Podagogy

In contrast to the moaning and groaning in my previous post regarding the unreliability of successful uploads to iTunes U, I am very pleased with

Apple’s Podcast Capture utility that interfaces with Apple’s Podcast Producer.

Caveat: You must have Apple’s server-based Podcast Producer running to make use of the Podcast Capture Utility.

When preparing to describe Podcast Capture I thought to describe it in terms of “Pros” and “Cons”. But, then I realized the “Cons” were not really flaws or weaknesses. Rather, they are more related to system requirements. So, I’ll describe the software in terms of “Features” and “Requirements”.

Features

• Built into Apples OS 10.5
• Simple, one button operation
• Enables video podcasts, audio podcasts, screencasts, media file upload
• Uploads to specified iTunes U class (or web-based location)
• Work-flow based (XML work-flows)
• Can schedule auto-recording in classrooms
• Can produce multiple file formats/sizes for submitted recordings
• Did I mention it was simple to use?
• XML base provide ultimate flexibility
• Web-based interface available for PC users

Requirements

• Requires Podcast Producer running on a server (no small task)
  (If you are not a sys admin, make friends with one who can set up Podcast Producer for you)

• Work-flow based (XML knowledge required)
  (Not as easy as Keynote. Make sure you know what you’re doing)

The beauty of Podcast Capture lies in it’s hidden XML complexity. You can theoretically design a workflow that will do just about any media related action you wish, and push it to one, or multiple places, in as many file formats as you need. Of course, you need the XML savvy to create such complex workflows, but at least it’s possible. The final quality of your recording is determined by the processing settings in the XML workflow.

I don’t do the XML stuff (I delegate ☺ ), but I absolutely love the simplicity of Podcast Capture. Creating a video, audio, or screencast is as easy as I have ever seen in a software tool. What’s more, even when I use some other tool (e.g. ScreenFlow, SnapzPro, etc.) I can use Podcast Capture to upload my media file with minimum effort on my part. Note that unlike tools such as Profcast or others, Podcast Capture doesn’t keep track of episodes, and anything like that. It’s strictly “record – name – upload”. As you can see in the images below, you can select input devices (cameras, mics). This is the perfect simple tool for faculty who want to record a lecture easily, with no post-production effort required.

Podcast Capture Interface	Audio Recording	Screencasting
Video Recording	Upload a Media File

When Spring Arbor University received notice that it would be among the early users of iTunes U we were ecstatic. We considered it a privilege to be included with the “big” universities, in the early days of iTunes U. The fact is, we still consider it a privilege and are thankful for the resource Apple, Inc. has provided in the iTunes U system. However, all is not well in Camelot.

The availability of large storage capacity and big pipes is certain to make any ed tech person salivate. Provide all that for free and the ed tech person is likely to swoon with joy. So, what could tarnish such a delightful prospect? Simply put – reliability.

In the early stages of our iTunes U experiences we dealt primarily with digital audio. Of course, digital video came into play very quickly, and we were beaming with pride at the rich media we could now provide to students. Within 6 months video clips began to outnumber audio clips, and faculty began to create their own video stuff. We discovered quickly that video clips larger than 150-200Mb took multiple tries to upload. After 12 months we were discouraged by the common failure of most videos over 100Mb to upload at all.

Our network gurus, systems gurus, and in-house Apple gurus poked, prodded, and sniffed everywhere in our systems to find the noxious little clog that we were certain must be causing our migraines. Surprise! There was not “noxious little clog”. There was no problem at found at all. We even reserved bandwidth for traffic to iTunes U. We participated in the discussion about this phenomenon on the Apple iTunes U discussion forums and took some small comfort that we were not alone. Unfortunately, Apple, Inc. was not able to identify anything on their end that would address the problem. Two years later, the best way to describe my attitude about iTunes U is the title of a classic B. B. King hit – ‘The Thrill is Gone”.

To date, we have invested in Apple servers, Podcast Producer, Woolamaloo (an administrative front-end for iTunes U), yadda, yadda, yadda, with no improvement in reliability of file uploading. We have spent tens of thousands of dollars without seeing any significant improvement in upload success rate. Oy!

If we had other options (big storage, fat pipes, CHEAP) we would give it a shot. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a host that doesn’t kill you with bandwidth, or storage charges. We labor on with the hope one day iTunes U will (for us) live up to its potential as an enterprise platform. For now, we just mumble and try uploading again.