WiredPen

Notes for Podcamp Seattle, Saturday 20 June.

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This is a plug for a new podcast, One Bottle At A Time, which is a Washington wine show launched by one of my students after taking my inaugural podcasting class. I realize now (oops) that I did not specifically explain to students how to get listed in iTunes or how to create an RSS feed specifically for the podcast (separate from the blog RSS feed) — although these things are in the books we used in the class. Give him a listen!

McClatchy’s DC office is publishing some presidential campaign conference calls as podcasts. What was once opaque is now transparent. RSS feed. (tip)

Institutions of higher education face many challenges; one is to provide a learning environment that acknowledges the unique skills and interests of the Net Generation. This paper explores these challenges within the context of computer-mediated communication (CMC) instruction. Specifically, the paper explores the use of social web technologies – blogs and podcasts – as methods of student learning and assessment.

Podcasting and blogs facilitate online communication in a community network; both combine old and new communication methods to rapidly and inexpensively deliver words, text and audio via the Internet. Most reports of the use of these technologies in an educational setting focus on teacher-centered communication, specifically, podcasts of lectures. However, these technologies can also be used as an alternative, experiential and innovative method for active student learning. The paper provides a framework to help others create similar learning opportunities; it identifies pitfalls and best practices; and it provides a set of recommended tools.

Paper as PDF; slides PPT.

My first two sessions this morning dealt with podcasting. The first, from the University of Illinois, focused on administration. They are using iTunesU (not a big surprise) but launched in June 2006 (a surprise: UW only launched in fall 2007). Some podcasts are “open” to the public. Podcasts are also used in marketing (send to donors and/or potential donors). About 26 faculty are podcasting each semester. Either they record the live lecture (video and audio) or they record a summary after the class.The second was a case study from the UK, with a focus on the lecturer. Their data suggests students have little desire to re-listen to an entire lecture, even one recorded as an enhanced podcast with chapters. And some students still prefer paper delivery. These podcasts are edited, supplemental material. Not sure if they have identified an optimal length. 

Gack! It’s been a month since I posted here. In the interim, we had the windstorm from hell … resulting in a nightmare experience with Delta on our holiday tirp to the Bahamas. Seattle has been locked in the grip of Arctic air fronts and ice and snow and sub-20 weather … until now. Two classes this quarter: COM 300, Intro to New Media … and COM 585, DM Content Creation.

I’m a regular guest now on Blog Talk Radio - RSS feed here! And I’ve put a toe in the water in political podcasting; inaugural post info.

Podcasting As Active Learning: My 8 minute presentation at NCA, San Antonio, on experimenting with podcasting as a learning tool in COM300, Spring 2006, at the University of Washington.

From the program, session 40742:
The panelists are early adopters of podcasting for instructional development. Podcasting is an internet-based audio/video distribution technology allowing subscribers to automatically receive updated content for listening/viewing via computer or portable media

Listen …
mp4 @ dotMac,
mp3 @ UW

The BBC has announced plans to engage in the Web 2.0 community of consumer-generated content, which he calls a second digital wave.

I believe that this second digital wave will turn out to
be far more disruptive than the first, that it will be fundamentally
disruptive, and that the foundations on which much of traditional media
is built may be swept away entirely…

[It is characterized by all] media – sound, picture, text – available on all devices, all the time.  Searchable, movable, share-able… [and] People will also be able to make and distribute pretty much anything they want to…

For broadcasters, the digital revolution can be summed up in four words:  audiences have a choice.