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Design Of A Visual Literacy Podcast
Maria D. Avgerinou Rune Pettersson
Abstract
The podcast phenomenon has gained considerable momentum in various educational contexts around the world. For
this action research project, we have designed a podcast about Visual Literacy (VL). Apart from documenting the
design process to monitor the evolution of our own understanding of VL podcasting, our purpose is to instigate the
production of a series of VL episodes, entitled “Perspectives on Visual Literacy”- each of which will represent the
individual perspectives of VL theorists and practitioners. The episodes may be uploaded on IVLA’s website to
reinforce engagement with, and reflection upon the concept of VL, thus addressing the information, design, and
pedagogical needs of various audiences.
Introduction
Williams and Tollett (2007) explain that a podcast is
an audio blog that one can listen to rather than read it.
“It’s like having your own radio show that everyone
around the world can tune in to whenever they want,
not just at the moment you happen to be recording or
broadcasting” (p. 5).
A more comprehensive definition of the term is
found in Wikipedia’s (2006) “podcasting” entry:
Podcasting is the method of distributing
multimedia files, such as audio or video
programs, over the Internet using syndication
feeds, for playback on mobile devices and
personal computers. The term as originally
coined by Ben Hammersley in an article in the
Guardian on February 12, 2004, was meant as
a portmanteau of “broadcasting” and “
iPod”.
The term podcast, like “radio”, can mean both
the content and the method of delivery. The
host or author of a podcast is often called a
podcaster. Though podcasters' web sites may
also offer direct download or streaming of
their content, a podcast is distinguished from
other digital audio formats by its ability to be
downloaded automatically using software
capable of reading feeds like RSS or Atom.
Wikipedia (2006) also informs us that the editors of
the New Oxford American Dictionary declared
“podcasting” the 2005 word of the year, defining the
term as “a digital recording of a radio broadcast or
similar program, made available on the Internet for
downloading to a personal audio player”.
Campbell (2005, p. 34) reminds us that
Streaming and downloadable video and audio
are not as old as the World Wide Web…
What’s new about podcasting is the ease of
publication, ease of subscription, and ease of
use across multiple environments, typically
over computer speakers, over a car stereo, and
over headphones – while the listener is
walking or exercising or driving or traveling
or otherwise moving about.
The Podcasting Phenomenon
Podcasting's initial appeal was to allow individuals
to distribute their own “radio shows”, but the system
quickly became used in a wide variety of other ways,
including distribution of school lessons, official and
unofficial audio tours of museums, conference meeting
alerts and updates, and by police departments to
distribute public safety messages (Wikipedia, 2006).
In his March 2005 podcast
(http://weblog.infoworld.com/udell/2005/03/03.html)
Jon Udell identified some major reasons underlying the
explosive growth of podcasting and rich media
authoring. These are:
The Internet activity is pervasive.
Broadband has grown very rapidly, making it
far easier to consume large media objects.
The distinction between streaming and
downloading has begun to blur. People can
now have the experience of streaming while
enjoying the simplicity of downloading.
There is also the iPOD phenomenon, and the
rapid adoption of MP3 players.
Educational Podcasting
The “podcasting phenomenon” has now penetrated
education, and is indeed gaining considerable
momentum in various educational contexts around the
world. By way of example we can mention the
podcast-based projects of such American institutions as
San Jose State University, the University of Mary
Washington, the University of Chicago, Purdue
University, Depaul University, Manhattan Marymount
College of New York City, but also educational
establishments outside the US, as in the case of the
Musselburgh Grammar School in Scotland (Campbell,
2005).
Nowdays and even more so in the future, people
will demand total freedom in their use of various media
technologies. The development of video has made
“time-shifting” possible. Now, the development of
podcasts makes “place-shifting” possible. People will
be able to access educational materials, different kinds
of entertainment, as well as information anywhere and
anytime. For instance, Stanford University’s iTUNES
U project provides online access to a wide range of
Stanford-related digital audio content, and includes two
aspects:
A public site targeted primarily at alumni,
which includes Stanford faculty lectures,
learning material, music, sports, etc.
An access-restricted site for Stanford
community only delivering course-based
materials and advising content.
Duke’s Example
According to Blaisdell’s report (2006, p. 6):
Duke University’s first experiment with
campus use of the iPod began with the
incoming class in Fall 2004. The school spent
in excess of $500,000, giving an iPod and a
recorder accessory to each of its 1,650
incoming freshmen and a handful of faculty
members. The giveaway generated substantial
publicity for the school, but it also attracted
challenges and criticism from inside and
outside the campus.
