Edublogs Tutorials

Following the recent change to Edublogs, see Widgets, javascript, iframes and objects (and all that jazz) I have a couple of recommendations to make to those of you wanting to podcast with ease

1      GCast

2     TalkShoe 

Both of these fulfil the criteria I set when starting my research into podcasting for educators

• allows uploading of MP3 files
• allows downloading of MP3 files
• has unlimited free hosting
• allows a streamed listening via widget player
• this player can be embedded in an Edublogs sidebar (both of mine are there - take a listen)
• on clicking the link within the player, a user can then subscribe to your podcast via iTunes
• this type of recording can be imported to InnerTOOB to produce annotated podcasts

TalkShoe also has the facility for live broadcast

I hope this helps some of you who have found getting started in Podcasting a bit of a trial

Well, as you can see, I’m very pleased with the Talkshoe outcomes for Edublogs users who want to podcast.

All the requirements are there which make the platform a very useable one. In addition to this, I finally managed to get round to checking if an uploaded Talkshoe podcast or recording could be put into InnerTOOB and annotated.

Well, it seems that works as well. So it’s an all singing-and-dancing podcast service with all the requirements I had asked for.

Check out the InnerTOOB annotated podcast here

Well, this talkcast is probably the last in the live series of broadcasts that I’ve been doing of late. I have made a number of points with respect to the use of Talkshoe which are of benefit and some which are a challenge.

Using Talkshoe as a broadcasting tool is fine most of the time. I have used Shoephone, which is their VOIP ( like Skype) and for most a time it performs very well. However, when it does fail, you have no way of knowing that this is happening unless somebody who is listening feeds back to you. Even if they did this, you are unable to alter anything as I am told this is due to bandwidth issues.

Dave Nelsen (founder) says

“ShoePhone, like any VoIP service, can be disrupted by internet bandwidth or packet delay variance problems (AKA latency). This is not under your control or ours — just one of the hazards of sending delay-sensitive voice packets across the internet. As such, we recommend to hosts that they use a regular (land-line) phone if possible. ShoePhone is more for callers who can be muted if they are having audio quality problems.”

In addition to this, uses are advised to shut down any other VOIP software they may have running as this can cause potential conflicts. The problem I have with this for education is that users in Europe would have to pay international rates in order to join in a conference - if they wish to guarantee call quality.

However, if you consider Talkshoe as a Podcasting service and forget the broadcast part for the moment, I think it is the package that Edublogs users have been looking for for sometime.

here are some of the advantages:

• allows uploading of MP3 files
• allows downloading of MP3 files
• has unlimited hosting
• allows a streamed listening via widget player
• this player can be embedded in an Edublogs sidebar
• on clicking the title within the player, a user can then subscribe to your podcast via iTunes
• can be imported to InnerTOOB to produce annotated podcasts

I think for most people, this is the complete suite of requirements for podcasting and I am recommending this to the people who require all of these tools.

I had reviewed a number of other sites, and these include:

GCast

InnerTOOB

Gabcast

Voicethread

Edublogs

and although all of them are brilliant and free, each one has at least one restriction that seems to have frustrated a number of Edublogs users in the past.

So, there are now no excuses - podcasting within Edublogs has now come of age

I hope this information helps some of you move forward and start podcasting for yourself and with your children

I will be on air again next Sunday at 8pm GMT, 3pm EST so please persevere along with me - I think the concept is worth the effort

Talkcast No 2

Thanks to those who joined in today from Florida and Ireland

All didn’t go smoothly, but it’s a bit of a learning curve.  I think I clicked the mouse when I shouldn’t have and broke my end of the conversation.  Pat joining in made my voice go ‘gargly’ for no reason - so it was a bit of fun in the end

Trying to monitor and queue conversations when you can’t hear what folks are saying is hilariously difficult to do.

I have checked the recording on the Talkshoe site - was up in about 10 minutes
    Edublogs Tutorials Talkcast

and fortunately I haven’t added in any mumblings about the software or my ineptitude - phew!

