New software called Levelator may solve the tricky fluctuating audio level issue many teachers with limited equipment face. It automatically adjusts the audio levels within a podcast to account for variations in level between speakers. Drag-and-drop any WAV or AIFF file onto The Leveler’s application window, and a few moments later you’ll find a new version which just sounds better. The application is available for Windows and OS X - it’s free (for non-commercial use). From the website:

Have you ever recorded an interview in which you and your guest ended up at different volumes? How about a panel discussion where some people were close to microphones and others were not? These are the problems the post-production engineers of Team ITC solve every day, and it used to sometimes take them hours of painstaking work with expensive and complex tools like SoundTrack Pro, Audacity, Sound Forge or Audition to solve them. Now it takes mere seconds. Seriously. The Levelator is unlike any other audio tool you’ve ever seen, heard or used. It’s magic. And it’s free.

I find it amusing that some colleagues are loathe to call syndicated XML enclosed media files by the populist name ‘podcast’. Like ‘Polaroid’ for the noughties perhaps. Others claim that podcasts are just mp3 files. The association with Apple is a difficult pill to swallow for some PC only users. In fact podcasts are any media to which you can subscribe and read/watch/listen using a feed reader, and if you choose a portable player - of which over 70% just happen to be iPods. RSS is the the corner stone upon which web 2.0 delivery is based and is here to stay - just like ‘podcast’ I’m afraid. Ironically, it was the open-source community that developed the podcast code/RSS enclosures and coined the name.

And now to the reason I am making this post. I came across this handy piece of PC only freeware - MP3myMP3 Recorder. The blurb says:

Record internet radio and save to mp3 or wav. Record streaming audio from the Internet, microphone, or any other source for that matter. MP3myMP3 Recorder works directly with your system sound card - if you can hear it, you can record it! Use the scan tool to list all mp3, wav, aif, swa, or sun au audio files on your computer - then play and record portions of any of these files.

Handy for recording mp3s for students or for them turning into podcasts. And back to the rant. Wikipedia tells it like it is. From Wikipedia’s definition:

“Neither podcasting nor listening to podcasts requires an iPod or other portable player, and no over-the-air broadcasting is required. The name association came about simply because Apple Computer’s iPod was the most marketed and the best-selling portable digital audio player when podcasting began, and was used by early practitioners. However, the use of the “pod” name in 2004 probably played a part in Apple’s development of podcasting products and services in 2005, further [cleverly] linking the device and the activity in the news media.”

I try to explain podcasting to students by saying, mp3 players are to audio and video files what a postbox is to a magazine subscription. Podcasts aren’t just audio files, they are ‘home’ delivered personal choices.

Topic: Podcasting in the Classroom.

Thanks to everyone who joined us for a discussion about podcasting in the classroom. We looked at both pedagogical and technical aspects of using podcasts for student learning. We may have to revist the topic as there was so much to cover.  When we have a chance on the upcoming school break we will invite interested teachers to join the conversation again and ask those of you who have used podcasting to share your experiences with us.

We had some problems recording the live webcast and are still trying to find time to salvage and edit the well recorded bits to combine into a podcast format.

For information on how to join the webcast click here.

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Gidday
Have been playing with Podcasts.
I am using a Mac and so the technical side of this applies to mac users.
The only reason I can do it is because Apple’s iLife 06 software makes idiots (like me) look clever.
How did I learn?
Well I watched the Steve Jobs webcast and learnt from there.

What do you need?

• iLife 06 - iLife 05 will not do Podcasts.
• A mac with a built in mike.
• A dot mac account (or more brains than me to figure out how to save your work to another server).

What have I done?
Well…

primarily I have been using it to put up revision talks for my Yr12 Human Biol Kids. Check them out here

I make a few powerpoint slides to aid my talk and export them as Jpegs.

I then record the talk in Garageband as a podcast and then send to iWeb. Before sending I add the jpegs and some other pictures into the graphics track at the top of Garageband.

I leave a few hints about the next test - to make the kids listen to it.

Anyway - if this doesn’t make much sense, don’t worry - it’s easy.

Cheers

Blitto