Podcasting allows students to access digital audio, video, or documents on their laptops, desktops computers, smart-phones, and mp3 players directly from iTunes U.  Providing content in these mobile formats increases student engagement outside the classroom by creating an additional avenue for reviewing lectures and other course materials while on the go.

FaCIT has developed an informational website dedicated to helping faculty begin podcasting at CMU.  That website can be found at http://chipcast.cmich.edu. 

The Chipcast website has an in-depth approach to podcasting at CMU, but for a quick overview of what it takes to get started, review the steps below:

Step 1.) Request an iTunes U section for your course in Blackboard

• First, log into Your Bb course control panel, and click on iTunes U
• Next, request the activation of your iTunes U course shell

Requesting an iTunes U course in Blackboard restricts access to your content so only those students registered for your course can see it.  Once you have received confirmation that your course is setup in iTunes U, move on to step 2.

Step 2.) Fill out a Workflow Request Form located HERE

The workflow request form will provide the information we need to tell our servers how to encode and where to publish your content.  On the form, there are 4 workflows to choose from, each reflecting a different mobile-format:

1. Podcast - Audio only: Great for lecture review outside the classroom. A one-hour lecture is approximately 18MB.
2. Screencast - Lecture Slides and Audio: Great for allowing students to review presentation slides with lecture audio, anytime, anywhere.  A one-hour lecture is approximately 50MB.
3. Vidcast - Video and Audio Great for presentation critique or evaluation.  One-hour lecture is approximately 190MB.
4. PDF Documents - Great for putting your course documents in your student’s hands.

Once your workflow is setup, you will be able to automatically publish your content in a mobile format to iTunes U.  All you have to do is hit publish, and the workflow does the rest. Remember, you must be sure your iTunes U course has been setup before filling out the form.

Step 3.) Select recording software and devices and begin podcasting!

Chipcast.cmich.edu has a section dedicated to choosing the right recording software and devices, so check it out to make the right choice. In addition, the staff at The Faculty Center for Innovative Teaching is ready and available to assist you, or your department, in creating podcasts of your course. For more information contact 774.3615 or fill out a workshop request form located here.