Put It On the 'Board
Tuning up Blackboard for Podcasting
Podcasting has exploded in popularity as a communication and education vehicle. It is a service requested by UNL faculty members to enrich their teaching. Podcasts are logical course component that students can download just like PowerPoint and lecture notes. That is why Information Services has its eyes and ears tuned to Blackboard, UNL's course management system.
"We've used Blackboard software since 1998, so we've built up a lot of expertise with the system," says Paul Erickson, Academic Technology Coordinator. "The majority of UNL faculty and nearly all students already use My.UNL. We already have a lot of investment in hardware for Blackboard and we've built a lot of support resources. Adding podcasting to all of this just makes sense. If we can build a tool to take advantage of everything that Blackboard already has going for it, then it gives everyone the freedom to focus on creating great content instead of reinventing the wheel."
UNL and Dartmouth teamed up with vendor Learning Objects to provide a software extension for faculty to publish podcasts through Blackboard. "More than twenty institutions around the world contributed requirements for this project," says Erickson. "I guess that we were just two of the schools least willing to let the project drop. Learning Objects came in because we (UNL) had worked with them to build another Blackboard tool for us. They were great to work with on the technical side and were also good with the idea of letting us open up that project to the world as 'open source' once we were finished. Opening the source of this podcasting project was something that Mark and I felt very strongly about, so (having already established the precedent with Learning Objects on the previous project) that was a great fit for Learning Objects as well."
Mark O'Neil, an Academic Applications Developer at Dartmouth University, sees some lasting benefits to delivering podcasts through Blackboard. "Content is readily bound to the course and readily archived with the course. By using a tool which Faculty is already familiar with (Blackboard) they can easily upload audio as podcast content. Students, seeing Blackboard as the canonical resource for course-related content can readily and with minimal effort find the podcast materials and subscribe to the podcast should they choose.
"We currently have about a half dozen courses experimenting with recording and delivery of lectures," says O'Neil. "Our Medical School is actively recording lectures and making that content available to Faculty for dispersal. Having a tool within Blackboard to facilitate the creation of and access to podcasts will be a tipping point for their use on campus."
Erickson agrees. "The goal of this project was to anticipate any major demand for podcasting in a way that could be scaled out to large numbers and also be well-supported. Since Blackboard is the software that most courses use and it also already has space for all Recognized Student Organizations, Greek houses, and many other groups on campus; it provided a natural environment. It's not an interruption or 'something else to do' it's simply another value added to their existing work." Erickson anticipates a September launch. Documentation and training on recording and producing the audio or video files for podcasts will be available. IS also provide help for using the podcasting tool on My.UNL.
WEB EXTRA--Watch the Podcasting "HOW-TO" Movie!
Attend the Blackboard Podcasting Brown Bag Oct 19th!
According to Manager Gary Kimminau, the UNL Computer Store is investigating the sale of 'podcasting packages' that would include recommended recording devices, media, and informational packets. The New Media Center is also offering recording services on a limited basis.
For more information on podcasting via Blackboard contact Paul Erickson
