Quality and Accessibility of Podcasts

Dr. Patricia Deubel wrote Podcasts: Improving Quality and Accessibility for June 2007's THE Journal. Patricia's main point is summarized at the end of the article:

We're not all professional broadcasters, but listeners and readers will better appreciate your message, if you have also considered the technical merit of your podcast when it is developed.

Patricia first tackles improving the quality of podcasts. While it's possible to record a podcast with a computer's built-in microphone, it isn't recommended. USB headset microphones work really well are cost about $30. She writes, "For higher-quality audio, professional and semi-professional equipment would be optimal." The solutions she suggests start around $200. Personally, I can tell very little difference between a $30 USB microphone recording and that made with expensive microphones.

The article then focuses on boosting the quality of content and cites the four phases of creating an episode: preproduction, recording, postproduction, and publishing. If students follow these phases, hopefully they have then created something that the audience will appreciate. However, I know there are certainly times when a less-polished podcast is acceptable. For instance, students record a "sound-seeing" tour of a museum or teachers record class discussions.

Patricia brings up an excellent point about accessibility of podcasts:

Schools are in the business of educating all learners. If the podcast is on a school Web site, or is hosted at another site and has potential for use in schools, then its text equivalent should be provided. Text equivalents help meet the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 508, which require streaming media to be accessible to the deaf and hearing impaired. There are also times when individuals who can hear would benefit from text, such as when silence is required in a room and headphones are missing for listening to audio, when audio might not be available on a computer, or when the listener is in a noisy room.

I agree having a transcript for hearing impaired and other students is a good idea. It's certainly extra work to prepare a transcript, even if the podcast is read from a script. Page 3 of the article explains a couple ways to caption video podcasts--and any way you do it, it's going to take a lot of time and/or money.

Podcasts: Improving Quality and Accessibility is part 1 of a two-part series, so we can look forward to more on this topic from Dr. Patricia Deubel.

iPod Key Chain Connector

iPods can be used as flash or external hard drives. This is certainly handy for carrying your files with you from one computer to another. One problem: you must have iPod's USB cable to connect to a computer. If you are like me, you leave your cord connected to the original computer and rarely tote that syncing/charging cable and iPod together.

But, something you always have with you is your keys. Some innovative folks have come up with a key chain that has a USB port on one end and an iPod connector on the other. The key chain can be used for synching and connecting and iPod as flash or external hard drives. It can also be used to charge iPod. The key chain is quite short and doesn't expand, so connecting iPod and the computer can be challenging, but it's still convenient to always have a connector when you need it.

The Young Micro Apple iPod USB Data and Charging Key Chain for Dock Connector iPods is available in white or black for $7.99.

• Read more about Hard Disk Mode.
• Listen to Learning in Hand: iPods Episode #1: Hard Disk Mode.

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Help Gina - Answer 12 Questions

Please help Gina with her research on handhelds::

I am a teacher in the Detroit Public Schools in Detroit, Michigan. I am currently working to finish my Master of Educational Technology degree from Lawrence Technological University. I have completed all of my coursework and now I am writing my thesis. I am looking for educators who currently use handheld computers in the classroom with their students to complete a brief survey (12 questions). The survey is being used to gather basic information about types of handhelds and applications used as well as teachers feelings about the value of handhelds as educational tools.

If you are interested, please click the following link to access the survey.
Teacher Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=rhhKoa1cTBVZemo5K4dXEQ_3d_3d

There is also a student survey. If there are any students (K-12) who currently use handhelds in their classroom and may be interested in completing a brief survey, the following link is for the student survey.
Student Link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=pOe5_2bSH6YcI3MIyN_2bUd1Eg_3d_3d

Thank you so much to anyone who is willing to take a few minutes of your valuable time to help me with this project.

If you have further questions you may contact me at gina.wilcox@detroitk12.org.

Thanks,
Gina Wilcox

iPods Episode #4: iPod shuffle Tips

The fourth episode of the Learning in Hand: iPods podcast is online. Episode #4: iPod shuffle Tips is full of worthwhile advice for using Apple's $79 audio player.

