Hey Everyone,

I was recently inteviewed by Linda Briggs of Campus Technology.  We had a conversation about podcasting in education and I think she did an excellent job taking my minutes of rambling and consolidating the responses.

Read the article online here:

Linda L Briggs, “Podcasting and Education,” Campus Technology, 1/16/2008, http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=57399

I was recently asked by Dennis Lembree, the founder of web development company CheckEngine USA which specializes in web usability, standards, and accessibility, to be a guest on Web Axe: a podcast and blog featuring practical web design accessibility tips.

Podcast #59: Jeffrey Frey on Accessible Podcasts

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Dennis speaks with Jeffrey Frey and discusses accessible podcasting, guidelines on audio/video web accessibility, and Jeff’s role at Rice University.

Jeff is the Web Services Manager for Enterprise Applications in the Information Technology Department at Rice University. He provides technology solutions for faculty, staff, and students on campus as well as teaches new technology courses at the School of Continuing Studies. He is available for podcasting consulting, is involved in the creation of podcasts for businesses and non-profits, and has owned a technical consulting company and an audio/video recording studio.

Download Web Axe Episode 59 (Jeffrey Frey on Accessible Podcasts)

Links from Jeffrey Frey’s Blog

• Section 508 Compliant Podcasting and Undue Burden
• Section 508 Compliant Podcasting
• Podcast Captioning
• Accessible Podcasts

Transcription and other related services

• Connecticut Secretary
• Noble Transcription Services
• CastingWords
• enablr
• Dragon NaturallySpeaking

As an update to this post: GHEC Presentation, the video is now online at http://www.vbpresenter.com/kbeedon/frey.

If you’re in the Houston area… I’m teaching another course at the Suzanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University… cool things to do online. :)

I do almost everything online, from wasting time watching tv, to doing research and making money.  As you all know, I also love educating people on technology.  So, why not teach a class to show people things you can do online?  I’ve picked 50 of the most asked about topics and my most loved things to do on the web, and will take students to a few websites per topic.  We’ll be finding a date and getting a divorce, eating better and creating a will.  I’ll also go through a bit of internet safety and how to block some of the not-so-fun sites online.

Four Thursdays, November 8-December 6, 2007, 6:00-9:00 p.m. (no class November 22)
Click here to see the official listing online and to register (space is limited).

RSVP today for the “The Why and How of Educational Institution Podcasting” webcast to be held on Thursday, November 1, 2007 at 1:30PM CST!!!

I will be using some of the new knowledge that I gained from the conferences I’ve been to and research that I’ve done recently to give a webcast for the Greater Houston Education Collaboration (http://www.ghecgroup.net/Fall2007.html)… look 1/2 way down the page.

The abstract talks about podasting as a relatively new technology that is being implemented and tested by some educational institutions within multiple departments and schools. Through examples of, and research into, what they are doing, I will be show the five main reasons to podcast. Also, podcasting is not a complicated endeavor as most of you know. I will be able to show the steps in the process of podcasting in the time alloted. Lastly, I will discuss the hardware and software needed to podcast with specific recommendations for all budget levels.

RSVP for Live Audience Participation
RSVP for Internet Live Stream

Watch Live Webcast This link will be activated on Thursday, November 1 at 1:25 PM CST. (On day of event, please sign on with your NAME and ORGANIZATION.)

Themes: Distance Learning: Use of podcasting to do so. Classroom Technology: How to record and post lectures. Internet Tools: Podcast providers and directories. Software: Garageband, Audacity, iTunes. Hardware: Portable recorders, mics, boards. Level: All. Audience: All.

Be sure to check out the rest of the webcasts on the page listed above… it looks like a pretty good line-up this fall!

The first class of “The Why and How of Podcasting” course that I am teaching at the Rice University School of Continuing Studies was last night. Checkout the Podcasting Course page for up to the date information. The course outline and brief class notes (my talking points) are posted online.

We also recorded a podcast in the class. Listen to it at TheWhyandHowofPodcasting.com.

The Links and Transcript to “11 – More Rice University Course Info” (3:50) released March 18, 2007 (click here to listen):

The Links:

• learn more on Jeff’s Site
• the Rice University Continuing Studies Site

The Transcript:

Hi, J.D. Frey here from the why and how of podcasting. There’s less than a month left until the course at the Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University, and I wanted to give those attending a little bit more info about what we’ll be doing and what they should expect in the course.

