FacDev Media Training Series

Click on the title of this blog posting to listen to this podcast episode. The transcript is provided below.

:: Transcript ::

In order for students or colleagues to subscribe to your podcast, they need to either know the URL for the XML feed of your podcast or they need to be able to easily find the link to the URL. Since XML feed addresses can be cumbersome to distribute to your intended audience via email, the easiest way to spread the word about your podcast is to add a link to your XML feed to the blog you've created for your podcast.

If you visit the FacDev Media Training Series blog that was created to correspond with this podcast at facdevmedia.blogspot.com, you'll notice in the right column there is a text link listed for "Podcast Feed – XML." Also, if you scroll down the page slightly you'll see a section called "Subscribe" in which are posted several different buttons which also link to the XML feed for the podcast. The link that you create for your podcast can be either a text link, button, or both….it's up to you. On the "Introduction to Podcasting" handout are provided some sample podcast subscribe buttons that you can choose from if you are looking for a pre-made button to use. However, any button or text link technically can be used as a link to your podcast feed. Commonly, orange buttons found on websites indicate RSS feeds of some sort. If you'd like to use one of the buttons provided on the handout that accompanies this series, simply right-click on a button and save it to your computer. Then, upload it with your audio file to your web space and create a link to it in your blog or website template.

We've also provided links under "Blogger Help" to the resources that Blogger has provided which details how to customize the template for your blog to include a button to your podcast feed. Click on the "templates" section within Blogger help for more details.

You aren't limited to creating a link to your podcast only on your blog. If you have another web presence, you can just as easily add a link to your podcast from that location as well. If you utilize a course management system such as Blackboard, you can include within your online course a link to your podcast, making it possible to leverage the content pushing capabilities of podcasting in conjunction with your online or web-enhanced course.

In regards to your podcast XML feed created using FeedBurner…keep in mind that FeedBurner automatically pings your blog and re-updates your podcast ever 30 mins. Therefore, if you add a new posting to your blog with a link to a new mp3 file, it may take up to 30 mins. before the new posting will appear in your XML feed. You can manually ping FeedBurner to force it to update sooner. A link to ping FeedBurner is provided at facdevmedia.blogspot.com

In the next episode we'll take a look at how to submit your podcat to the podcast directory in the iTunes music store.

Click on the title of this blog posting to listen to this podcast episode. The transcript is provided below.

:: Transcript ::

Now that you've created your blog and made your first posting, it's now time to create the XML file that is required for your podcast to push media content to subscribers. One major reason for using a blog as a means for posting a link to your podcast on the Web is that most blogging software automatically creates an RSS feed necessary for a podcast. What is RSS you might ask? RSS is commonly used to refer to "Really Simply Syndication," is a popular method for sharing content without requiring readers to continually visit a website to see what is new. More details about RSS is covered in the workshop entitled, "Creating and Using Blogs" offered by the Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center.

RSS files are in XML format, with XML standing for Extensible Markup Language. What's important to remember is that the XML file is the element of the podcast that enables the "pushing" of the media file(s) to the subscribers rather than them having to manually revisit your website or blog to download the content.

Blogger automatically creates an XML feed of your blog and updates it every time you make a new posting to your blog. But, you need to make sure that you have the "Site Feed" option enabled. After logging-in to blogger and accessing the dashboard of your blog, click the "Settings" tab and then the link for the "Site Feed." Make sure that "Publish Site Feed" is set to "Yes" and that "Descriptions" is set as "Full." Further, note the Site Feed URL for your blog. You're going to need that in just a moment to create your podcast feed.

You might be thinking….ok…if Blogger automatically creates an XML feed of my blog and updates it every time I make a new posting, isn't that all I need? On some blog services, the automatically-created XML file is fine. However, Blogger doesn't save the media extensions necessary for podcatching software such as iTunes to see the locations of the .mp3 media files. Therefore, you need to take one more step before people can begin subscribing to your podcast.

Make sure that you've noted the site feed URL that Blogger lists in your blog dashboard. Write it down or copy & paste it into another browser window so you have it saved. Then, go to www.feedburner.com and enter the feed address that you just saved, check the box next to "I am a podcaster!" and then click "Next." Follow the step-by-step instructions provided to create your podcast feed on FeedBurner. You'll be prompted to create a free account on FeedBurner that you can use to return and modify your feed settings or add other feeds at any time. When you've finished this registration process with FeedBurner, you'll be provided with a link to your podcast. That URL is the URL that individuals wishing to subscribe to your podcast need to subscribe to using iTunes or some other media aggregator in order to receive your new episodes automatically. You can email the URL to those you wish to invite to subscribe, or you can add a link to your blog so that anyone who visits your blog will be able to easily subscribe to your podcast if they wish. In the next episode we'll discuss how to add a subscribe link to your podcast feed.

Click on the title of this blog posting to listen to this podcast episode. The transcript is provided below.

