Emergent Technology - Vodcast (Video casting)

For my first emergent technology project I choose to explore Vodcasting, or video-casting. A Vodcast is similar to a podcast, only you get both video and audio, with a podcast you only get audio. A Vodcast is a technology that allows you to record a video clip, created by you, and then share it online. I will be sharing my video on my blog. The first real challange is to find a place to "host" or upload your video to I choose to use YouTube because I already had storage there.

I can see lots of positive applications for this type of technology, my biggest vision is for this type of technology to be used a classroom environment, which would be to record classroom lessons and then upload them so that students who are unsure about something from the class can review the lecture. In addition it can allow students who are unable to be in the classroom (due to illness or emergency) to still be able to get the same class lessons even though they can't be there. If someone is sick they should not be forced to watch the video, but it does give them the opportunity to review what they missed. I think this would be a great way to give all students an equal chance in doing well with the class they are taking.

The biggest downside to vodcasting is that it requires a fast internet connection, which is why I want to briefly mention podcasting. A podcast is simply an audio recording that you can upload to the internet, your website, or blog. While you don't get to see the action happening, with a podcast you still get to hear the lesson, so I think it is important to consider your target audience first before deciding what to implement in the classroom. People with slower internet connections will find a Podcast is more efficient than a Vodcast.

The biggest snag I ran into when trying to setup a Vodcast was that the majority of the resources require you to pay for service for uploading and sharing your videos. I guess the old adage is true "Nothing's free in life." Since I already have storage on YouTube, to host my videos, I chose that as my host. To do this you open your video on YouTube, and then choose the "embed" option, down at the bottom right. (note in the picture)




Copy the embedded text field from YouTube, and if you are using Blogger as your choice of Blog, click the tab in the top left of your New Post that says "Edit Html." Then paste in the text you copied from YouTube where you want it to show up. Here is an example video I created.



As you can tell I switched from Hipcast to YouTube once I found out about the purchase requirements. I found YouTube to be much simpler for setting up a Vodcast.