First, if you’re not enrolled and you’ve been *thinking* about signing up, as of last week there were still spots open. I’m not sure how many, but call 713-348-48 zero 3 to register for the course. That’s 713-348-48 zero 3.

If you’re *already* signed up for the course and listening to this… welcome! I’m looking forward to getting to know you, you’re podcasting ambitions, and help you plan, produce, publish, and promote your podcast.

Podcasting is a great way for a company to market themselves or communicate with employees, a church, ministry or non-profit to get their message out to world of listeners or communicate with members or volunteers, or just one person who has a passion about something and wants others to know about it… there are obviously many reasons to podcast… and I’m looking forward to hearing why you, coming to the class, want to do it.

So, what will we be doing in class? Our first class is April sixteenth and we will be, as I just said, sharing why we’re there and what our podcasting ambitions are. I also want to know what attendees need to get out of the class to make sure that I’m covering everything… and then we’ll be going through partaking of podcasts: how to find them, podcatchers, examples of great podcasts and maybe not so great ones… and they’ll be time left for breaks, discussions and a podcast that we produce in the class each week. It will be released here on the why and how of podcasting feed so that you can listen to it and others can hear what you’re up to in the class.

There will be homework each week that we’ll talk about or use in the following weeks class… don’t worry… it’s not a lot… you can put as much or as little effort as you want into it… it’s after all for you to learn more and work on your podcast.

Our second class will focus on planning your podcast with issues surrounding things like format, duration, equipment and such.

The third class will be all about audio. The fourth about video and screencasting. And in the fifth class we’ll talk about publishing a podcast… and not just a feeds or tags, but the other elements that podcasters use to really get their podcast out there… which kind of takes us into the sixth and last class on podcasting promotion. By that time, you’ll have watched me do a podcast like this one from start to finish, produced a podcast in class as a class, and you’ll publish your own self created podcast.

The lab that we’ll be in is Windows Operating system based, but I’ll also have a Mac OS X laptop and maybe a couple other machines that I bring in to talk about the software differences and demonstrate on.

I think that’s about all the info I had for you on the course. If you are thinking about attending and have questions, or you ARE attending and want to know something more about a class, have an issue with the date, need to contact me for some special instructions… email me at jdfrey@rice.edu… that’s J D F R E Y at rice dot E D U… or simply give me a call at 713-348-5827.

I’m J.D. Frey… if you’ve signed up for the course… I’m looking forward to meeting you soon… if you’re in the Houston area and you haven’t yet… do it… it’s going to be fun… as always… thanks for listening.

I got an inquiry about one of the comments I made during a podcast.  I said something like we’ll be using this podcast (http://www.thewhyandhowofpodcasting.com) during my upcoming training course.  What does that mean?  Well, there are six classes in the course… and for those of you reading this and not aware… I will be giving some podcasting training right here in Houston in a couple months.  There are six classes in the course, each one three hours long.  We’ll probably need about ½ hour worth of breaks and fluff in there, so that leaves 2 and ½ hours of teaching time.  I plan on teaching for 2 of those hours (both lecture and hands on), but will take the last ½ hour of or so and podcast.

I will be bringing some hardware and software with me to produce an audio podcast on site.  Each time, I might bring something different.  During the class, I’ll interview students, have them interview each other, maybe do a sample podcast of what they want to do a podcast about… who knows.  Whatever happens that week, I’ll broadcast it out over my podcast feed.  Subscribers of the feed, hopefully the people taking the course, and maybe some of their family / friends, will be able to hear themselves and share it with others.

I will obviously encourage everyone to find a place to publish their own podcasts, but I’m happy to use mine for showcasing those in the course.  It’s going to be fun.  If you’re interested in some more information about why to podcast, or how to podcast… check it out: http://jdfrey.libsyn.com.

This week… I’ve decided to quickly answer the 5 “W”s of me and how I podcast (who, what, where, when, and why).

