Creating+A+Podcast

Two steps are involved in creating a podcast:
Creating a Podcast is as simple as recording an MP3 file directly on your computer’s hard drive, using a microphone and any of a number of audio utilities. You can also subscribe to online services that allow you to use your telephone (mobile, landline, or VOIP) to “phone in” your spoken report, interview, or other information. 
 * 1) The creation of the mp3 audio file. An mp3 audio file could be made available to students in a variety of different non-podcasting ways via VLEs, websites etc.
 * 2) Publishing the audio file to make it into a podcast. The process of distributing it to students as a podcast utilises the technology of rss feeds and aggregators to distribute it. Although it is a separate (and optional) process, uploading mp3s to the new VLE may well simultaneously publish them as podcasts if the rss feed is created automatically as in Elgg and most blogs.

Steps for Creating A Podcast:
1. Plan your podcast by first choosing a topic that excites you and make sure that there is a demand for your topic. 2. Spending some time now to plan the format of your podcast (e.g. the length, structure, segments, music, theme song). 3. Before recording, write an outline, collect any information you plan on using and put all the audio clips you need in one place on your computer. 4. Choose a quiet place, free of distractions, to record your podcast. 5. Have all you podcasting gear in one place (see Hardware Requirements below). 6. Record the audio file using a recording software e.g. Audacity (Read Installation and Using Audacity Tutorials below). 7. Edit the recording to remove unwanted parts. 8. Convert and save as an MP3 file. 9. Create an RSS feed. 10. Upload the MP3 files together with the RSS file to the server, hosting the podcast. 11. Users subscribed to the podcasts, using a podcatcher software, will have the MP3 files automatically downloaded to their computer. 12. The MP3 files can be listen to in the computer or downloaded to a portable MP3 player. Note: Two of the most important things for this are the quality of your microphone and the acoustics of the room you record in.



Scripting the Podcast
 Before you record your podcast, it's a good idea to write an outline and script. Many podcasts include the following sequence:  
 * Intro music
 * Introduction
 * Topic(s)
 * Contact info
 * Summary/goodbye
 * Outro music

Hardware Requirements:
Note: Get some help if the headphone does not work after being connected to the ports in your computer. 
 * A PC Running Windows XP
 * 2-3 GB of Free Hard Drive Space
 * Soundcard
 * Mic Input and Headphone Output on Your Computer
 * In/Out or Mic/Headphone Jacks
 * Headphones or Headset
 * Optional: MP3 Player
 * Optional: Pop Filter

Software Requirements:
Here is the basic podcasting software you will need to get started. 
 * Audio Recorder & Editor: [|Audacity] ([|Installing Audacity & LAME Encoder & Audacity Tutorials]) ([|Audacity Tutorial] (Video)).
 * MP3 Encoder:[|LAME] or [|iTunes]
 * Media Player: iTunes or Windows Media Player
 * File Transfer Software: Any FTP program
 * Copyright Free Music: [|Free Play Music]
 * [|Skype] (free) can be used for recording interviews.

Recording the Podcast using Audacity
 1. Install Audacity, and take note of the directory to which you copy the LAME plugin. 2. Launch Audacity 3. Open the preferences and set them up to use a quality of 44100 Hz and File Formats of AIFF 16 bit for Mac and WAV 16 bit for PC. 4. Click the red record button (a circle icon). 5. Speak into your microphone. 6. Click the Stop button when you are done (the square button). 7. Name your audio track in the Audio Track popup menu (choose Name). 8. You can click the Play button if you want to hear your recording. 9. You can delete a track by clicking the x to the left of the track name. 10. Under the Project menu you'll find commands that allow you to add new tracks and mix them into one. 11. You can perform quite sophisticated editing tasks with Audacity. 12. Once you are happy with your sound file, choose File > Export as MP3. 13. Navigate to where you want to save the file and click Save. 14. You will get a dialog box asking you to point to the location of the LAME plugin. 15. Fill out LAME's Edit ID3 Tags dialog box. ID3 tags attach information about the podcast to the sound file. When you listen to the podcast in iTunes or another podcatcher, this information will display as the podcast plays.



Free Podcast Creation and Hosting Services
If you have your own web site, you can still publish podcasts by using a free podcasting service. Popular services are as follows:
 * http://studio.odeo.com/create/home (Odeo)
 * http://www.gcast.com/ (GCast)
 * http://www.mypodcast.com/ (MyPodcast.com)
 * h[|ttp://www.ourmedia.org/](OurMedia)



Using Odeo:
Most teachers used Odeo, so let's look at that one. Go to the URL listed above and sign in to create a new, free account. After you log in, Odeo gives you many options for creating the MP3 file: Odeo lets you publish you audio (MP3) file, turn it into a podcast, add it to the Odeo directory, and select a player that points to your Odeo hosted podcast. You can then add it to a web page. 
 * Create new audio with the Odeo Web recorder
 * Upload MP3s that you have already created from software such as Audacity or Audition
 * Import audio that you have already published on the web
 * Record by phone with the Odeo phone service (which may be a long distance phone call)

Using MyPodcast.com:
You can start a blog in [|Wordpress] and then embed your podcast in your blog by using the Flash player from Odeo. See for instructions in their site.
 * Sign up for a free account. After you log in, you will download a small program called My Pocasr Recorder, which allows you to Record and Publish files with ease.
 * Open the MP3 file that you have already created and publish it using the program. A web page is created, using the template that you have chosen.
 * View [|my page]created this way. RSS feeds are created automatically for you.