Podcasting guide

A podcast is an audio recording you share with others, generally grouped together to form a series or collection.

You can release podcasts on a regular basis (such as weekly, fortnightly or monthly) and can focus on lecture topics, interviews, or something else entirely.

Easy ways to create an audio recording include using Kaltura Capture, recording a meeting in Zoom (using their Record an audio only file and Audio Transcript options when recording to the Cloud) or by recording directly into audio-editing software such as Audacity.

Ensure you have your recording saved in one of the standard audio formats. Depending on how you create your podcasts, these include .mp3, .m4a, .wav or .aac.  

You can distribute your podcasts to your students via the Kaltura MediaSpace Go app, available for Android and Apple devices.

• Create a collection within MediaSpace (called a Channel) where you can host your audio recordings.
• Students can then subscribe to this collection within the app and receive an email notification each time you post a new recording.
• You can also post details about the channel in Moodle so that students without the app are still able to access the content.

This type of podcast hosting is internal to the University and is not intended for wider syndication on platforms such as iTunes or Spotify.

Special consideration should be given when using music in your podcasts, and if any copyrighted written material is read out.

In both cases we would recommend limiting the content to a short extract, ensuring that the usage is indeed educational, and obviously acknowledging the creator(s) during or at the end of the podcast (as well as in the written description for the episode).

For music, an alternative is sources of copyright-free music such as the Free Music Archive, and some listed on this Creative Commons webpage. More information on free-to-use music can be found here.

If any copyrighted visual material is used (as the podcast's "cover image", for example), the same principles apply.

Another important issue to consider is where the podcast will be hosted.

1. If it is for an assignment (and isn't widely shared beyond a few people as part of that) then this is low risk, especially given that it is being used in an educational context and non-commercially. As said above, acknowledgement(s) should be given.
2. If it is a teaching resource that is to be shared with students on Moodle, risk is also fairly low, but it would still be wise to consider how copyrighted material is used, given that for some courses a fairly substantial number of students may access it.
3. If it is to be publicly hosted on an online platform, it is important that usage of copyrighted material is considered carefully and is fair (see the Fair Dealing part of the copyright guide, particularly how to judge how much of a work to use). Requesting permission from the rightsholder is a possibility but receiving a reply may take a long time, if it happens at all.
4. The same is true if the podcast is to be used beyond university work contexts either at the time or in the future. If the usage becomes commercial (i.e. the creator of the podcast hopes to make money out of it), then permission, a licence, and payment of a fee will be necessary for using copyrighted material.