There are four places available to me to podcast.  One, at the Rice University Digital Media Center.  There is a closet there that is set up with a professional microphone and a mac with garage band and audacity.  Two, Rice IT has a video podcasting room that I haven’t ever personally used, but clients have.  IT will help you with the editing and the posting of your podcast.  The third place isn’t really a place.  You can podcast anywhere if you have the right equipment.  I have a Roland Edirol R-09 portable digital recorder and have access to a lot of other portable recorders that friends have.

Fourth, and where I do most of my work, is my home.  I have a mac with garage band and audacity on it and a pc with audacity and pro tools from my recording studio days (cakewalk is on there as well).  What I really use is my Roland VS2480.  It’s a digital recording board with effects and editing.  I have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse attached to it and all my jingles/sound/effects/eqs/etc. are stored in there.  I power it on, bring up my podcast settings and start recording.  I also use two Shure KSM44s condenser microphones for recording.  Sometimes I audio hijack skype voicemails and sometimes I run them right into my board as another channel and use headphones.  I use the levelator if levels are different.  I use libsyn as my host.

I think that covers the Where… and maybe even the How…?  Thanks for the questions.

This week… I’m quickly answering the 5 most frequent questions that I get asked about me and how I podcast.  Check back tomorrow for “where do you podcast?”

My day job is at Rice University where I help faculty, staff, and students on just about anything they ask me to do.  http://webservices.rice.edu

I’m going to be teaching a class about podcasting at the Rice University School of Continuing Studies, so right now, I’m personally doing a podcast about that.  I’ll use the podcast during the class to showcase some of the students.  http://www.thewhyandhowofpodcasting.com

You can see me and hear my voice on a lot of podcasts (friends, ministries, research groups at Rice), though I try to stay silent and out of the way on them most of the time.  I consider all those client projects and don’t really associate myself with them completely because it might look as if I’m endorsing them.

The Links and Transcript to “6 – Your Hobby is Now Your Job” (4:59) released January 21, 2007 (click here to listen):

The Links:
•    Zoom H4
•    Rice U School of Continuing Studies Class
•    FORTUNE Magazine Article

The Transcript:

Sticking with the hobby theme that I’ve been on about “why to podcast,” I met up this week with a hobby podcaster who had a question for me: “What happens when your hobby, becomes your job?”

This is J.D. Frey from The Why and How of Podcasting, and though I don’t really podcast about my hobby… podcasting for me is both a part of my job, AND a part of my hobby.

I dug a little deeper into the question with my friend, and it turns out that she was podcasting about her hobby, but once she had to start spending so much time on it, she didn’t enjoy it anymore.  I obviously don’t think that this is specific to podcasting.  Many people think that if they could quit their day job and do that thing that they love… the world will be at peace… only to find that their hobby has now become their job.

Well, here are a few of my tips for dealing with an out of control hobby:

Number 1 – Get Another Hobby.  If your hobby has become your job, when do you take a break… and what do you do during it?  It important to know that too much of anything, even if it is a good thing, is actually bad.  I remember reading an article in FORTUNE magazine that talked about cross training your brain.  That people think concentrating on one thing is the most productive way of doing something… but it’s actually not.  You become more productive at each thing, when you are able to switch back and forth between them.  This is especially true if you’re struggling with a job… and can take a break with a hobby.  For our purposes, if you’ve quit the job… and are struggling now with the hobby… maybe it’s time to find a new hobby.

Tip Number 2 – Organize and Automate.  This is a big one for me… even as a general time saving technique.  What are those maintenance items that you take care of?  And What do you waste time doing or looking for?  Think of things that you can organize or automate to cut down on the time you spend doing them.  With podcasting, if you’re writing your own RSS script, find an application that will do it.  If you’re having to look up past transcripts to make sure you don’t say the same thing, put them all in a directory and search through them electronically.  If you feel like your tied to your computer every night because of something you have to do, see if you can set a job to run, or pre-date something, so that you can take a break.

Number 3 – Find a Buddy.  (laugh) And I’m serious about this.  Don’t go it alone.  Find someone with a similar skill set, passion, hobby, etc. and get them to help.  Even if you’re running a successful podcast yourself and need to take a break… tell your listeners what you’re up to and have them submit example podcasts to you.  You might find someone out there that would take your podcast for a month and do just fine.  It might be fun to have people submit podcasts to you, and if you get enough of them, run them all for a few weeks?  You could spend some time ahead of them introducing them or just put the same trailer on the front of every one explaining what’s going on.