:: Transcript ::

Another way to syndicate your podcast beyond simply creating a link to your podcast XML feed is to submit your podcast to the iTunes music store. Millions of users are using iTunes to manage the iPod content as well as to purchase and download a variety of media from the iTunes music store.

Within the iTunes music store, there is a podcast directory including both free and for-purchase podcasts. When launching iTunes, click the option for the "Music Store" and then "Podcasts." From here, you can search the iTunes directory to find podcasts for a particular keyword, genre, etc.

Why would you want to submit your podcast to the iTunes music store? For one…to raise the visibility of your podcast and make it possible for anyone using iTunes to potentially find your podcast when conducting a search. Secondly…once your podcast is listed in iTunes, you are provided with a URL to your podcasts within iTunes that can be linked to from your blog, making it possible for someone to subscribe to your podcast with just 1-click. In the next episode, we'll discuss the addition of a 1-click subscription link to your podcast.

So how do you include your podcast in this directory of podcasts? To do so, simply launch iTunes and make sure you have navigated to the podcasts directory within the iTunes music store. Next, click the link to "Submit a Podcast" and complete each step when prompted by the podcast submission wizard. You will be prompted to enter the XML feed URL for your podcast, as well as some other descriptive information about your podcast, such as the author, keywords, and description. If you don't already have an Apple account, you'll be prompted to create one during this process.

That's it! After submitting your podcast, your submission will be reviewed and you will receive an email notification from Apple once your podcast has been reviewed and added to the music store. Any user will then be able to locate your podcast from within iTunes.

Click on the title of this blog posting to listen to this podcast episode. The transcript is provided below.

:: Transcript ::

So…you've created your blog and you have an mp3 file ready to post to your podcast. The first step is to make a posting to your blog and include a link in the blog posting to the .mp3 file. You will need to upload your .mp3 file to a some web server space. NIU provides faculty & staff with 300 mb of personal space on WebCRMA as well as an additional 300 mb of web space on the media server. Go to facdevmedia.blogspot.com and click on the link for the Computer Access Request Form to request a personal webspace account from ITS.

Once your personal webspace account is created and you have access, you are ready to upload your .mp3 file to the Web. Once your media file has been uploaded, anyone knowing the location of the file will be able to download it and then listen to it. However, by creating a podcast, the user can simply subscribe once to the podcast and then they don't need to worry about finding your media files for the episodes…your podcast XML file will take care of all those details for the users!

In the next episode we'll discuss creation of the XML file. For now however, your next step after uploading your media file is to make your first posting to your blog. If you are using blogger, you need to login to your blogger dashboard and then access your blog. Then, click on the "Settings" tab and then the "Formatting" option and ensure that the option to "Show Link Field" is set to "Yes." Save your settings and then republish your blog to put those changes into effect.

Now, you are ready to make your blog posting. In blogger, click on the "Posting" tab and then create a new post. You'll notice that you have a "Title" and "Link" text field above the message field for the posting. Give your posting a title and then copy & paste the URL for your .mp3 file into the link field. Doing so will cause the title of your posting to be a link to your audio file. You can include a description of your episode, or even better, a text manuscript of your episode, in the posting composition box. The most important thing to remember is that you need to include a link to your mp3 file somewhere in your posting, either in the title or the body of the posting.

Publish your posting and then check your blog to ensure that your new posting now appears on your blog. Tune-in to the next episode in our series to learn about creating the XML file for your podcast.

This is the first of a series of sample podcast episodes to be posted here. To download and listen to the .mp3 file associated with each episode, simply click on the title of the posting in this blog. Or, to listen to the audio online within your browser, simply click on the player below to listen.



Additionally, in this particular episode posting, a transcript of the narration is provided below. It's always helpful to have a manuscript, if possible, of audio files to ensure that your materials will be accessible.

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- Transcript -

Hello! Welcome to the world of podcasting!! Right now you are listening to a podcast! In the Faculty Development Pod-series, NIU faculty and staff have the opportunity to learn more about how to leverage podcasting technology to enhance the learning experiences of students in your class.

There are many technological solutions to recording and deploying podcasts. In the pod-series, you'll learn more about the steps necessary for creating and distributing media content such as this. The narration for this particular podcast episode was recorded on a PC using an $20 usb microphone and the free audio recording program called "Audacity." After recording the narration, a royalty-free background music loop was downloaded for free at musicloops.com and added to the music project before finally exporting as a .mp3 file. The .mp3 file was then uploaded to a web server and then linked to from a blog created for the sole purpose of serving as a podcast by creating the necessary RSS feed to make the podcast possible.

Now, that process just described may sound somewhat confusing but don’t worry, it's really not as cumbersome as it might sound. Remember that the FacDev Training Podcast is available at: facdevmedia.blogspot.com.

Enjoy your podcasting experience!