Podcasting Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

ITS recently conducted a survey with over 50 respondents. 74% of students said they would not stop coming to class' that they view podcasted lectures as supplements to coming to class, reporting that they sometimes miss things that are said especially when taking notes. You may be unsurprised to hear that 97% of students surveyed would like their professors to podcast. It is also worth mentioning here that lecture podcasts are only the tip of the iceberg. Interviews with external experts or industry, supplementary lectures and information are all additional uses of podcasting.

As mentioned above, 97% of students surveyed already have expressed a strong desire for their professors to podcast, reporting that 'this would help me learn'. Lectures are certainly not the only use of podcasting. There are dozens of other uses such as interviews with external experts or industry, supplementary discussions and information on troublesome concepts, language listening and speaking practice and much more. Additionally, professors need say something once and direct students to it rather than repeating the same explanation many times over. With iTunes U, professors can direct students to their own podcasts, but also to the millions of free podcasts on their subjects available in now.

Easy!

• Choose what you want to record
• Choose a recording option
• Record it (edit it if needed)
• Choose a publishing option
• Publish it
• Tell students where to find it

• Mp3 format for audio files
• Mp4 for video files
• PDF for text files

Contact Media Services for assistance with video production and editing.

Absolutely. The chances of something happening to the podcasting server or to iTunes U are slim, but it is always good practice to keep a back-up of your podcast files.

It depends. You must first get permission for the original creator first and keep a record of this permission. Permissions vary rom publisher to publisher. Visit the Quick Links section of this site for more details.

iTunes is a free application from Apple that can be used with Mac or PC. It plays all your digital music and video on your computer. It can sync content to your iPod, or iPhone. It is not a web site, but can access the web. It is a software application (among others known as podcatchers) that can automatically identify and download new files associated with the podcasts and/or play and manage directly downloaded video, audio or pdf files.

Within iTunes is the iTunes Store, accessed via the web, where users can listen to/watch samples of music, videos, movies and purchase them. There are also many free podcasts users can subscribe to. Within the iTunes Store, is iTunes University where many of the worlds major educational institutions have there content. While many of the files in the iTunes Store are for purchase, the files in iTunes U are free.

For more information: visit About Apple iTunes | Watch a Video Overview | Download iTunes

Both are places to house your recordings, but iTunes U allows you to house, organize and play podcasts and files. The USD Podcasting Server simply houses them. However, with the server option, you can link your casts to CE and other web sites easily. As well, professors have instant access (once the open an account) to uploading and linking with the server. For more details see the Publish section of this site.

Public access means that anyone in the world with an Internet connection and Apple iTunes can see the materials. Private means you must be USD faculty, staff or students to see it. Materials can be designated as 'Private' during upload, requiring a USD log-in to view them.

To see the private-to-USD-only content, you must log in to iTunes U through a web interface using your USD user name and password. After you log-in, iTunes should open automatically, provided you have it installed on your computer. Download iTunes.

You can request this through your department Content Approver. See the iTunes U publishing option for details.

No. Everything appearing in USD iTunes U is free to access.

In iTunes U, users are given an option to Get Tracks or to Subscribe. When users click Get Tracks, they download only the tracks currently listed in the album. If anything new is added to the album later, they must manually download it. If the user had clicked Subscribe, the current list of tracks is downloaded and anything new that is added later will automatically be downloaded. This is what distinguishes a 'podcast' from a simple downloadable file.

Not at this time, although it is rumored that other devices will be useable soon. The UK's Daily Telegraph has reported that it was announced at Mac World 2009 that this will be changing soon. (read the article) To work around this, files in iTunes can be burned to a cd and then placed on other devices or converted to mp3 (as opposed to Apple's own AAC). A Google search will render the instructions you'll need.

Have a question that is not on here? Please let us know. Send you question toitunes@sandiego.edu.