So, whether you one – get another hobby, two – organize and automate, or three – find a buddy… the important thing is that you find a way to relieve your newfound stress.

Now, for a quick “how of podcasting”… last week I talked about the Edirol R-09 from Roland.  It’s a portable recorder that’s great for podcasting.  Though it’s not here yet, I actually just purchased a Zoom H4 recorder.  From reviews I’ve read, it seems like a great device and I’m anxious to get it.  Though people say it has a bit more noise, it has similar features, it costs less, and it has two built in phantom powered XLR inputs.  I’m doing something specifically in a few weeks where I wanted that feature… and, well, actually… I just want to play with it for a while so I can let you all know what it’s like and how it works.  If you haven’t heard of it yet, I’ll put a link in the transcript of this podcast to a review of it.

The last thing I want to talk about is a class.  After all, podcast education is actually why I started this.  If you enjoy these podcasts or my daily blog, you want to learn more about podcasting, and you’re in the Houston Texas area… be sure to sign up for my podcasting class at the Rice University School of Continuing Studies. Space is limited, since we’ll actually be podcasting during the class, and even though it’s in April… people are registering for it now… so sign up quickly.  I have a link on my website: thewhyandhowofpodcasting.com.  After all, again, that’s what this podcast is for anyway… the class.  We’ll be using this podcast to do some fun stuff during it.

Well, that’s it for this one.  Good luck with your podcasts and contact me if you have any questions.

I know this is pretty far away, but they opened registration and gave me this to hand out and post as a resource for those of you who might want to download it:

Click the image to download a pdf version of the document.

This is just a quick update to the podcasting course I’m teaching. I was asked to record a short promo for it and I’m including the transcript of it here. (Click here for advice on podcasting transcription.)

Transcript to “1 – Rice University Course Promo” (4:01) released November 16, 2006 (click here to listen):

Hi, this is Jeff Frey. I’m going to be teaching a course at the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas titled: The Why and How of Podcasting. It’s going be on Monday nights, six of them from April 16th to May 21st, 2007, from 6 to 9 o’clock. The school of continuing studies offers personal / professional development courses to the greater Houston area, and in this course, we’re going to be going through… just actually what it says… the why and how of podcasting. I’m going to take a couple minutes here to just talk through some of the questions that we’ll answer in the class, maybe the people that might want attend, and a question or two that I’ve already received about the course.

So, the Why and How of Podcasting… one of the questions obviously that I’ll address is why start podcasting? How about why to continue or restart podcasting? There will be some discussion around why podcasting has been embraced by some and not by others. The ‘how’ of podcasting gets into the technical portions. How to write a script? Set up a studio. How to record, produce, publish… the actual tasks of putting a podcast together and getting it out there. I guess there will be a bit of the ‘what’ and the ‘who’ in there is well. Ah, what is podcasting? What do I need to do it? And… who is podcasting? Who’s listening to podcasts? Who do I go to for more information or help about podcasting? Questions like that. So, you’ll have to come to the class for most of those answers, but for that last question, about help, you can check out my podcasting blog at jdfrey dot wordpress dot com. I’ve been helping business, churches, universities, and individuals podcast, and on the blog I basically share research that I’ve done, resources to use, podcasts to listen to, and I’ll write more about this course specifically as the time comes closer to it. I’m hoping that use it as kind of a companion to the class… so again, if you’re interested in taking the class… or even if you just want some more information about podcasting, go to j-d-f-r-E-y… so that’s jdfrey… dot wordpress dot com.

People that should attend the class. I always get that question when I speak or teach… sooo… I’d say whether you’re just wondering about what podcasting actually is. You’re thinking about doing a podcast and want to get started. Doing a podcast now and have some questions about monetization or tracking or something like that. Or maybe podfading has taken over and you’ve got a dead podcast on your hands and you need some help reviving it or starting a new one. I’m going to have specific directed content in this course for each of the situations that I just mentioned.

