04 March 2011

...Podcasting

After one or two trials & the odd erroneous attempt, have recorded first podcast...
Yes, have taken first tentative steps toward broadcasting self around globe.  Should add, made the decision to podcast some years ago. Until this point however have been more comfortable 'lurking' enthusiastically behind the web pages, blogs & podcasts of others. 


Also, before I continue, need to confess that, despite Will Richardson's Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms sitting next to me on the desk, am applying an intuition-led approach. Learn by doing, my friends. Learn by doing.

Time to explore media hosting & embedding options. Seems Blogger doesn't support hosting of mp3 files, for purposes of embedding. First off, tried copying & pasting some suggested embed code (actually for auto-play background music), but to no avail.

Next, explored uploading mp3 to hosting sites (as recommended by google): Box.net, MoveDigital, DreamHost, and BlueHost but couldn't accept that in this day & age of 'WebOS' it would be necessary to subscribe in order to generate a live stream. Here's the file hosted by Box.net: http://www.box.net/shared/kxm5x49bkz in any case.

So I then, perhaps naively, turned to my Google docs account ( https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B4wqqAwR6GldMWI3YTgyODEtNTYyMi00MjczLWE0YzUtYTkwNTk2YjdmODky&sort=name&layout=list&num=50&authkey=CP7evJYJ ) but, again, the file asks to be downloaded first...

Next approach was to check out Dropbox. Once you've downloaded & installed the software, moved files to the public folder, & adding the public URL of the mp3 as an 'enclosure link' at the start of the blog RSS Readers such as Google Reader or Bloglines should be able to recognise & play the file... But I wanted the file to play from my blog: http://danieljayres.blogspot.com/

I next explored adding an HTML/Java widget to the sidebar. Success! Albeit via a QuickTime applet, lengthy initialisation & seemingly inevitable autoloop, you should be hearing my words of wisdom. It works, but is it fit for purpose? Well, since the 'purpose' was for me to embark upon the learning curve of self-broadcasting, 'yes, for now'.

Finally, and with the advice of a friend - see comment below, turned to SoundCloud. Site allows embedding in blogs & wikis, and comes with a range of apps to make sharing sounds from mobile devices a breeze...

Perhaps need to explore video & YouTube next... Any suggestions?

***

How easy is it to record & upload a podcast? by DJAyres

References and further reading

Richardson, W. (2010) Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms. (3rd ed.) Corwin Press.

1 comment:

  1. You need to get thee to Soundcloud.

    Visually embedding, dead easy to use - and students can leave timed comments during the podcast!

    Like this: http://mu-sic-dan.blogspot.com/p/mixes.html

    ReplyDelete

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