Select RSS Feeds.
Click on New
Paste the URL address and click on ADD
Specify a name to this feed. Type Global Warming
Under Downloads select Automatically download enclosures for this feed

Click on OK.

Opening the Podcast

On the left side and under Mail Folders you should find RSS Feeds.

Click to maximize, you should see the Global Warming Feed. You have a preview window on the right to view the content of this feed.

Now on the right side you will see exactly what was added in Moodle.

Global Warming should be highlighted. Click on it once. It will open a page similar to Moodle; specify the Moodle username and password.
You will be asked to open or save.

save

Sources

http://wikipedia.com
and part of this tutorial was adapted from a tutorial by Humboldt State University. See its complete version at:http://www.humboldt.edu/~moodle/

Site:	AUB Moodle
Course:	AUB Moodle
Book:	Podcasting
Printed by:
Date:	Friday, 3 September 2010, 04:05 AM