I did get a question already about the course being in a pc lab. I was a windows business guy for a while and became over time primarily mac based guy… but it’s important to note that podcasting is not tied to any one platform. We’ll be in a pc lab, but I’ll have some apple equipment that I bring in for us to play with as well. If you’re thinking about coming to the class and you have some questions like that one, feel free to email me… there’s an email link on my blog… or even if you aren’t coming to class and you have a question or two about podcasting… just let me know. I’ll either point you in the right direction, or address it on-line.

Sign-up early, space is limited. Go to www dot scs dot rice dot edu… the scs stands for school of continuing studies. You’ll see a link to Spring 2007, and again the course is six Mondays, from April 16th to May 21st, 2007, from 6 to 9 o’clock at night… it’s titled The How and Why of Podcasting. I’m Jeff Frey, your instructor for the course, and it’ll be at the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University in Houston, Texas… I hope to see you in class.

Thanks for the feedback on last week’s series about Podcast Captioning and Podcast Transcription. I put a lot of time into the research and compilation of those posts (as did some of my friends and colleagues), and the emails help to know it’s worth while.

This post is really just about a piece of info that some of you in the Houston area may be interested in. I will be teaching a course entitled “The Why and How of Podcasting” at the Susanne M. Glasscock School of Continuing Studies at Rice University. It will be on six Monday nights, April 16th through May 21, 2007, from 6pm to 9pm at night.

Topics will include the following:

• an overview of podcasting
• planning your podcast and issues surrounding content, frequency, and style
• creating audio and video for podcasting along with eq and mixing techniques
• compressing audio, adding metadata, art work, etc.
• publishing tools, posting, and RSS feeds
• promoting your podcast using blogs, directories, and pr tools

Really… just “why” you would podcast and the questions surrounding getting into it… then the “how” of actually doing it. It will be part lecture, part discussion, and part hands on doing it. It has been suggested that I start a podcast as a companion leading up to the class and then podcast segments of the course after it’s over. I am in the process of getting that set up and will probably start those in January 2007.

I can’t do a post and not give you some piece of podcasting information… so here it is:

If you are in the greater Houston Texas area and want to link up with other podcasters close by, go to http://www.houstonpodcasting.org. The website isn’t updated that often, but you can create a profile there that will allow you to give them your podcast feed information. They take all the feeds of the members and combine them to make one feed: http://houstonpodcasting.org/feeds/ghpa.xml. When you publish your podcast to your own feed, it also goes to anyone subscribed to this compilation feed.

In my saga to find a good podcasting class, I recently attended the Introduction to Podcasting class at the Rice Univeristy Digital Media Center. Here’s the description:

Introduction to Podcasting: 2005 saw an explosion of podcasts covering everything from esoteric music to science literacy. Want to create your own podcast by making available audio files for automatic download via the Internet? Fondren Library’s Electronic Resources Center is offering a two-hour course that will cover the basics of podcasting. Learn what a podcast is, how to record, edit and enhance the underlying audio, and how to make your podcast available on-line.

I was actually pleased to read through the handout and find the first items to be:

1. What the heck is a podcast?
2. Types of podcasts
3. Podcasting in education

These weren’t actually covered in the class because it was only a two hour short course, but at least it was in the handout and could be read over later. We jumped into the meat of the class right away discussing audio only podcasting. Everyone was given a Apple laptop with Audacity on it.  We created a podcast with it (a simple 2 minute recording with audio in-front and behind and some editing).

She then handed out a sample rss file on a thumb drive to everyone and explained step by step what the pieces parts were of that. Each person edited theirs to reflect what they were producing, and then she uploaded everything of hers to a space on the server so people could see how that worked. All in all, not a bad class. She decided to show GarageBand for the last 15 minutes or so and how enhanced podcasts could be created. In the handout were a list of tools for directories, audio devices, editing tools, on-line tutorials, rss tools, etc.

Not bad, though given a few of the beginners that came to the class, it might have been beneficial to go through some of the basics before diving into the technical. Bottom line for those of you teaching a class,

• please go through the basics and talk about the idea of podcasting…
• convey that it’s not tied to any one company, OS, or device…
• and if it’s hands on, be sure to ask people their skill level prior to asking them to do anything rough (like editing an rss file when they have no idea what that has to do with anything).

Maybe someday you’ll see me teaching a podcasting class, then you can come to it and tell me all the things I should be doing.