Duke University’s Center for Instructional
Technology conducted a comprehensive
evaluation of the school’s program and
published a report in June 2005… The
evaluation identified five major categories of
academic iPod usage by the faculty, including
course content dissemination, classroom
recording, field recording, study support (via
repeated listening to audio content), and file
storage and transfer. Of these, it was found
that the highest levels of student and faculty
interest were focused on the ability to use the
iPod’s digital recording functionality.
On the positive side, the study found that
the portability of the iPod and its contents
contributed to reduced dependence on
physical materials and access to library and
lab resources. Students and faculty found the
iPod an effective and easy-to-use tool for
recording a variety of activities, including
discussions, labs, field research, and oral
assignments. Sixty percent of the first-year
students reported using the iPod for academic
recording.
The evaluation also acknowledged
substantial challenges encountered in the
course of the first-year program. Major issues
included content storage and access,
procurement of licenses for copyrighted
material, lack of instructor tools for content
preparation, limited documentation and
training resources, and a lack of awareness or
accurate knowledge of iPod functionality
among faculty and students.
To Podcast Or Not To Podcast?
As Campbell (2005) points out more and more
students come to academia with media authoring skills.
This means that if we want to maintain our rapport
with them, communicate to, and teach them effectively,
we should progressively learn the potential uses, and
appreciate the value of rich media authoring. Campbell
also reminds us of how complex our own professional
lives have become. To exemplify his assertion, he
draws a parallel between the development of word-
processing, and media authoring skills. In his words,
“indeed in most cases, the line between typing and
composing has grown so faint as to be practically
invisible. The same process will inevitably overtake
rich media authoring as well” (p. 38).
Apart from podcasts being considered engaging and
“cool” by younger generations, they also happen to be
free, user-friendly, and operate both on Windows and
Mac platforms. They prove useful to those who are not
good at taking notes during a lecture. They also seem
to provide enhanced support catering for individual
learning needs and preferences. Most importantly, they
are completely aligned with the concept of
convenience, “anytime, anywhere, 24/7” access and
use of instructional material. From the technical aspect,
podcasts that offer the chapter function, allow the user
to identify specific sections within the podcast which
may also come with images, and URLs.
On the downside, podcasts are accused for
contributing to the digital divide phenomenon. Not
everybody possesses an MP3 player, or Apple’s iPOD,
or can afford to buy Apple’s Garage Band software
(www.apple.com) to produce a podcast. Campbell’s
(2005) own rhetorical question as to why Apple’s
embrace of podcasting may be troubling to educators,
is addressed by the fact that “this easy-to-use audio-
content manager just happens to sit inside a store that
sells music” (p. 40).
Another potential obstacle is the issue of copyright
which has not yet been straightened out completely.
Last but not least, potential technical challenges of
podcasting may be particularly hard, and time
consuming to contend with especially for novice
podcasters trying to integrate new media formats
within an existing technological infrastructure.
Research Focus And Purpose
New media technologies evolve at an extremely
rapid pace (Pettersson, 1993). It is however, quite
common that producers of software for innovative and
new media products lack the knowledge needed for the
development of materials to be used in instruction and
training, and for information. The special skills
possessed by instructional message designers and
information designers are not always called for.
Pruit and Adlin indicate (2006) that designers do
not always design with the user in mind. Rather, they
tend to focus more on themselves and their own
perspectives.
In The inmates are running the asylum, Alan
Cooper (1999) asserts that a focus on technology is
fostered in whatever we do, when we should instead be
focusing on people.
For this project, we have designed a podcast about
Visual Literacy (VL). Apart from documenting the
design process to monitor how our own understanding
of VL podcasting would evolve and change, our
purpose is to instigate the production of a series of VL
podcasts – or episodes as they are called – entitled
“Perspectives on Visual Literacy” (Figure 1). Each of
those episodes will present and elaborate upon the
individual perspectives of VL theorists and
practitioners. Our intention is to upload all podcasts on
IVLA’s website in an attempt to spread the word about
Visual Literacy as well as the International Visual
Literacy Association (IVLA), thus addressing the
information, design, and pedagogical needs of various
audiences such as novice visual literacists, new as well
as long standing IVLA members, educational
practitioners teaching VL courses, instructional
designers employing VL in their projects, etc. Finally,
it is our hope to begin reflection and discussion on the
concept and applications of VL, and what both mean in
the context of the 21
st
century.