Following a reasonably successful Talkcast using TalkShoe, I invite you to come and join in with the conversation next week at 8pm GMT, 3pm EST Sunday 27th January

Check if this time works for you

We will be discussing Edublogs and web 2.0 tools

Please feel free to email me with more specific things you would like to discuss and I’ll add them to this post

Many thanks to the patience of Patricia Donaghy from Ireland who joined me and helped iron out some of the operational issues, as we were both newcomers

This Talkcast is now available on the TalkShoe site - search for 12223 and it will be on your screen to listen to or to download. Please be aware that the forst couple of minutes of the recording sound like I’m gargling with water. It is also available on iTunes under Edublogs Tutorials Talkcast or the fresh (ungargling) edited version on Edublogs Tutorials GCast with in and outros

Have a look at Patricia’s post Join in Interactive Discussions with TalkShoe

In order to get the widget player thingy in your sidebar:

1. Log in to your TalkShoe account
2. at the bottom of your player, there’s a ‘get & share’ button
3. click on this and then choose ‘embed’
4. click the ‘copy’ button to get the code
5. Log into Edublogs dashboard
6. Click on “Presentation” in the main navigation bar.
7. Click on “Widgets” in the sub-navigation bar.
8. Get yourself a “Text” widget - scroll down to the “Text Widgets”section and give yourself a new widget by increasing the number in the drop down box by one.
9. Drag your new widget (They’re alphabetical) to the sidebar where you’d like it to appear.
10. Click on the edit button for your new widget (On the right side).
11. Paste in the code
12. hit save
13. take a look at your new TalkShoe player - voila

Hi folks

Following last week’s effort, I shall be trying again tomorrow evening at 8pm GMT - that’s 3pm EST and I think 12:00 PST

Feel free to join me - if I get it all right this time

Well despite my best efforts, Saturday’s talkcast was a bit of a failure.  I did rehersals and they went fine but the live event was dismal.  I think I was a bit ambitious with my aspirations as a broadcaster and wanted to have an all bells and whistles effort, but ensuring your mic is live always helps!

I managed to get a pre-recorded intro in, but with poor quality,  and the live talk and what could have been some discussion seemed not to be functioning.  I have a suspicion that at some point, my mic was muted out and I’d missed it as I was reading from a set of notes.

Apologies to anyone who was listening to the sound of silence, whilst I was chatting away happily to myself - still, some lessons learned

Pdonaghy,  Clickspice – alias Alec Dorling who were there but  I couldn’t get to them.  I did get a message, but by the time I’d seen it, pd had gone.  Sorry for being a poor host

Ho hum.  Not to worry - Ill be having another go next week at the same time - I’ll keep you posted - or let me know if you are planning to have a go and you can have a sympathetic ear

Hi all

Happy new year to you all and welcome to this next adventure.

I came across Talkshoe some time back but I was jarred into action when Steve Hargadon invited me and others to join him in a talkcast. This is quite simple an open broadcast, like internet radio, but with the opportunity for others to simply listen, or to take a step in and contribute. The latter requires that you have a Talkshoe account but it is all free as usual.

How to talk

You can join in by text chat or by audio via Skype, VOIP or dial in on your phone or cell. Having listened in on Steve’s, it would appear that there were lots of difficulties with feedback and mic levels.

I used Talkshoe’s own internet phone system Shoephone and it worked without doing anything at all - very easy and free, like Skype.

I always use a headset microphone to speak into and I leave the earpiece lead out of my PC and have the sound come through the speakers

Oh yes. Talkshoe also allows you to record and publish your discussion and to have it listed in iTunes as a podcast so archiving a discussion couldn’t be easier

How could this apply to the classroom?

Collaborative projects

Visiting speakers shared out with other schools

Discussion on visits that more than one school/class have taken part in

As usual, I am stepping well outside my comfort zone and technical abilities to investigate the uses of this tool. If you would like to join me on Saturday, please do

Remember you can

a) lurk

b) text chat

c) be brave and join me

in the case of all of you being A’s, I will just talk about the technology and my recent journey. If you would like to join in, we’ll have a chat about Edublogs and the innovative ways you are using it.