Despite its lack of display screen, iPod shuffle can be more useful than you might think. The iPod shuffle's 1 GB of memory can store more than 12 hours of audio (240 songs), which means the battery will need to be recharged before the shuffle has played all of its audio. In classrooms where a computer for syncing new content is usually available, 12 hours of audio is not really all that limiting.

Listen to all 11 minutes 37 seconds of Episode #4 to learn about using the power of Smart Playlists to automatically sync podcasts and music to iPod shuffles. You will probably want to view these instructions.

And as a special request: If you enjoy this podcast, please click here and leave a rating and comment in iTunes. Thank you!

Summer Conferences

Here are some fantastic summer conference opportunities:

National Education Computing Conference
This year's conference takes place in Atlanta, Georgia June 24-27, 2007. I will be participating in a panel discussion, presenting a lecture on iPods, and presenting a poster session. Please stop by, say hello, and hopefully learn a thing or two.

5th Annual Technology Innovations/Handheld Computer Conference
Mark your calendars for the 5th Annual Handheld Computer Conference scheduled for July 10- 11, 2007 at Tan-Tar-A Resort, Osage Beach! Each session will be a “hands-on” experience. There will be sessions for beginner, intermediate and advanced users. Unfortunately, it's the first time I won't be presenting at this conference (I wish I could be two places at once!), but I highly recommend this conference.

Mid-Atlantic Handheld & Emerging Technology Conference 2007
The conference planning committee recently gathered some data from past conference attendees and has decided to expand the conference for 2007! This year's conference will continue to focus on using handhelds in education, but also highlight some emerging technologies. As a result of this expansion, the conference has evolved into the Mid-Atlantic Handheld & Emerging Technology Conference (MAHETC)! I will be doing a keynote presentation, breakout sessions, and a couple workshops.

Podcasting Audience/Defining Podcasting

The Diffusion Group has released their report Podcasting Audience Continues to Grow, But Medium Poorly Defined by Marketers. Their findings include:

• 11% of U.S. adult broadband internet users (about 12 million people) listen to podcasts at least once per month.
• Among the users above, 68% use a portable player. 49% listen on a computer.
• Users listen to an average of 5.4 podcasts per month on a portable player and an average of 4.7 on a computer.
• Listeners subscribe to 4.1 different podcast feeds.
• 70% of podcast listeners use iTunes for access.
• Diffusion Group's prediction: The podcast audience will double in the next five years.
• Holding back podcasting usage:
  • Podcasting is perceived as too complex for the average consumer to use.
  • Consumers are not aware of the quantity and quality of available podcasts.
  • People have a poor comprehension of podcasting because there is a lack of understanding of the term podcast.

The group who wrote the report also published Rethinking the Definition of Podcasting. The report compares definitions of podcast. It gets a bit technical, but defining podcast is important if we're to share them with students, parents, the community, and fellow educators. I have tweaked my definition for podcasting over the years. Currently, here's the definition I share with educators:

A podcast is audio or video on the Web that can be cataloged and automatically downloaded.

I've tried to keep the definition simple and non-technical. Of course, it's the RSS feed that makes it possible for a podcast to be cataloged in places like iTunes and Yahoo! Podcasts. The feed also enables software like iTunes to check for updates and to download new files.

I have been making an effort to refer to an individual podcast audio or video file as an episode, leaving the word podcast as a collective term encompassing all of its episodes. The report addresses podcast vs. episode:

The term “podcast” may also refer to a single file or episode of the podcast series – this is similar to how the term “show” (as in television show) can refer to either the series as a whole or only a single episode.

Whatever the vocabulary, it is important that people know that an iPod is not required. In fact, some podcasters have suggested changing the word to netcast. I don't think we'll be replacing the word podcast any time soon, so we need to help others understand the term podcast and what it can do for education.

iPods Episode #3: Main Menu

The third episode of the Learning in Hand: iPods podcast is online. Episode #3: Main Menu is all about customizing what appears in an iPod's Main menu.

If you're an avid iPod user, you've scrolled through your share of layers of menus. Of course, the first menu you start with is the Main menu. From there you can access music, videos, photos, and settings. But did you know you can customize the items listed in the main menu? I always add Playlists and Podcasts to the menu for quick access.

Customizing the Main menu items can save you time scrolling to your most-used iPod items. Also, if you're managing a set of iPods for student use, it's nice to place the items students will use in the Main menu so they can easily find what they are supposed to be doing on the iPod.

Listen to all 5 minutes 6 seconds of Episode #3 to learn how to change what's listed on your iPod's Main menu.

2007 Sketchy Animation Contest Winners

The winners of the 2007 Sketchy Animation Contest have been announced! GoKnow says they had over 400 amazing entries. They have posted winners from six categories: Social Studies, Science, Math, Language Arts, Other, and Teacher.

Winning animations include Sound Waves, Ecology Cycle, Nouns, Essay Parts, and Bullies and Me.

Podcast RSS Feed Options

The most technical part of podcasting is publishing the RSS feed . Without an RSS feed, you don't really have a podcast--you have audio or video on the web. Without a feed, that audio or video cannot be listed in directories or automatically downloaded using iTunes. The RSS feed is important if you wish to have people subscribe to your podcast.

Here are some of the options for making an RSS feed:

• Spend $0 if your school or district's server or web management system supports podcasting. Check with your technology folks to see what's available to you.
• Spend $5 a month for an online service like Slapcast.com, LibSyn.com, or AVmyPodcast.com. Simply set up an account, fill in the text fields, and upload your audio or video files. There are limitations for monthly uploads but they offer an unlimited number of downloads. You should note that once you stop paying the monthly fee, your podcast will no longer be available online.
• Spend about $30 for software like FeedForAll. Fill in the blanks and the software generates an RSS feed that you then upload to your own server. You must also host the audio or video on your own server.
• Spend $100 on Tool Factory Podcasting (Windows only). This is a complete solution for recording, postproduction, hosting, and publishing.
• Spend $0 by hosting your audio or video on OurMedia.org. Then use a combination of Blogger and Feedburner to publish a blog and RSS feeds. Here are the instructions.

And here's a new one I just learned about....

• Spend $0 by hosting your audio or video on your own server or OurMedia.org. Then use the free online service Poderator. Fill in the text fields with information about your podcast and the URL of your uploaded audio or video file. Poderator generates the RSS feed. but you must upload it to your own server. Each time you wish to add a new episode, first upload it to your server then log into Poderator and add a new episode using the URL of the item you just uploaded. Poderator then updates the feed so your subscribers can download the new episode. Note that each time you update the feed, you have to upload it to your server.

With any of these solutions, if you want your podcast to be available in iTunes and other directories, you must submit the URL of the RSS feed to iTunes and the web directories of your choice. Remember, you only have to submit one time. After that, iTunes and the directories periodically check the RSS feed for updates.

Edition 2 of Handhelds for Teachers & Administrators

The second edition of Handhelds for Teachers & Administrators by Tony Vincent and Janet Caughlin is now available! You might be familiar with the first edition published four years ago. Edition 2 has been completely updated and has an added 50 pages. Besides taking you step-by-step through using Palm handhelds, Pocket PCs, iPods, and podcasting, the book gives dozens of examples of classroom use. In fact, the vignettes with teacher lesson idea and their insights into handheld computing is my favorite chapter. There's also a chapter with school administrators telling you all about how they use handhelds to do their jobs better.

The podcasting section is an exciting new addition to the book. It takes you through finding, subscribing, and listening to podcasts in iTunes, on an iPod, a Palm handheld, and Pocket PCs. It even has a tutorial for creating and publishing a podcast using the free Audacity software.

As with all of Janet's Workshop Books, busy educators can pick up Handhelds for Teachers & Administrators and get started right away using their handheld computers. The book's CD-ROM provides useful resources for the tutorials, lesson ideas, and podcasting. There also is this website that has all of the web links mentioned in the book.

Currently Edition 2 is not yet listed on the Tom Snyder website. Call the publisher at 800-342-0236 to order the book. You also order from K12 Handhelds here.

As a shameless promotion for the book, I made a Gizmoz animation of myself telling you about it. You can make your own Gizmoz for free by uploading a photo of yourself and then supplying text or audio.

Announcing TonyVincent.net

TonyVincent.net is online! While learninginhand.com covers the world of learning with tools that fit in students' and teachers' hands, TonyVincent.net focuses on online and digital technologies. Here are just some of the topics TonyVincent.net will cover: online publishing, Google Earth, digital video, RSS feeds, Wikipedia, information literacy, free software, and Web 2.0 services. These "internety" topics and handheld computing will often overlap and probably give me headaches when trying to figure out on to which site to post the content.

Currently, TonyVincent.net features a blog and forums. Unlike the learninginhand site where I use Dreamweaver to upload an HTML file for each page, TonyVincent.net uses a content management system (Drupal for those who want to know this kind of stuff). What does that exactly mean? With Drupal I'll be able to organize content on TonyVincent.net with just a couple of mouse clicks. Once there's more content, I will to have TonyVincent.net sorted by subject area. Posting in blog-format is a great convenience for the blogger, but it isn't so great for a reader who wants information on one topic. So watch for site organization and features to be added in the future. You can also look forward to layout changes and lots of tweaks as I improve the site.

As Dale pointed out in a blog comment, it takes some effort to keep up with all of the content I provide online. If you really want to keep up on everything I post, subscribe to my RSS feeds:

• Learning in Hand Blog: Handheld computing, podcasting, and iPods
  http://feeds.feedburner.com/learninginhand
• Learning in Hand Forums: Discussions about handheld computing, podcasting, and iPods
  http//feeds.feedburner.com/forums
• TonyVincent.net: Education & Technology for Teachers
  http://tonyvincent.net/?q=rss.xml
• Soft Reset Podcast: The podcast for those using handhelds in education
  http://feeds.feedburner.com/SoftReset
• Our City Podcast: Learn about cities from the kids who live there
  http://feeds.feedburner.com/OurCity
• Learning in Hand: iPods Podcast: Using iPods for teaching and learning
  http://vincent.libsyn.com/rss
• TonyVincent.info: My online scrapbook of what I'm finding or doing online
  http://tonyvincent.info/rss

Now here's the beauty of RSS: subscribe with a service like Bloglines or Google Reader, and you don't have to visit each source individually. Just subscribe to the RSS feeds and log into Bloglines each day to see what's new. Many teachers have asked for step-by-step directions for subscribing with Bloglines. Jump on over to my post, Subscribe to Sites with Bloglines, at TonyVincent.net for help. I hope TonyVincent.net will also provide you with help, resources, news, lessons, strategies, and guidance for years to come...

National Educational Computing Conference 2007

The National Educational Computer Conference (NECC) is June 24-27 in Atlanta, Georgia. I'll be there and I hope you can join me for some (or all) of these events:

On Monday, June 25, I'll be on the panel Mobile, Digital, Ubiquitous: Solutions for Learning with Handhelds. Julie Lindsay has assembled a great group of panelists: Judy Breck, Graham Brown-Martin, Mike Curtis, and Janice Kelly. Here's the description: Panel members present solutions for curriculum integration, multimedia inclusion, and best practice of mobile technologies for learning at any age.

On Tuesday, June 26, I'll be presenting the poster session Beam Me Up! Free Handheld Materials for Teaching and Learning. This is a somewhat informal time to stop by and pick from a list of applications, files, and documents I can beam to your Palm handheld or Pocket PC. I'll bring lots of orange stylus pens--so please ask for one. Here's the poster session description: Explore free applications and uses for Palms and Pocket PCs from every curriculum area. Return to school with engaging activities to use with students!

On Wednesday, June 27, I'll present the lecture session I Didn't Know You Could Do That with an iPod! I'll be demonstrating many of the great things iPods can do for teaching and learning. Here's the description: Go beyond simple audio and video to use iPods as motivating learning tools. Learn about interactive texts, RSS feeds, flash cards, quizzes, and more!

There are more NECC events for those interested in handheld computing. The Special Interest Group for Handheld Computing (SIG-HC) has a list of handheld sessions on their wiki. I hope see you there!