Figure 1
Perspectives On Visual Literacy
Method
In order to study the possibilities embedded in the
new podcast feature, we have designed and produced a
podcast about Visual Literacy. Toward that end, we
employed an action research methodology which is
commonly used by researchers studying design and
innovation (Andersson & Rollenhagen, 2003). The
steps of our research are documented in detail in the
following sections.
Creative Processes
The designer’s creative processes are influenced by
message design principles, and are performed with
message design tools that are suitable for the type of
representation that has been selected in each case
(Pettersson, 2002). In this case we, the designers, have
selected a “podcast.”
Information design is the purposeful use of words,
images and graphical form. Words may be spoken,
printed or displayed. Images may be printed or
displayed in order to aid understanding. To the
intended receivers, a message should be:
Accessible
Easy to find
Correct
Well structured
Comprehensible
Consistent
Clear
Simple
Interesting
Aesthetic
Generally speaking the information designer
should:
Adapt the message to human attention and to
human perception in order to facilitate
interpretation, understanding and learning.
Edit the message for better comprehensibility
and for easier understanding. The editing for a
selected audience or target group includes
information structure, subject matter depth,
clarity, simplicity, consistency, unity,
harmony and proportion.
Consider the costs for the message.
Secure the quality of the message.
Respect copyright, the ethical rules, and the
media-specific ethical guidelines.
Use the appropriate tools for message design.
The main creative processes involved in message
production include the following four activities:
Analysis and synopsis
Production of draft
Production of script
Production of original and master
Analysis And Synopsis
During a planning and analysis phase it is possible
to organize the work; analyze the intended message;
analyze the intended receivers, their specific
characteristics and their requirements; get the
necessary data and facts; define the purpose and the
objectives; select a method for framing the message;
select a medium; and, evaluate results from tests on
previous versions when there are any.
When the purpose, the objectives, the receivers, and
the type of representation (in this case a podcast) for
the intended message are decided, it is possible to start
working on a synopsis. It is important, already at this
stage, to decide on a suitable structure of the material.
This creates the conditions for the material to have a
good reading value for the intended readers.
Adams (1999, p. 9) concluded that “designing good
information-giving material is a difficult task, but it is
one that can be assisted greatly by appropriate usability
testing”.
Visualization is usually a complex task, never a
single act on its own, and requires the collaboration of
several different parties. Note the following steps:
Requirements. Analyze the commission and the
requirements.
Receivers. Define the intended receivers.
Consider age, gender, and socio-economic
factors.
Objectives. Define the objectives for the
message.
Production. Organize the work. Produce
synopsis for text and pictures.
Size. Find out how many megabytes we can use
for the podcast.
Reviews. Ensure that the content will be
relevant to the intended audience. Ensure that
the material will be well structured.
Production Of Draft
Produce the “raw” draft. Note the following steps:
Text. Write a preliminary text.
Pictures. Draw sketches for drawings and
photographs.
Moving pictures. Draw sketches for moving
pictures.
Sound. Write explanations for sound.
Color. How should color be used?
Integration. Organize interplay between text
and pictures.
Graphic design. Prepare work with
typography and layout.
Reviews. Ensure that the content is correct.
Ensure that the material is well structured and
comprehensible. The information material
must also be highly legible and readable, and
have a high reading value.
Production Of Script
When the script is ready, the information material
looks like a completed material. Note the following
steps:
Text. Edit the manuscript into its final version.
Drawings. Produce the originals based on
previous sketches.
Photographs. Produce suitable prints.
Graphic design. Work with typography and
layout.
Copyright. Check copyright clearance for all
materials.
Reviews. Make an overall check of linguistic
usage, writing style, terminology, typography,
and layout.
Production Of Original And Master
The production of original and master is the final
part of the creative processes for a message. Before any
original can be confirmed as a master, in which the text
and the visuals finally are brought together, there
should be an overall final check and review of
technical quality.
Designing The VL Podcast
As Herrington advises us (2005) “Getting started is
very important. Podcasting is all about making
mistakes and learning from them to create better
podcasts” (p. 48). Key elements (Herrington, 2005) to
bear in mind while designing podcasts are:
Structure- what is the show’s format? What
recurring elements (format elements) does the
show use to keep one listening to this podcast,
and coming back for future ones? Is the
interesting stuff in the beginning, at the end, or
mixed throughout?
Style- how is the presentation style?
Professional or aloof? Just goofing around? Is
the style related to the content?
Technical elements- is the podcast connected to
a blog, or website? Is there a novel way of
contacting the podcast owner with feedback?
Content- what is holding the audience’s
attention?