How It Works

Well despite my best efforts, Saturday’s talkcast was a bit of a failure. I did rehersals and they went fine but the live event was dismal. I managed to get a pre-recorded intro in, but with poor quality, and the live talk and what could have been some discussion seemed not to be functioning. I have a suspicion that at some point, my mic was muted out and I’d missed it as I was reading from a set of notes.

Apologies to

Pdonaghy, Clickspice – alias Alec Dorling who were there but I couldn’t get to them. I did get a message, but by the time I’d seen it, pd had gone. Sorry for being a poor host

Ho hum. Not to worry - Ill be having another go next week at the same time - I’ll keep you posted

I did say I would contact GCast support and see what they could do about their embedded player and the url link for their files not ending in .mp3 (a requirement for using InnerTOOB)

I asked:

I’m doing some research around Podcasting, GCast and InnerTOOB and trying to synthesise a package for digital storytelling

I think GCast is turning out to be a great package for what I want to do

There are a few questions I would like some help with, if at all possible

1 Is there likely to be any development work on a widget that allows Edublogs.org users to embed your excellent player, as the current script or code doesn’t work?

2 In order to use the InnerTOOB.com annotation facility (which is important for educators), I need to have a link for my uploaded file ending in .mp3 or .flv. I have looked at your links on the uploaded files in my GCast channel, but they are not in this format – I’d love to be able to link this in – any help here would be greatly appreciated – are your uploaded files .mp3s

3 Does an uploaded GCast channel automatically get submitted to iTunes, or do I have to do that independently using Feedburner or similar

This is what they had to say

Jennifer Carafelli

Thank you for contacting GarageBand Support. Our support team is not familiar with the Edublogs platform, so we are not exactly sure what the problem is. If you can describe in more detail what’s happening we will do our best to help out.

Thank you for contacting GarageBand Support. I sent you an email about edublogs for more information as we are not familiar with it. Unfortunately we don’t have hosting the supply .mp3 links in URLs. All files uploaded are MP3’s but we just don’t have a direct link URL

I have sent lots of info including links etc but will continue to have a dialogue with them

I’ll let you know what happens

I have had a go at using the visual podcasting service from Voicethread and I have to say, it was pretty intuitive.

I only had one slight problem in production -I forgot to add my intro music at the beginning. There’s probably a simple way to do it, but I didn’t find it.

+ points

1. very easy to use
2. allows contribution by voice, video or saved recording
3. allows feedback and comments - moderated by the creator (this thread’s moderated)
4. embeds into Edublogs posts

-ve points

1. does not integrate with iTunes
2. allows students to browse other Voicethreads by other people - I do not know if this is moderated

I would highly recommend having a go at this - you might like to  comment on my production or just saying ‘hello’ - in fact, I’d really like to see what it looks like to have a collaborative podcast and see if this would work in the classroom. My suspicion is that it would be brilliant

Well I’ve managed to put out another one. This podcast is about my investigations into GCast and InnerTOOb which I think both offer great opportunities for educators to get involved in podcasting.

GCast is a hosting site and you can add your mp3s there and simply add a link on your post. when you are redirected, there are lots of podcast subscription services you can use, including iTunes, just with the click of a button.

You can also have this added to your homepage in Google, Yahoo, MSN as well as subscribing by email.

Option 1:

Option 2: add to your start page

Option 3: This means you really don’t need to go through all the trivia of setting up feeds using feedburner. However, the podcast does have some notes and tags when you upload it and my next step is to see if this gets transferred to the iTunes information for the podcast - if it does, then great.

The slight downside, as mentioned before, is that the GCast player does not embed into the blog, otherwise folks could access your podcasts directly from your Edublogs site. - still, small discomfort to have unlimited upload space and hopefully auto iTunes integration

I was also hoping to link CGast uploads with Innertoob but at the moment, I can’t seem to get innertoob to accept the GCast files - I’ll keep on working at this.

