3+-+How+is+a+podcast,+vodcast+or+screen+cast+made+and+distributed?

=How is a podcast or screencast made and distributed?=

The popularity of podcasting is partially attributed to the low cost of production and ease of dissemination. Anyone with a computer and a microphone can create a podcast, or a stand-alone audio recorder or MP3 player with a built-in recorder can be used, allowing podcasters to record material without being connected to a computer. Audio is digitally recorded and an MP3 file is created using free software such as //Audacity//. //Audacity// is a free audio editor and recorder which is available for many different operating systems and in many different languages (Audacity Development Group, 2009). Recording a podcast with //Audcacity// entails pressing //record,// speaking into the microphone, and pressing //stop//. The resulting audio file is easily edited through a visual interface which allows the podcaster to remove unwanted segments. Some podcasts are distributed without editing, such as recordings of classroom lectures. Once the editing is complete, the file is converted to MP3 automatically by //Audacity// and uploaded to a website. (Robinson and Ritzko, 2009) Video podcasting requires a video camera or webcam, video editing software such as the free //Windows Moviemaker// or Apple's //iMovie// to create the MP4 or MOV file, followed by uploading to a web site. The process parallels the audio podcasting process.

Podcasts can be stored on web servers and class management websites such as Blackboard or Edline or shared using iTunesU. To use iTunesU, t he file is posted to a web-server with an RSS feed and the RSS web address is submitted to the iTunes Store. (Apple Inc., 2008) Users can subscribe to podcasts; the contents of their iPod will then be automatically updated to include the lastest installment of their subscription. Podcasts can also be posted on individual web pages for users to receive automatically using RSS and an email account. Manual downloading of podcasts is another option for delivery, but Brittain, Glowacki, Ittersum and Johnson claim that subscriptions and automatic delivery are defining characteristics of the podcasting genre (as cited in Robinson and Ritzko, 2009). Several free software programs are available for creating screencasts, such as //Jing// and //Screentoaster//. These new programs have made the process simple for anyone to create a screencast in very little time. For example, with //Screentoaster//, you do not need to download any files. The software runs from within your internet browser. A few keystrokes allow you to begin recording audio and capturing the action on your computer screen along with your narration. Screencasts are distributed by embedding them into blog, wiki or webpages. No knowledge of hypertext markup language (HTML) is needed. Once you have completed the screencast, the file is stored on the website and you merely copy the embed code provided by //Screentoaster// into your webpage. With RSS subscriptions, users are notified when new items are posted to the page. (Screentoaster, n.d.)

Studies have attempted to ascertain what the preferred length of a podcast is from the end user perspective. In Hew's 2009 review of three empirical podcast studies, he found a range for student's preference of podcast length to be from 5 to 20 minutes. (p. 342) Hew believes that the preferred length depends on an interplay of factors, including the content of the podcast, the perceived usefulness in the eyes of the user, and whether listening to the podcasts is made a mandatory requirement. (Hew, 2009)