An interesting consideration is that podcasts are not
live. This affords the opportunity of editing before
uploading them on the server. However, we still need
to plan for a reasonable podcast duration. Moreover,
the technical aspect of producing the podcast is perhaps
not as critical as the content of the podcast.
Prior to documenting our steps in the VL podcast
design process, we would like to acknowledge where
the idea of creating an instruction-oriented podcast
came from. It was sometime in 2005, that a long
standing IVLA member contacted one of us (Maria) to
receive information on instructional material (video)
regarding VL and IVLA which would be available on
the web. It was at that point that the seed was planted:
there was no such video readily available on the web!...
In late spring 2006, following her participation at a
podcasting in-house seminar in her institution, Maria
contacted Rune to discuss the VL podcast idea. Rune’s
consent and willingness to apply his expertise in
information design to this new “animal”, off-sprung the
following process:
We begun by communicating extensively online in
order to decide on the design purposes,
audiences, and themes. At the same time, we
exchanged resources, regarding especially the
educational use of podcasts, but also issues
related to design and usability.
Our thinking was along those lines: “If one went to
IVLA's website as a potential member, and
identified the VL podcast, what precisely would
s/he expect it to be about? Secondly, if an
education practitioner who wants to use a short,
informative video on VL, visited the IVLA website
and located the podcast, what precisely would
s/he expect to find in it? Finally, as an existing
IVLA member and returning visitor to the IVLA
website, what would one like this podcast to
include so that his/her needs would also be
covered? In this last case, how exactly can we
define this member's needs?” (M. Avgerinou,
personal communication, June 2006)
We explored various publications on the concept
and applications of VL in an attempt to decide
what to include or not in the content of our
podcast. While trying to figure out the content
and its structure, Rune suggested we revisited
Lida Cohran’s video which was produced in 1993
to celebrate the 25 years of IVLA. This was a
pivotal moment in our thinking and resulted in
our suggesting the production of a series of
episodes on VL (“Perspectives on VL”) which
would be produced by several Visual Literacists
(#12-15) – each addressing a specific topic or
concept related to VL. The topics could include
major VL definitions, use and applications of VL
as those are manifested in each VL expert’s field,
what VL means personally to the VL expert, etc.
Our own podcast would be the first in the series,
expressing our individual views of VL, and
perhaps serving as a prototype to the series.
We then decided to re-focus on producing a draft
VL podcast which would be offered to the IVLA
2006 annual conference attendees inviting their
critique and feedback both regarding the content
and the format/structure. We both felt this process
would aid us further shape our podcast. So, our
goal became to share a pilot form of the podcast
while inviting IVLA attendees to answer specific
questions about the existing podcast, and give us
ideas and suggestions on what is not incorporated
yet. We also considered the idea of interviewing
interested IVLA-ers during the conference, and
video-record those interviews with the view to
editing and then transforming them into VL
episodes. Those IVLA-ers wanting to participate
in the project yet not available at the annual
conference, could be interviewed via Skype
conferencing, or video-record themselves while
talking about VL.
A past IVLA president was the first one to promise
that he would gladly video-record himself to
discuss VL from the instructional designer’s point
of view.
We subsequently shared our idea with various
IVLA members, targeting particularly the
membership committee chairs and their goals for
the association’s outreach. The chairs responded
with enthusiasm and constructive feedback.
At the same time, we developed a design and
production timeline which would first involve the
creation of a slideshow on VL, second the
production of a script that would accompany it,
then the recoding of the voice over the slideshow,
and finally the transformation of the latter into a
podcast.
Abiding by Steve Krug’s first law of web usability
(2000), namely “don’t make me think!”, and
producing a self-explanatory, self-evident podcast
was perhaps one of our most important goals.
Among the key design decisions that we made,
were that: (i) if we were to maintain the
audience’s attention and interest, the podcast
duration should be kept short (5-10 minutes); (ii)
the total size of the file should make it easily
downloadable; (iii) in the name of legibility on an
iPOD screen, each slide should contain only the
absolutely necessary text, and where this cannot
be possible, more slides should be created to
accommodate the concept discussed; (iv)
GarageBand jingles should be used throughout,
and especially over slide transition; (v) we should
use pictures from past IVLA conferences which
appear on IVLA’s website- yet first discuss this
with the 2006 IVLA president; (vi) our own
voices would be recorded over the slides where
we introduce ourselves, whereas a professional
(or, professional-sounding) voice would be
presenting the remaining slides. Rune’s point
here was that “a podcast will probably be very
boring with an unprofessional voice. This may
draw the interest away from the content” (R.
