How to use Podcasting

These instruction sheets are a guide for creating and subscribing to Podcasts

What you will require to be able to use Podcasting

- Access to a computer and the Internet - MP3 Player or IPod (optional) - Headphones

What is Podcasting?

Podcasting is fast becoming a mainstream medium of communication. Podcasts are audio fi les that can be delivered over the internet to a PC, iPod or MP3 player etc. via RSS (RSS is a format for delivering changing web content on a regular basis e.g. a Radio show that is broadcast regularly can be forwarded/delivered to a PC, iPod or MP3 player automatically each time it is on and you can then listen to it at another time that suits you).

Podcasting can be used for talk shows, tutorials, educational training, comedy clips, debates etc. Businesses also use podcasts as a means of marketing and communication.

Why use Podcasts?

Unlike the traditional radio, podcasting allows users to choose what they want to listen to and when. Once you subscribe to a podcast you will receive your chosen information on a regular basis and can then listen to it at a time that suits you.

In education, podcasts can be used for updating parents on what is going on at the school. Educators can use podcasts to emphasise important aspects of a course which has benefi ts for students who are absent. As podcasts can be conveyed by audio or video fi le this means an educator can podcast a recorded class, a play, a science demonstration etc.

How do I create a Podcast?

If you have access to a PC and the Internet and have a good quality microphone you have everything you need to create your own Podcast. Download “Audio Editing Software”

If you would like to create a Podcast on a topic e.g. an educational tutorial or a marketing piece you will need an “Audio Editing Software” package on your computer.

There are many different software packages available. For the purpose of this guide we will be using software called Audacity. You can download Audacity for free from http://audacity.sourceforge.net

Follow all the instructions on the website to install Audacity.

Once you have successfully installed Audacity it will appear as an icon on your desktop. When you double click on the Audacity icon on the desktop the following (or something similar) should appear:

Connect Microphone/Headphones

- Connect Microphone/Headphones to your computer To test that your Microphone is working bring up the Sound applet–from the Start Menu (Click Start, Click Control Panel and then Click on Sound/Audio Devices). Under the Recording or Voice Tab follow the steps for testing your Voice/Recording hardware.

- Once things are working properly, press the OK button to close the sound window.

Make a Recording

- Open Audacity (double click on the desktop icon) At the top of the window, you’ll see “buttons” for controlling your audio recording. (Move the mouse over each button and the function of that particular button will appear)

- Press the Red button to start recording and start speaking naturally.

- As you speak into the microphone, you’ll see a visual indication of your recording–the waveform (moving red bars) for your voice.

- When you are fi nished, just click the Yellow (square) button to stop the recording.

- To listen back to your recording, click once on the Green (arrow) button.

If there are problems with the playback e.g. you can’t hear anything or it is muffl ed or unclear you need to check your microphone settings once again (see above).

Save a Podcast

When saving a Podcast you have two options:

1. Save as a fi le to open using audacity (You will use this option while you are creating and editing a Podcast)

- Click on File

- Click on Save Project As

- Choose where to save your File

- Give your File a name

- Click Save

2. Save as a fi le which can be opened using another programme e.g. MP3 player/iPod etc. (You will use this option when saving your fi nal/fi nished Podcast for uploading to a website. Generally Podcasts are saved as MP3 Files)

- Click on File

- Click Export

- Choose where to save your File

- Give your File a name

- In the Save as Type box, choose your format from the dropdown list provided

- Click Save.

- Next you’ll see a dialog box “Edit Metadata”. For now you can just click OK. The fi rst time you save a fi le in MP3 format a dialog box will appear requesting a fi le called LAME. To install LAME click Download. Follow the instructions on the website that opens. The LAME MP3 encoder software allows you to save recordings as MP3 fi les.

- Exit Audacity Finally, upload your podcast to the website for public viewing/hearing e.g. the Silent K website. The steps for uploading depend on the website you are uploading to. Check out the individual website for help on this.

Additional Functions

There are many more things you can do to enhance your Podcasts such as add intro music, add effects etc. To learn about these function use the help function in the Audacity package.

How do I subscribe to a Podcast?

You only need to subscribe to any given Podcast once. Subscribing to a Podcast means that it will be delivered to your PC, iPod or MP3 player automatically when new content is added.

You will need a piece of software on your computer which will detect when new additions or versions of a Podcast becomes available and “catch” it to automatically deliver it to your PC etc. This software is called a “Podcatcher”.

There are various versions of Podcatching software available. (If you currently own an MP3 player then chances are it came with this software and you will not need to download it). For the purpose of this guide we will use a “Podcatching” software called Juice.

To download Juice go to the website http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net and follow the on screen instructions.

Once you have downloaded Juice successfully an icon will appear on the desktop.

Subscripting to a Podcast

Double click on the Juice icon to open the programme

- Click Tools

- Click Add a Feed

- Type or Paste in the Podcast address in the URL fi eld (you will fi nd this in the address bar on the website that hosts the Podcast)