R.I.P. Little iPod

Well, I'm back from ALA and it turns out iPods don't like airport scanners. My iPod died shortly after my flight started and remained lifeless despite all the emergency procedures performed. But, never fear! I'm shipping it back to Apple and they plan to repair or replace it so I'll be back in business shortly.

I was able to attend a few sessions relevant to podcasting at ALA but I really wish I had known about the Computers in Libraries conference in Virginia this past Spring. "Podcasting and Videocasting Bootcamp" would have been a great workshop to attend. Luckily, there are links to this presentation as well as "Podcasting 101" and "Podcasting with a Purpose: Possibilities for Library Instruction" here: http://www.infotoday.com/cil2007/presentations/default.shtml

I attended a session on using video for instruction purposes and I left feeling like I had learned what not to do instead of gaining any useful "how to"s. The videos were long and clunky and students complained that they just wanted to get their information and go. Is audio the same thing? Is the medium too fixed? The Internet liberated text from its dormant format. Are we going backwards using audio and video?

I don't think we are if we use it correctly. When I bought my sewing machine a few years ago it came with an instructional video I could watch on the computer. I could pause the video and go through the steps on my own machine. I could go back in the video to any point to go back over things I didn't understand. And I felt that it was effective. I think screencasting would have this same effectiveness as opposed to some sort of "skit" on a video that students feel is wasting their time.

With instructional audio I think the point is to keep it short and relevant. There's no frustration over searching for a certain segment in a podcast if you make a seperate podcast for each segment. It would be different for lecture classes but for the type of instruction I'm doing it makes sense to have modules.

iPod Honeymoon

I've been distracted by Camtasia but I've still been making time to read (and listen!) to information on creating and marketing podcasts.

I have found that I don't actually have time to listen to the gazillion podcasts I zealously subscribed to when I first fell in love with my iPod. I apparently thought I lived in a William Gibson novel and could simply download all the podcasts and immediately make use of the information. But it turns out I still live in the real world where listening to an hour of audio actually takes an hour of my time! This is a good incentive to create my podcasts short and sweet!

At the last session for the Podcast Pilot we learned about Audacity and our tech team installed it for me yesterday. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet but I think I'll be forced to use it. Even though my little Belkin microphone promised CD quality audio, the recording I did Saturday for a potential tutorial was pretty rough. I picked up the sounds of my laptop harddrive, my ankle popping, papers rustling and some annoying southern accent that I can't possibly have.

In an instruction assessment meeting last week we decided to have optional pre and post tests for the podcasts. My department head offered to buy an iTunes gift card that voluntary participants would be registered for.

We are also meeting with Nursing instructors about their online program this week and I see potential there for using podcasts and assessing their use.

I'm off to D.C. on Friday for the ALA conference. I was dissapointed to see there are only two sessions about podcasting but I know my iPod will come in handy on the airplane and the metro!

Podcast Pondering

Before lunch today I downloaded podcasts from the MSU library: http://library.msstate.edu/content/templates/?a=1160&/

They sound like NPR podcasts. Apparently they had about $3,000 worth of equipment--a 13 inch MacBook with the iLife suite, a 1.66 GHz MacMini, a microphone, desktop stand, windscreen (what is that?!), a Marantz digital recorder and books on podcasting. They also have an entire committee approving scripts and working on the project.

I'm trying to figure out a way to create interactive Camtasia tutorials that I can also put in a simple slideshow-type format for Vodcasts and then have audio for just podcasts. Same screen shots for both projects.

And how will I assess the podcasts? I can see how many times they have been downloaded but this won't assess their effectiveness. I don't see a way to include a survey since the podcasts are put on a device and the user doesn't even have to be online while they're watching it. And the downloads are anonymous so I can't e-mail them a survey. And if I include them in iTunes there won't be a way to keep up with download statistics.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I need to create these things first. That's the hard (and the fun?!) part.

In other news, my iPod has a fancy new hot pink outfit. It's not the greatest but it protects the screen and the click wheel for now.

Learning to use iTunes

When I got in to work today iTunes had been installed on my laptop! I immediately plugged in my iPod and began clicking around. It seemed obvious how to go to the iTunes store and purchase something but how did I put my own files in here? I finally clicked on “Files” and brought the podcasts from Dr. Yuen’s page that I had saved into the program. Okay. Now how do I put something from an online podcast in here? After reading the instructions at The SirsiDynix Institute: http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/podcast.php I figured out how to subscribe to a podcast. All I had to do for the individual files was save them and bring them in to the library. I found some “vodcasts” at Cal State University Fullerton : http://faculty.fullerton.edu/rclemens/Nursing.htm and loaded one up. Great. Everything is in iTunes. Now how do I get it on my iPod? Finally I saw a menu option on the left side for my “device.” I clicked on it and found out how I could sync my podcasts and videos. I created some new playlists to organize my audio files but they are still listed as “music.” And the vodcast went to “Movies” instead of Video Podcasts. Now how can I find more stuff to put on here? I went to NPR.org and discovered a gold mine of podcasts. My heart sped up and I started envisioning spending every minute of the day cramming random news and trivia into my brain while doing other tasks. The iPod was becoming more valuable to me by the second. I looked at it and felt a sense of panic. It’s so small! What if I lose it? What if someone walks off with it? What if I drop it in the dishwater? I make a vow to purchase a little iPod holster like Dr. Xue’s as soon as possible. The mystery of the students with white cords hanging from their ears is finally solved.

Learning to use my iPod

I didn’t really take my iPod out during the kickoff lunch because I was sure I was going to mess something up. Plus, I was afraid Dr. Davies would swap it for the one he had already gotten mustard on. Back in my office I hesitantly unpacked it again and poked around a little but was soon swamped with phone calls and e-mails and work duties that took me away from it. All the accessories made me feel like I needed a special iPod bag. Maybe they make those. I’ll have to look into it!

Later that afternoon I rediscovered the beauty of instruction manuals and learned that I need the iTunes program. My computer security wouldn’t let me install it so I put in a request to our tech department and set out to figure out what I could without iTunes. Again, the magical instruction book came to my rescue. I learned how to use the click wheel and navigate through the menus. I was relieved to see that the “Games” menu did not include Tetris or I would probably lose my job and be kicked out of the pilot program for never doing anything else.

Then I plugged in the voice recorder. An option to record popped right up so I bravely started shrieking, “Testing” into the little fly-eye microphone but nothing happened. Again with the instructions. Just a click of the “play pause” button and I was recording like a pro. I was able to save and play back and it sounds great!