Pettersson, personal communication, August
2006).
The professional-sounding voice was thankfully
that of a DePaul University IT consultant. She
provided enormous help and guidance throughout
the project, not only at the technical level, but
also emphasizing the importance of a detailed and
well-considered script, and also fine-tuning our
thinking from the user end.
After many and frequent email exchanges, but also
various meetings with the IT consultant, the first
podcast was recorded, uploaded and played on an
iPOD, edited and re-recorded.
Maria showcased the VL podcast twice at the IVLA
2006 conference, inviting participant feedback on
its content and format (see Appendix), but also
inquiring whether participants would be
interested in producing their own VL podcasts as
part of the “VL Perspectives” series.
While still analyzing the constructive input of the
conference participants, our draft podcast is
published at Maria’s blog site so that other VL
practitioners, but also our own students can view
and comment on it:
http://dis.is.depaul.edu:16080/weblog/mavgerin/
“Every Step Of The Journey Is The Journey”
Our engagement with the design and development
of this VL podcast has focused more on the process,
less on the final product. While awaiting further
feedback from IVLA members, but also input from our
own students and other practitioners in the field of
Visual Literacy, we keep reflecting on such questions
as: what have we learned about VL? About
podcasting? What has proved to be the most difficult,
and the most rewarding moments in our
conceptualization of the project? In our execution of it?
Has our perspective on VL changed as a result of
engaging in the podcasting process? And if so, how?
What does this mean for our own practice of VL?
Where to next? Perhaps, developing guidelines on how
to design educational podcasts? Perhaps instigating
discussion on what exactly VL means in the 21
st
century?
Acknowledgements
Finally, let us emphasize that this project has been
more than just the sum of our individual efforts.
Rather, it is a collective effort of many people who
have served VL, and IVLA from their distinct
individual corners, and theoretical angles. To them we
are indebted!
Our special thanks will have to go to Dino Karabeg
who inspired this effort; to Jim Bradford, and Mike
Moore for offering copies of Lida Cohran’s video; to
Harry Davis, a past IVLA president, who was the first
IVLA member agreeing to produce a VL podcast; to
membership committee chairs Rhonda Robinson and
Susan Daniels for their constructive feedback; to
IVLA2006 president, Janet Giesen for her guidance
and support; to Diane Tarkwoski, the IT consultant
who went above and beyond to help us put everything
together; to Micki Breitenstein, Roberts Braden, Rob
Branch, Ana Donaldson, Frank Dwyer, Peggy Pruisner,
Rhonda Robinson for graciously accepting to be
interviewed and share their perspectives on VL during
IVLA and AECT 2006; and last but not least, to all
IVLA2006 conference attendees for their invaluable
feedback!!
References
Adams, A. (1999). Usability testing in information
design. In H. J. G. Zwaga, T. Boersma, & H. C. M.
Hoonhout (Eds.). Visual information for everyday
use. Design and research perspectives. London,
PA: Taylor & Francis
Andersson, E. R., & Rollenhagen, C. (2003).
Systemgrupper och innovativ problemlösning.
Lund: Studentlitteratur.
Blaisdell, M. (2006, March).
Academic MP3s >> Is It
iTime Yet? [Electronic Version] Retrieved October
1, 2006 from
http://www.campustechnology.com/article.asp?id=
18001&p=2
Campbell, G. (2005, November/December). There is
something in the podcasting in education. Educause
[electronic version] Retrieved, March 25 2006 from
http://educause.edu/er/ERM05/ERM0561.asp?bhcp
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Cooper, A. (1999). The inmates are running the
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Herrington, J. (2005). Podcasting hacks: Tips & tools
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Krug, S. (2000). Don’t make me think: A common
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Pettersson, R. (2002). Information design: An
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Pettersson, R. (1993). Visual information. Englewood
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Pruitt, J., & Adlin, T. (2006). The persona lifecycle:
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APPENDIX
Design of a Visual Literacy Podcast
Maria D. Avgerinou Rune Pettersson
IVLA 2006
1. What is your overall assessment of this podcast?
2. What is your view of the duration of the podcast?
3. What is your view of legibility on the iPOD screen?
4. What is your view about the size of the screen?
5. What shall we do to improve this podcast?
6. Are you interested in participating in our “Perspectives in VL” Project? (Please circle one)
YES NO
7. If YES, would you be prepared to (Please circle a or b)
a. send us your own slideshow and/or video within the next six months?
b. have give a short interview to Maria during IVLA06 (NB your session will be
video-recorded)?
