Podcasts are increasingly used in academia, both for teaching and research dissemination.

Podcasts can be standalone episodes or series, and the episodes are typically quite short, so you can listen to them on the bus, while cooking, exercising, or doing other activities. This makes podcasts more accessible and low-threshold compared to, for example, educational videos or texts.

Podcasts can be a good supplement to the curriculum in cases where graphs or other visual aids are not needed for explanation. In teaching, podcasts can be used as an alternative to student assignments and as a basis for group discussions in lectures or seminars.

BLINK is happy to assist with training in simple podcast production. For first-time users of the Podcast Box, this training is mandatory.

Training in the Podcast Box with one of our learning assistants takes 10 minutes and consists of a simple overview of the technical equipment. During the training, we cover how to use your voice and how to conduct a podcast recording in the best possible way.

BLINK also offers workshops for educators and group training in subjects where students are to create podcasts as a learning activity.

We can also provide simple courses in recording podcasts with the equipment you have available, for example, in a home office, and with our mobile equipment/"Podcast Bag".

If desired, BLINK can assist with basic training in audio editing in programs such as Panopto and Audacity, and help with publishing on Blackboard or Spotify. If you want more advanced training, or if you have needs beyond our technical expertise, you can contact the Section for teaching, learning and digital services, which manages, among other things, a dedicated studio at Kalvskinnet.

You can check the availability of the Podcast Box in the TP calendar.

If you need help booking a time slot in the Podcast Box at Dragvoll, you can fill out the form in NTNU Hjelp or send an email to kontakt@blink.ntnu.no. Please specify the date you want and how much studio time you need.

A good podcast often involves a lot of thorough planning. BLINK frequently uses workshop methodology in creative idea development and problem-solving, as well as to develop a good podcast concept. BLINK can arrange workshops centered around your project or academic environment, with content tailored to your needs.

When planning a podcast, you should consider the following:

• What sets your podcast apart from others on the same topic? Who is the target audience, and what does this mean for the content? Will the podcast be published openly on the internet, or locally in a course on Blackboard? Do you want the podcast to be a monologue, or would you like to include one or more guests to create a good conversation?
• Write a script with keywords, and indicate in the script where you want to include any jingles/sound effects, interviews, and so on.
• If you are recording a series, it is a good idea to plan the first episodes in advance and record several at once. This makes it easier to maintain a consistent theme, and you become less vulnerable to issues like illness than if you record one episode each week.
• In accordance with copyright law and good academic practice, you must also cite your sources. Remember to mention the author and the work/source in direct speech.
• Podcasts that are to be published should only handle information that can be shared openly, and all participants must be informed of this. Everyone participating in the podcast must sign a consent form – contact us if you need a template for this.
• You should also plan how you will handle post-production.
• Do you have a lot of experience with audio editing, or is this your first time making a podcast yourself? If you want to record the entire podcast in one take, you need to be well-prepared, but it will pay off when you edit together from multiple audio clips.

If you are recording a podcast for the first time, we recommend that you set aside plenty of time so that you have the opportunity to record multiple times.

There are several things you should consider when recording a podcast. Firstly, speaking clearly and being mindful of word choice and language is important. If you can create images in the listeners' minds, they will remember the content better. Use concrete language and try to avoid empty phrases. Secondly, the way you stand and use your body affects the sound quality. Opening your chest and breathing from your diaphragm gives more power to your voice and can prevent it from getting strained. If you are going to speak a lot, it can also be wise to warm up your voice beforehand.

Simple editing can be done in Panopto, but for more complex editing, you can use Adobe Audition. There are also other good free audio editing programs, such as GarageBand and Audacity, but NTNU does not have data processing agreements with these.

In the Podcast box at Dragvoll, the recording is of high quality and rarely needs more than simple editing. If you want to add sound effects or a theme song, this can either be done directly in the recorder or the aforementioned programs afterward. There are jingles and sound effects available for free download on the internet.

How to create podcasts for use in teaching at NTNU.
 

In teaching, we always recommend publishing a written representation of the content along with the podcast. What constitutes an appropriate format will vary depending on how the podcast is made and must be adapted to the target audience and purpose. A representation can, for example, take the form of a transcribed text, a more comprehensive rewrite, or a shorter or keyword-based summary.

If you have students with accommodation needs, we recommend a dialogue with the accommodation service to determine what is appropriate in each case.

When you have recorded a podcast in the Podcast Box, you will have a file saved locally on your computer. To publish this in Blackboard:

1. Go to the area where you want to upload the file.
2. Click on “Build Content” → “Audio”.
3. Click on "Browse My Computer".
4. Select the file you want to upload.
5. Remember to enter a name for the audio recording. If you scroll down the page, you can check various options for publishing, but this is not necessary.
6. Finally, click “Submit” to publish

When you have recorded a podcast in the Podcast Box, you will have a file saved locally on your computer. To upload this in Panopto, click on “Create” and then “Upload media”. The file will be under “My Folder” in Panopto.

In Blackboard, go to the area where you want to upload the file. Then click on “Build Content” and then “Panopto Video Embed”. Select the file you want to insert, and click on “Insert video”

If you publish the podcast openly on the internet, there is no guarantee that the content can be deleted again. Therefore, it is important to consider how openly you want the content to be and where you want to publish it.

As long as you have obtained informed consent from everyone participating in the podcast, and you have followed the conventions for citing sources, it is generally not a problem to publish the content openly on the internet. However, be aware of the potential consequences of this.