John D.

Lowe
Academic Technology Consultant
Baylor University
 Agenda

• General Introduction
• Baylor’s Building Blocks
• What is a Podcast?
• Purpose of a Podcasting Building Block
• Technical Overview
• Information for System Administrators
• Information for Users
• Known Issues
• Next Steps
 About Baylor

Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas and affiliated with the

Baptist General Convention of Texas, Baylor is the oldest
institution of higher learning in continuous operation in the state
and the largest Baptist university in the world.

• 14,000 students
• 146 baccalaureate degree programs
• 73 master's and 22 doctoral programs

The 735-acre campus is located on the banks of the Brazos River

in Waco, Texas, a metropolitan area of 200,000 people.
 Blackboard@Baylor

• Learning System and Community System – Enterprise

• Courses synchronized with registration system, BANNER
• Faculty adoption is optional, but encouraged
• Primary usage is to supplement classroom instruction
• Adoption driven by student demand
• Average number of courses per student is 4.41
 Blackboard@Baylor

100.00%

90.00%

80.00%

70.00%

60.00%
Courses
50.00%
Instructors
40.00% Students

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
Fall 2002 Fall 2003 Fall 2004 Fall 2005 Fall 2006 Fall 2007
 Building Blocks@Baylor

• Enroll Staff – University of Durham

• Document Unpackager – Joliet Junior College
• Elluminate Live! Adapter – Elluminate, Inc.
• Campus Pack LX – Learning Objects, Inc.
• Google Search – Google
• Browser Settings – University of Durham
• MERLOT Search Tool – Blackboard Inc.
• My Organizations Plus – Seneca College
• RefWorks Bridge – Northwestern University
• RSS Content – University of Cincinnati
• Turnitin Assignment – iParadigms
 Building Blocks@Baylor

• Custom Grade Uploader

• eInstruction Attendance Uploader
• Final Grade Submission
• Graduation Candidates
• Library Reserves Link
• Online Attendance
• Online Journal
• Xythos Integration

• NEW – Podcasting Extension!!!

 What is a Podcast?

The editors of the New Oxford American Dictionary declared

"podcasting" the 2005 word of the year, defining the term as "a
digital recording of a radio broadcast or similar program, made
available on the Internet for downloading to a personal audio
player".
 What is a Podcast?

Wikipedia.com defined “podcast” as

“a portmanteau of Apple's ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcasting’, is a method
of publishing files to the Internet, allowing users to subscribe to a
feed and receive new files automatically by subscription, usually at
no cost.”
 Educational Applications

Having access to podcasts can help learners in

many ways:

• they allow for learning at the learner’s own pace

• they can reinforce things previously presented
• they can foster inclusivity
• any place learning can become a reality
• learners can listen to content of their own choice

http://www.weblearn.bham.ac.uk/designer_guidelines/Podcasting.ppt
 Educational Applications

Faculty can record …

• lecture or lecture summaries

• audio newsletters
• conversations
• study skills tips
• induction/university/module guides
• marketing podcasts

http://www.weblearn.bham.ac.uk/designer_guidelines/Podcasting.ppt
 Purpose of this Building Block

The purpose of this Academic Podcasting Building Block is

to allow faculty to easily publish digital audio for a course
and have it appear in Blackboard along with all other course
content.

Students can either download individual audio files or

subscribe to the podcast to receive new audio files
automatically in their podcast clients.
What is a Podcast REALLY?

+
 File Formats Supported
The Baylor Academic Podcasting building block supports all file
types mentioned in the Apple iTunes specification.

mp3 mov
m4a m4v
mp4 pdf
 Technical Information

• Written at Baylor University by David Taylor

• Uses J2EE technology and various open source code
libraries
• Installs as a new content type
• Compatible with Blackboard 7.0 and higher. It has been
successfully tested up thru version 8.0.
• Requires that clients have JavaScript enabled
 Blackboard

FTP Connection

Web Server /
Media Storage
Server Requirements
 Process Diagram
(3) Student opens the
course in BB and
subscribes to the
podcast. The
student’s podcast
(1) Professor creates a podcast on client connects to the
the Blackboard server and uploads building block’s public
audio content. JSP which returns the (4) Student’s
XML RSS feed. podcast client
downloads the
audio files from the
media server using
the URL
embedded in the
XML.

