1.1. What is podcasting?

Podcasts are audio or video files made available on the Internet for download and playback using a computer or a mobile device such as an iPod or smartphone. Most podcasts use RSS (an automatic subscription based system), which simplifies the regular checking and downloading process for a user.. [Source: http://library.hsc.unt.edu/researchtools/LibraryInformationTechnologyGlossary.cfm ]

If you want an introduction to what podcasting is, please watch the Why Podcast video.

1.2. Podcasting in H.E.: a list of pedagogical uses

A range of uses for podcating in education include:

• Recording of lectures
• Recording of special events e.g. public speakers
• Subject expert interviews
• Specific “listening practice” for certain disciplines e.g. heart sounds in medicine, speech/phonetics
• Listening to language – comprehension and pronunciation
• Audio/video feedback to students
• Students generated podcasts: e.g. capturing audio data as part of inquiry based learning, recording notes from fieldwork

2.1. Dr Stuart Lee - Podcasting English Lectures for revision and active engagment in a lecture

Stuart talks about his experiences as an academic producing podcasts for his English lectures  

2.2. Dr Andreas Busch - Introduction to the Government and Politics of Germany

Andreas is a former lecturer at Politics Department. He reported that enhanced podcasts helped his students to revise his lectures while maintaining a similar level of attendance.
More details of the case study …

2.3. Dr Marianne Talbot - Philosophy for Beginners

Marianne Talbot is a lecturer in philosophy in the University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education. She has become an iTunes U sensation with her lecture podcasts. Her podcasts reached the global number one position in October 2009 with over 250,000 downloads across the world.
“It’s extraordinary. It’s difficult to wrap my mind around the fact that throughout the world 18,000 people are downloading my lecture every week.”
More details of the case study ...

2.4. Dr Simon Benjamin - Caging Schrödinger’s Cat

Simon's podcasts have been hugely popular. The podcasts have enhanced the learning experience of his students as well as sparking an interest in the field of Quantum Nanotechnology within the general public.
More details about the case study …  

2.5. Dr Emma Smith - Educational Podcasts: Enabling “anytime, anywhere” learning

Dr. Emma Smith began podcasting her lectures on Early English Literature in Michaelmas 2009 for two reasons: to enable her students’ flexible “anytime, anywhere” learning, and to maximise the outcome of the effort that went into designing and preparing her lecture series. Through this educational technology, Dr. Emma Smith has reached a diverse global audience on iTunes U, and developed new digital skills.
More details about the case study …  

2.6. Access the Oxford podcasts

You can access all Oxford podcasts at http://podcasts.ox.ac.uk/

4.1. Pre-production planning

Define the purpose of the podcast you wish to create:

• General skills: improve communication skills, research methods, etc.
• Course materials: e.g. learning activities
• Conferences and public talks

Who is it for? Define your intended audience. Be aware that material released publicly may draw a wider or more specific audience than you intended

• Students on a module/course, or all research students
• Students and general public

Type of recording:

Pre-production checking

• Are you making ad-hoc, unrelated, one-off recordings, or can your material be assembled into a collection or series? Series tend to have significantly higher downloads and are generally encouraged.
• Support within your department: If this material is for local use only, then do you have somewhere to publish the files (departmental/project/college webserver?) and are you hosting the subscription (metadata for RSS) locally or going to use OxItems?
• Support from OUCS: If your material is for public release and you would like to publish it to the University Web Portal (podcasts.ox.ac.uk) and/or the iTunes U site, then there is support from OUCS available. OxItems can hold your podcasting information (metadata for RSS), and OUCS provide a webserver for hosting the media files.
• Do you have the knowledge or experience to do the this yourself? If not, you can get free training from the OUCS ITLP courses. You can also contact your local IT officer for assistance. Otherwise, email the podcasting team at OUCS via podcasts@oucs.ox.ac.uk.
• Who is going to do the presenting? Have they any experience with having their presentations recorded? - OUCS ITLP offer courses on presenting for podcasts.
• If the material is for public release, have you had the presenters/speakers sign the relevant podcasting legal form?
• Who is going to operate the recording equipment? Do you have the technology you need for your recording? - OUCS may be able to assist via the loaning of a small amount of equipment we have available for public podcasts, and we can offer training and advice on its operation and best usage.
• Contextual materials: you can supply extra files to go with your podcasts, such as lecture slides (as PDF files), reading lists, feedback forms, transcripts and more. It is always worth checking that all material released through podcasting is suitably cleared for use. E.g. have all the images in your presentation slides been sourced with permission to republish them? Are you featuring any external audio or video clips that may be under copyright?

4.2. Production of the content (Video Tutorials)

Figure images/video-icon.jpg []

• Introduction to Audacity for Sound editing
• Introduction to iTunes U
• Introduction to Photoshop for Album Covers
• How to do screencapture
• Editing Video
• Top Tips for Podcasting  

More guidance can be found on the ‘how to podcast’ guide page.

4.3. Where to publish your content?

Public versus private podcasting: Podcasts are by their nature, publicly accessible and often can appear in many places. It is practically impossible to make digital recordings that can not be copied, edited, relocated, or republished anywhere else. For examples of the technical futility of trying, examine the news reports on film and music piracy. That said, by placing your content in a restricted access area (such as Weblearn) and asking users not to redistribute or share this material, the spread of your recordings can be contained to an extent, if that is your wish. Making your material publicly available, and advertising it with a suitable license (such as Creative Commons) is much more advisable. For more information on licensing and the benefits of public podcasting, please see the OpenSpires website.

The common places for podcasts to appear at Oxford are: