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How to... |
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 How
to use The Oscelot Podcaster
Audio Considerations. If your intention is to present a straightforward
audio file to your students, a greeting,
instructions, your lectures, or an explanation of a
special topic, all you need do is 1) record the
audio; 2) convert it (if necessary) to a compressed
audio format (we recommend either WMA (Windows Media
Audio) or MP3 (MPEG 1 Layer 3) formats--DO NOT use
an uncompressed format like WAV); 3) upload the
audio file to your Blackboard course or web site;
and 4) Create a link to the audio file.
This is all very straightforward and easily
accomplished. We have published how-to
articles on these topics before:
Academic Technology has digital voice recorders
available for
checkout, WS-100s or WS-300s. They are
very easy to work with, and record in compressed WMA
format. If you wish to convert your files to
the more universal MP3 format, you will need to use
a free utility to do so (WMA
to MP3 on Windows XP,
Switch on Windows Vista or Mac OS X).
Remember that voice audio does not have to be
encoded at high bitrates. 32kbps or even lower
is fine. Remember also that WMA files can be
played with QuickTime on the Mac if Mac OS X users
install the free
Windows Media Components for QuickTime from
Flip4Mac. There is no real need to convert to
MP3 unless you are simply presenting a
straightforward audio file.
If you wish to record your audio with a
microphone attached to your sound card, you will
need a program with which to record. We
recommend the free, open source
Audacity. Audacity permits editing of the
audio, and export to MP3 format.
So much for straightforward. If you wish to
podcast your audio, however, you will find it easy
to use the Oscelot Podcaster, which is new in
Blackboard this semester (fall 2007).
Previously we had installed the Horizon Wimba
podcaster, but we no longer have access to the
Horizon Wimba voice tools. The Oscelot
Podcaster is a free, open source product.
The difference between a straightforward audio
link and a podcast is that a podcast is intended to
be a series of audio (or video) files that can be
subscribed to using RSS (really simple syndication)
in a program called a "podcatcher," like Apple's
iTunes. It sounds much more complicated than
it is. Actually, after you try the Oscelot
podcaster you may decide that you want to use it for
your straightforward audio uploads too. That's
up to you.
Using the Oscelot Podcaster.
Podcasts can be created in any content area in
Blackboard, and different episodes of the podcast
can be placed in different content areas. Open
the content area where you wish to create your
podcast, click "Edit View" in the upper right of the
screen, click the "Select" drop-down on the right
end of the Edit toolbar, and choose "Podcast
Episode," then click "Go."
An "Add Podcast Episode" screen will appear with
five areas to be filled in.
Note that the audio (or video) file for the
podcast must be pre-recorded. Podcasting with
the Oscelot Podcaster supports the following audio
and video formats:
This means that if you use the WS-100 or WS-300
digital voice recorders to record your audio, you
will need to convert it to mp3 for use with the
podcaster.
You do not record the audio within Blackboard, as
you did with the Wimba Podcaster. You can
optionally attach supporting documents or other
media, which will remain associated with your
podcast audio. You may, for example, audio
record a lecture and wish to attach an accompanying
PowerPoint presentation, a textual transcript of the
Podcast, and an ancillary explanatory
document.
After creating this first episode to your course
podcast, you may wish to add others. The
Oscelot Podcaster permits placing other episodes in
any course content area you wish. Let's say
you have assigned a particularly difficult project
to your students and wish to provide further
instructions and encouragement to them through an
audio message.
The real strength of podcasting is that podcasts
can be subscribed to via a web protocol called RSS,
or "really simple syndication." To create the
RSS "feed" for your course podcast, enter the
Control Panel for your course.
In the "Course Tools" area of the Control Panel
click on "Manage Podcast."
A 4-part Blackboard form will appear. In
part 3 of that form, "Options" click the radio
button next to "Everyone. Available to the
public." This is the option that creates the
RSS fee and makes your podcast "subscribable."
Note that part 2 of this form is the area where
you can include iTunes meatadata, like category
descriptions and album art that will appear in
iTunes. Click submit and the RSS feed is
created. If you choose not to make your
podcast subscribable, you may still wish to use the
Oscelot Podcaster because it is a simple way to
upload/link audio files to your course, and has the
advantage of keeping links to ancillary materials
along with the audio link.
Your students subscribe to the RSS feed by
clicking the "Course Tools" area of their Blackboard
course, and then clicking "Podcast."
Any/all podcast "episodes" can be played from
this area. This is the area that contains the
subscription links.
We have a
tutorial on podcast subscription available, but
most students will not need it. They will be
used to using iTunes to sync their iPods with their
music collections, so we recommend that iTunes be
used as their default podcast receiver. Their
are two ways to subscribe in iTunes. First,
the user can have both iTunes and Blackboard running
simultaneously, and can then crag the iTunes icon
from Blackboard onto the podcast screen in iTunes
(this is the cool way); or, more simply, the user
can click the iTunes icon in Blackboard.
iTunes will be invoked and the user will be
subscribed to the podcast. iTunes is not the
most efficient Windows program, so give it some time
to start and do its thing. It runs much more
quickly on the Mac.
The strong advantage to subscribing in iTunes (or
any podcatching program or service) is that the
student will receive all the audio files
automatically without ever having to check back into
their Blackboard course to see if new material has
been published. Secondly, it will also be the
simplest way to get your lectures or other audio
materials onto the student's iPod or other mp3
player. Thirdly, the student can play the
episodes from within iTunes at any time in the
future, when preparing for a test, for example.
The Oscelot Podcaster is a simple to use, but
powerful podcast/audio solution for those who wish
to provide audio materials to their students.
For a screencast on using the Oscelot Podcaster,
click here for one from the University of
Nebraska at Lincoln.
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