Here are the three versions

Number 1 

Podcast 4

and Number 2

and on Number 3

You choose which one seems best for you at the moment

For homework, I have set myself the challenge of using the visual podcast, VoiceThread

Take a look at the tutorial - done in voicethread -this service embeds beautifully

I’ve just come across InnerTOOB and initial thoughts are that it fills a niche in the podcasting market for schools - free, of course

Like a blog, there’s the chance to add text to support the audio file , but there’s also the opportunity to reply to sections. This is done by adding markers to the podcast or toobcast, (as I now think of them) where a text box then becomes available.

The only bit I need to check is if the comments can be moderated - if not, this could lead to all sorts of issues - I’ll keep you posted - not found a way of doing this yet - but you can disable comments and have it read-only

Here’s podcast 3a as a link

It would appear their embedded player doesn’t embed here - nor in the side bar widgets

I have annotated the podcast - turning it into an enhanced podcast - it’s just waiting for you to add your comments, or just have a read. I’ve added links and commentaries to break up the content, but you can also add audio and video - but you have to record and host it elsewhere.

HOSTING - innerTOOB do not host your files - you will need to get them online elsewhere - there are lots of places to do this www.divshare.com is just one. All innerTOOB requires is the link for your file and then you can play with it.  This is p[roving to be a bit of a problem as I can’t seem to get innerToob to recognise any new files I try to add

I did find that I couldn’t manage to set up my own TOOB - a channel to collect all my recordings in, so at the moment, it’s just the one podcast. Still, it is a bit of fun and different.

At the moment, I’m in conversation with Daniel Nelson from Intrascopic Media who run the site to find out exactly how to use this in conjunction with Edublogs - I’ll let you know the outcomes

Sorry to those who were waiting for the rest of this - it seems that the 3 slices I made the podcast into are now too big to upload. I have lost the original and need to resew and then recut into 4 new episodes.

It’s too much of a pain to ask you folks out there to do, so I’m looking for an alternative

It is probably easier to go to Wes Fryer’s site and listen to the podcast there or download it or simply subscribe via iTunes (not sure that episode is still available though)

My first choice for simplicity seems to be GCast - something I’ve kept in mind for a while now (also Ourmedia, but I hear it’s not too good at handling the media)

GCast also integrates instantly with iTunes - a feature that is much too difficult to set up with Edublogs embedded mp3 files. By the time I had registered and uploaded a demo, my podcast feed was already in iTunes - brilliant, just what I need - a programme that does it for me

As ever, things are not straightforward and their player which shows all your podcasts in the sidebar, doesn’t work with Edublogs

I see from the forums (or is it fora?) that others have had the same problem but prefer GCast for hosting as they have no limit to uploads - Edublogs has 100Mb total and 10Mb for each podcast - a bit short for serious stuff, but ok for a quick book or field trip review

I have contacted James who recommended requesting thet GCast develop a plugin or embed code that works for the 100,000 users, which I have done

I’ll let you know how that pans out

This should be Podcast 3b

Well I have managed to get out another podcast - this time using Garageband and my new Macbook laptop
Although it is all fresh and a little trying at times, it seems that Garageband is pretty simple to use yet sophisticated.

I have put together a compilation from one of Wesley Fryer’s podcasts - no.148, I think, where he introduces Kevin Honeycutt, an Educational technology specialist (ICT in the UK) speaking at a conference.

His title was “building 21st Century achievers” and focuses on the exciting prospects that technology holds for our younger generation and how change needs to be implemented.

