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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume XI, No. 3 |
March 2006 |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume XI, No. 3 |
March 2006 |
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CIDDE's New mCasts
By Nick Laudato, CIDDE Associate Director CIDDE has initiated a new series of multimedia Web castsC aimed at addressing several goals: to provide faculty with useful information about instructional technologies being deployed at Pitt; to gain direct experience using new multimedia technologies; and to serve as examples of such use. Years ago I was explaining a technology solution to a colleague. The solution addressed several different problems simultaneously; so I remarked that it “killed multiple birds with one stone.” She got a kick out of the expression, and I’ve found occasion to use it many times since. With our hectic work schedules, we’re delighted when we can solve more than one problem with a single effort. That is what we sought to achieve when we began what we are calling the mCasts . We use the term “mCast” to refer to a multiple multimedia Web cast. The essential idea was to record the many components of a presentation with one effort, and then make several varied forms of that presentation available over the Web. The one recording effort would be done using Mediasite technology, enabling the simultaneous recording of video, audio, and the presenter’s computer display, complete with any written annotations on the display. The inaugural mCast, available as “ITmCast000” on the site https://cidde-web.cidde.pitt.edu/mcast, explains the original concept. It’s called an “ITmCast” because it focuses on instructional technologies. We also plan to begin a “BbmCast” that will focus on the Blackboard course management system (CourseWeb). We are implementing the mCasts as live events. The ITmCast is broadcast live at noon every Thursday and the BbmCast is planned for noon Wednesdays. The live event can be viewed by following the appropriate link on the mCast homepage, https://cidde-web.cidde.pitt.edu/mcast. The target length for each broadcast is about 15 minutes. The live broadcast includes the ability to send a question in the form of a text message to the presenter. The presenter will address any questions at the end of the broadcast. Of course, an archive of the broadcast will be available on Mediasite immediately after the event.
The outputs from an mCast recording session include:
The audio (MP3 and M4A/B) and video (MP4) versions of the presentation are also available as “podcasts.” Podcasts are multimedia files that are distributed via subscription. To subscribe to a podcast, you first install a software package called an aggregator on your computer. CSSD recommends iTunes for both the PC and Macintosh platforms, available at the electronic software distribution site http://software.pitt.edu or directly from Apple at www.apple.com. Once the aggregator is installed, subscribing to a podcast is easy (see directions on the sidebar at https://cidde-web.cidde.pitt.edu/mcast). Once subscribed, new editions of the mCast will be automatically downloaded to your computer for playback in iTunes or for transfer to your portable mp3 player, if you have one. Dan Hummon’s presentation in ITmCast003, available at https://cidde-web.cidde.pitt.edu/mcast, explains podcasting in more detail. As is often the case with new technologies, the original approach was obsolete before we started publishing the results. For example, we began to make multiple simultaneous recordings of the presentation in order to optimize recording quality and reduce the amount of postproduction effort required to create all of the outputs listed above. We also began mixing the slides into a version of the video in real time. We expect our techniques to continually evolve and hope to soon offer these services to the University community. With all due apologies to ornithologists and bird lovers, I think we are achieving our goal of killing multiple birds with one stone. The ITmCast series will help familiarize faculty with the many and varied instructional technologies available to them at the University, and the BbmCast series will provide a useful library of short Blackboard training modules on both general and special topics. At the same time, the CIDDE technical staff is gaining valuable insights into these emerging technologies and generating some useful examples for potential users. Hope you all tune in and let us know what you think.
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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