(2) Building block FTPs audio file to media

server and then generates the XML RSS
feed which is stored on Blackboard server
in the course’s content directory.

Blackboard Server Media Server

 Three Parts to Podcasting

Record Upload to Subscribe

and Edit Blackboard and Listen
 Three Parts to Podcasting

Record Upload to Subscribe

and Edit Blackboard and Listen
 Recording Devices
Recommended Hardware Recommended Software
Option Option

Sanyo DMP-M1200 Audacity w/ LAME

Digital Voice Recorder http://audacity.sourceforge.net
$50 - $125
 Audacity

Audacity lets you

• Record
• Edit
• Mix
• Export as MP3
 Copyright Issues

When you make a podcast, you potentially invoke several of

copyright's exclusive rights, such as:

• Copying the work to include it into a podcast;

• Adapting or changing the work to include it into the podcast;
• Making a work available as part of a podcast for transmission to
members of the public;
• Authorizing members of the public to make a copy of the podcast and
use it according to the terms you apply to the podcast.

http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Podcasting_Legal_Guide
 Copyright Issues

Good Content Bad Content

Lectures Commercial Audio
Instructions Copy-Protected Media
Publisher Content with Publisher Content
Permission without Permission
Self-Produced Content Already Published
Content
 Recording and Editing

Basic Rules
 MP3 Format
 Appropriate Bit Rate
 Monitor File Size and Length
 Plan Ahead

http://www.weblearn.bham.ac.uk/designer_guidelines/Podcasting.ppt
 Bit Rates

Standard Bit Rate Comparison

http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/
 Bit Rates

One Minute Stereo MP3 Bit Rate Comparison

192 kBit/s 1.4 MB BEST

128 kBit/s .96 MB BETTER

96 kBit/s .70 MB GOOD

64 kBit/s .47 MB FAIR

32 kBit/s .24 MB POOR

Anna Nalick – Just Breathe (Sony)

 Mono VS Stereo

Recording in Mono will capture sound at much lower bit rates

and much smaller file sizes with the same basic quality as
larger and higher bit rate Stereo recordings.

64 kbps Mono

128 kbps Stereo

Anna Nalick – Just Breathe (Sony)

 Bit Rate and File Size

Typical 45 Minute Lecture

192 kBit/s 63 MB HUGE

128 kBit/s 43 MB LARGE

96 kBit/s 32 MB DECENT

64 kBit/s 21 MB SMALL

32 kBit/s 10 MB SMALLEST
 Three Parts to Podcasting

Record Upload to Subscribe

and Edit Blackboard and Listen
 Three Parts to Podcasting

Record Upload to Subscribe

and Edit Blackboard and Listen
 Upload to Blackboard

• Stores the MP3 files

• Generates the XML RSS file

1. Login to Blackboard and choose a course.

2. Use the Control Panel to select a content area.
3. Drop-down to Podcast and “Go.”
4. Enter the meta data and browse for your MP3 files!
Create a Podcast

Screen captures courtesy of David Taylor

Create a Podcast

Screen captures courtesy of David Taylor

Add to an Existing Podcast

Screen captures courtesy of David Taylor

Add to an Existing Podcast

Screen captures courtesy of David Taylor

 Three Parts to Podcasting

Record Upload to Subscribe

and Edit Blackboard and Listen
 Three Parts to Podcasting

Record Upload to Subscribe

and Edit Blackboard and Listen
 Listen Online or Offline

Listen online to your podcast simply by

clicking on the podcast title and then the title
of each MP3 item.

Subscribe to your podcast by clicking on the

subscription link. Most podcast clients will
automatically recognize the podcast URL.
Otherwise, copy the URL into your podcast
client.
Student’s View

Screen captures courtesy of David Taylor

Student’s View
 Known Issues

• Blackboard 7.0 or higher

• Limited to 1 podcast per course
• Safari problems
 Possible Next Steps

• Multiple podcasts per course

• Ability to store media files on Blackboard server
• Suggestions from Beta testers
 Contact Information

John_Lowe@baylor.edu
or
David_Taylor@baylor.edu