Funny, engaging and well worth the 50 minutes or so to listen to

Wes Fryer’s website is www.speedofcreativity.org

Sorry, due to upload size restrictions, I think this podcast is a little too big -I’ll have another go at uploading in the next week

It is well worth waiting for

It will probably have to be split into 3 sessions - sorry for that

Podcast 3a

Just for information - it seems that an mp3 file takes 1Mb for each minute recorded. So the maximum upload for a podcast on Edublogs is going to be 10 minutes - useful to keep in mind

Podcast 3 b.mp3
Podcast 3 c.mp3

Well, spurred on with the excitement of putting out my first podcast, and that someone had actually listened to it, I thought I’d do another.

I have to say, it was much easier the second time round as I knew how to prepare and make the outline a bit more formalised.

This podcast is about using blogging as a tool in the classroom and explores some of the ways students can get involved as well as parents and carers

To get started with digital storytelling, try using www.bubbleshare.com it’s really simple - look up the bubbleshare category in my left sidebar

Please feel free to add in your bit so others can see what you are doing too by clicking on the comments button on this post

I have just upgraded to macbook, so I’ll be reporting on how that works out - I think it’s going to be a whole lot easier

Podcast #2 - using blogs creatively

You can subscribe (free) to this podcast by clicking on the iTunes button (top right) or go to iTunes and select iTunes store>podcasts and then search for “edublogs tutorials”

Hit the subscribe button and then all the new episodes get sent automatically to your iTunes

Equally, you can use other major podcast services if you prefer

Well here it is The Edublogs Podcast #1

This was produced in audacity and was great fun to do. Hopefully, in the near future, I’ll manage to get another podcast out with more info on the great fun you can have Edublogging in school

The music is thanks to Podsafeaudio

and I have used the creative commons license to add some original remixable music from two artists

1 Frank Royster - Kool Kat does jellyfish

2 Everyday Jones - All You Said

many thanks to these artists

Podcast #1

Well - I think all the bits of the jigsaw have come together for me and I can not only start podcasting properly, but I can also (hopefully) help all those others out there to do so as well

This has been a VERY long journey of discovery, untangling all the techno-jargon and geek-level responses to the apparently simple task of putting together a podcast - no offence meant to those who have contributed to my learnings on this journey - it’s just that I’m a bit slow on the uptake and need really clear, simple instructions on how it can be done.

This is what I’ve been trying to work out and achieve for at least a year now - having already got to grips with recording and making an mp3 (podcast recording) - what to do with it then so others can listen easily

1. record your podcast into mp3 format (done)
2. get it online (where, how, which site etc)
3. add some description and picture ( still in progress)
4. have it so others can download via iTunes ( total mystery, unless you have a Mac)
5. add an iTunes subscribe button so others can simply go from your site ( wherever that was) and have iTunes automatically add the podcast and allow you to use this to download in bulk for your player/computer

So there it is

I shall be adding podcast #1  very soon  - well as soon as I can work out what to say - I didn’t expect to get this working for at least another year, so it’s caught me on the hop

Perhaps I’ll just read this post as a test
If I can get my screen recorder to work, Ill also add some screencasts (videos) of how to do each bit and that’ll make life much easier

Stand by

I had a comment from Kim on podcasting and this was my response

I know podcasting does look a bit of a secret society, only accessed by the technologically competent, but in fact there are some simple steps you can take.

Rather than run you through everything, it’s probably better to point you to some resources I’ve collected on my professional blog under Podcasting (72)

Also if you do a search for audacity on my site Open Resource Centre, you’ll get some video tutorials which should help, or search on Google for audacity

You can also check out my Vodpod videos

By the way, all you need is a PC, microphone (often built in to laptops), audacity (free) and edublogs (free) and you can broadcast to the world - unless you have a Mac in which case it’ll probably do it all for you

Please let me know if this helps you out or if you need any more info - I’ll post it in more detail of required

Well it would look like delayed intelligence has raised its head again.

Have you ever read instructions and they have made no sense at all? Yet when you work out how to do it, they somehow translate themselves into a new, friendly language.

Well that’s just what has been happening with this podcast thing.

