How To: How to avoid wind noise when recording your podcast

When recording a podcast on a windy day, it's hard to get rid of the wind noise. So Rick came up with a very clever homemade windscreen that can be used for pretty much every microphone device. In his case he uses the Zoom H2 which is a great tool for podcasting.

Check this video, Rick shows you how to DIY.



I myself may try it I too use the Zoom H2.

Something similar called "Rode Deadcat Microphone Wind Muff" sells on Amazon for $39.37. I think if you do it yourself it comes out cheaper and it looks pretty simple to make.

What do you use to eliminate the wind noise?

Review: Another tool for PodCasting

I was reading an article the other day and it mentioned this tool called "Yakitome" which is a Beta version and it triggered my curiosity. What the tool does is that it converts your text into a PodCast which you can embed in your websites. You have the option to create your PodCast in English (US) or (UK), Spanish, French, or German language and female or male voice. You also have the option to select the file output from wav or MP3. The idea of the tool is very clever but I just have one issue with it, the voices sound too creepy. I think they should give you the option to add your own voice like Voki does. The robot sounding voice just doesn't cut it.

The Yakimote website also performs very slow but again this is a Beta version. Hopefully when they launch the full version they will make some modifications because this could be a great tool for educators. Just imagine being able to paste your lecture, notes, or syllabus into this website and having an instant PodCast available for your students, that would be really cool.

A similar PodCast version of this post was created with Yakitome, click Another tool for PodCasting to listen to it.

Creating inexpensive videos

Before you implement video in your organization and spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars in equipment I would suggest you read this post.

At a Learning Conference I attended there was a session about creating rapid video. The main point of this session was to let everyone know that you don't need an expensive camcorder, lighting kits or nothing of that nature to get the point across. Actually they mentioned that people believe your message more if it looks real. The more perfect your video looks the less your customers will trust you.

They demonstrated how to create a video and how to post it on your blog, YouTube, wiki, or any where else you want. All of this in just a few minutes.

The videos produced can be edited with Windows Movie Maker which every PC with Windows pretty much has or other video editors that are out there which lots of them are free. The most impressive thing about this camcorder was the clarity of the picture and audio, you would never think a cheap camcorder would produce such great videos. It's also pretty easy to use, it only has three buttons, one to record/stop, one to view the videos, and the other one to delete.

Another great thing is the size, it's so small you can carry it around in your pocket so you don't miss out on any occasion. The camcorder also doesn't require any wires to connect to your PC, it has a USB connection on the side so it hooks up directly to your PC.

I know, enough of the hype, right? OK, the name of the camcorder is Flip Video Ultra, and it records up to 60 minutes of videos.

If your organization wants to start producing videos, I would suggest you look into this first. It's always better to start small, then to spend lots of money and then hit yourself on the head.

Have you flipped anyone?

Going Web 2.0 or not?

My organization is ready to embrace the addition of Web 2.0 tools in our training programs. Will we take that leap? I sure hope so.

Currently our Training department is the one that owns the development and maintenance of our Corporate University, and of all classroom and virtual training programs so the shift to Web 2.0 will bring new and exciting changes that I think we can all embrace.

Last year we attended the Learning Conference 2006 which is all about using Web 2.0 tools that enable learning. We came back with so many ideas, and we put together a team that was in charge of researching blogs, wikis, social networks, videos, podcasting, avatars, and audio. The result of this research lead to incorporating audio in our eLearning courses and to beta test an mLearning module which we had great results with but I think not too much chance was given to blogs, wikis, and other tools.

We just came back from the Learning 2007 Conference and this year the speakers focused more on actually examples of how to use Web 2.0 tools in your training programs so can you feel the excitement? After presenting all our ideas to Management, it looks like we will try to implement some of these tools. So I’m very excited, I’m a loyal advocate of these new tools. I've used them with my kids, siblings, friends, and for my professional development. I've learned more through blogging, wikis, communities then by reading books and attending seminars. And of course, thanks to Google I have found great resources.

Going by my experience and what I’ve heard from teachers, trainers, and other educators it seems that this technology is working. So why not give it a try? The concerns we have I know are the same that other corporations and educators have. We are very concerned about wrong information being posted on our wikis and bad comments being left on blogs. We don’t have too many resources that can continuously monitor these tools so it’s a little scary.

The fear is there and they only way it will go away is if we leap into this new world and we don't fall flat on our backs. I think we just need to let go of the ownership of the content, and let others contribute to our success. Like Brad Anderson from Best Buy said “Getting other points of view and other pieces of knowledge into our learning system that might otherwise have escaped is key to our success as an organization." And I think we understand this now.

From my research and experience with some of these tools, I’ve compiled a list of concerns and solutions that I think will help us deal with these issues. These will be posted in other articles so check back with us soon.

What has been your experience with Web 2.0 tools in the classroom? What tools work best for you? Any one?