Dear MSSE teachers,

Only a few more weeks until the beginning of our astronomy class (SDV 431). I can't wait to work with you again, but I am also a bit sad because this will be our last MSSE class together.

As a final project you'll again be working in groups throughout the course. This time, instead of the NSTA-type session we did in astrobiology you'll be creating blogs and podcasts. (If you don't know what blogs and podcasts are, check out the definitions on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast). We'll be talking a lot more about what content you might want to include in your blogs and podcasts, but I already wanted to give you an early heads up. The site you are on right now is an example of a blog, which also has a podcast connected to it. You can listen to this podcast by simply clicking on "SDV 431 Course Project" (the header) above, or by subscribing to it in iTunes or some other podcatcher (feed address http://feeds.feedburner.com/SDV431-Astronomy) . If you have some spare time before the course starts you might want to spend some time to explore the world of blogs and podcasts. A good place to start is the tutorial at http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/. Below is a brief summary.

Some of you may find these new media a little bit daunting. (The first podcasts where created in late 2004, so this IS really brand new technology!) But keep in mind that you'll be working in groups. There are plenty of things to do for the course projects that don't require everybody in your group to become blog and podcast experts. Plus, this is really much simpler than it may sound. And it's a lot of fun and free.

To create blogs and podcasts you need a computer with internet connection and a headset. You can buy a headset for less than $20, for example this one at Radio Shack:
http://www.radioshack.com/sm-lightweight-computer-headset--pi-2036282.html
or this one at New Egg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826106461

If you have already have a cell phone headset all you need is an adapter that allows you to connect it to your computer, which you can also get at Radio Shack. I think it is called a multimedia y cable and costs about $3.00.

Some computers (such as the Macintosh notebook I am working on at the moment) already have a microphone (and speakers) built in, so no extra headset is needed.

There are many ways in which you can record and edit podcasts on your computer. The Audacity software is free, intuitive, and easy to install (in my opinion). You can download it at
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/. You can also use an MP3 player with microphone, although you'll still need something like Audacity to edit your recordings.

You can create free blog sites (such as the one you're reading at the moment) using Google's Blogger. Just go to http://www.blogger.com/start, create an account, and you are ready to go.

To connect your podcast recording to your blog site you'll need a place to store the MP3 sound files you recorded, so that other people can download them and listen to them. http://www.ourmedia.org/ allows you to store audio files and other files such as Word documents, video clips, etc. for free. I found that the most reliable way to upload files to Ourmedia is to use free software called SpinXpress (http://spinxpress.com/flash.asp).

Finally, to allow people to subscribe to your podcast (e.g., using iTunes), so they don't have to keep checking your blog site for updates, you need something like FeedBurner (http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home), which creates a so-called RSS feed.

That's it!

If you have a little bit of time before the course, but not enough to learn all of this, focus on one piece of the puzzle. For example, learn how to create a blog using Blogger, how to make an audio recording on your computer and save it as an MP3 file, or how to subscribe to an existing podcast in iTunes. (My favorite podcast is NPR's Science Friday, which has the feed address http://www.sciencefriday.com/audio/scifriaudio.xml)

And don't forget to have fun with it!

Bernhard