Now I’m sure there’s no-one else out there who wonders what to do with a podcast when you’ve put it onto your edublog site - well I’ve been trying to sort this out for perhaps a year or so now. I know it’s simple and I should have asked, but everywhere I went - forums, blogs, podcasts, the universe, it seemed that this was a bit tricky.

I knew you could host a podcast on a blog

You can then submit it to iTunes

You can then let others see it on iTunes

Step 2 had me beat.

Until I read this Podcaster Tech Specs article on the …. - I know it sounds silly - but it’s on the iTunes website - yes I had looked all over this but didn’t find this info - or maybe I just didn’t SEE it!

So here are the instructions in my words - hopefully others will understand because it still took me some time to decode the iTunes instructions

1. Make a podcast (contact me if you are stuck here)
2. Upload it to your edublogs blog
3. Adding an mp3 player to a post -ideal for podcasting
4. You are now ready to move to iTunes
5. download iTunes 7 if you haven’t got it already
6. Go get your RSS feed for your blog
7. to do this, right click on the RSS logo on your site
8. click on Copy shortcut or copy link location - whichever one turns up
9. this will copy the “feed” for iTunes to work with note steps
10. James has been great and has sent me some further instructions
11. The main thing is that the feed address you get from your RSS button on your edublog is not right for podcasting.
12. So it needs some change to the end of the address
13. Just replace the end bit which says /feed/ with /wp-rss2.php
14. Now when you do stage 9, it works.
15. I thought I’d hit a brick wall but found out that there’s a delay in iTunes picking up the feed
16. ALSO, you need to make sure that there is an mp3 in the last 10 posts on your blog or your feed won’t pick this up
17. To alter the number of posts it will “see”, go to the admin dashboard
18. Go into Options>Reading
19. Change the RSS bit to a bigger number - I set mine to 50
20. The feed will now pick up the last 50 posts
21. In the Advanced menu, select Subscribe to Podcast.
22. Enter your feed URL (paste it in) in the text box and click OK.
23. Next to the new podcast subscription, you should see an orange circle, which indicates that iTunes is downloading your most recent episode
24. Double-click on the episode to play it in iTunes.
25. If you can successfully play the episode, then your feed is working and you can submit your podcast to iTunes.
26. However, if the orange circle is replaced by an “i” in a black circle, iTunes encountered a problem with your feed or episode.
27. You should troubleshoot your episode and feed before submitting it.
28. Please do not submit your feed until you can successfully subscribe using the Advanced menu.
29. If you can successfully subscribe to your feed using the Advanced menu in iTunes, you’re ready to submit your feed:
30. The next bit needs you to sign up for an iTunes account
31. You will need to add your credit card details to identify you
32. Launch iTunes.
33. In the left navigation column, under iTunes Store, click on the Podcasts link to go to the Podcasts page.
34. In the left column of the Podcasts page, in the For Podcaster’s box at the bottom, click on the Submit a Podcast
35. That’s as far as I have got as I need to read a bit more to try and find out about adding tags and pictures to my feed
36. This involved using www.feedburner.com to change the RSS feed code to include your picture and description of the podcast - so far, I’ve had no luck with this
37. Back to step 16

So not so much

More

We’re getting there

James also offered to write a full tutorial for this, so maybe it’ll all become clearer than my efforts

If you want to get involved with voice communication, here are some tips for adding this functionality to your blog. As you can see, these are now available in my right hand side bar.

To find how to out this functionality, take a look at Customising your side bar

and remember that you can add as many of these as you wish by increasing the number of text box widgets you require. When you start, this number will be set to 1 and you can increase it as you wish. To make these additional text boxes, you will find the drop-down just underneath the widgets part.

Adding a Skype availability button to your blog or website

Springdoo - talking e mails, no keyboard or typing skills needed, podcast

Send me an Odeo - add a voice message button to your blog or website

Have fun with the shout box, Odeo voicemail or have a go at Springdoo they are all great fun.

Many thanks to Carlos Raul Lopez Reatiga who independently sent me an Odeo message - see his message in the Shoutbox