Welcome

 

Welcome to The Webcast Academy. This community is part of the Worldbridges Network and its mission is to:

  • provide training for potential Worldbridges webcasters
  • produce open content guides and resources for all  those interested in producing and publishing live, interactive webcasts


All of the materials on this site are open to the public and released with a Creative Commons  license.  Anyone can make use of them and learn how to webcast on their own without registering or becoming involved in the community.
 

If you would like to more actively participate in the community, you can read more about our Participation Policies  and Procedures, Badges & Certification.  If you would like to earn a 'webcaster badge, and/or webcast on the Worldbridges network, you can begin the Basic Webcasting Program here. 

 

Participation Policies

Participation Policies

  • The Webcast Academy is a 'hands on, open content, collaborative community'.   Information is shared freely and a helping hand is provided as much as possible, but everyone is responsible for their own learning .  Participants are expected to take initiative and make some effort to seek answers on their own before asking for help.  
     
  • While The Webcast Academy's primary mission is to provide training for potential Worldbridges Webcasters, participation is open all those who agree to abide by community policies and procedures. We reserve the right to reject or terminate access to any member and/or remove any published content that violates these policies. 
     
  • The Webcast Academy does not charge any fees, but we do ask that interns 'pay it forward' in some way by helping future Academy participants and sharing what you learn here with others.  
     
  •  Webcasting has many variables and can present complex, frustrating challenges. Those that have built the Academy thusfar have done their best to share lessons learned, but the Academy is a very imperfect place. Materials you see and advice you receive may not be entirely accurate or up-to-date. Please keep in mind that all the resources here and all the help you might receive are offered freely. If you encounter 'imperfections', do not simply complain or expect others to fix it - attempt to be part of the solution. 
     
  • As part of Worldbridges, we strive to build a diverse, inclusive community. As such,  Webcast Academy  members  represent a number of different cultures and backgrounds. Academy participants are asked to show sensitivity toward and tolerance of different  values and norms and civility should be maintained at all times.
     
  • Those whose webcasting interests involve commercial, religious, or political activities are welcome to participate as long as these interests are made transparent and do not violate any other policies. Spam-like activities will not be tolerated. 
     
  • Any personal conflicts that arise out of Academy participation should be dealt with outside of the community.  Academy participants agree not to defame, harass, abuse, threaten or defraud other members of the community. Any such incidents should be reported to the management team.
     
  • In situations where profanity, sexual content, or descriptions of graphic violence are used, those uses should be clearly noted at the beginning of  any archived media and in its metadata.  In cases where such content is likely to occur during a live webcast, the introduction should note this fact. 
     
  • Webcasts and any other community content shall not promote any illegal activity, including but not limited to the violation of copyright law. 
     
  • By participating in the community, Webcast Academy members acknowledge that their contributions may be recorded and distributed by the community. This includes the member's text contributions to chats and forums, voice conversations or other audio, video, shared images or screen captures, and content in any other media supplied by the participant. No remuneration for these contributions shall be provided by The Webcast Academy or Worldbridges.  All materials produced at the Academy are released with at Creative Commons Attribution, Sharealike, Non-commercial (or less restrictive) license.
     
  • Webcast Academy participants are responsible for the content of their own contributions to the community and its shows. Any expressed opinions, viewpoints, endorsements, or recommendations are solely those of the contributor. Webcast Academy does not assume any liability for content produced by its members
     
  • As a Worldbridges community, all Worldbridges Terms of Use apply to participation in The Webcast Academy

Procedures, Badges & Certification

   

 

Membership in the Webcast Academy community is open all those who are at least 13 years of age and agree to abide by the community policies.   Membership is defined as anyone registered at WebcastAcademy.net  Before registering, please read  Policies Page so you can have a better understanding for the culture of this community. 

Becoming a member allows you to:

  • post comments without being moderated, 
  • subscribe to newsletters, 
  • and (if interested) take the first step toward becoming an intern.  
 
When registering, please include enough information in your profile to show us that you're not a spambot or someone with malicious intent. You don't have to use your real name, but if you are interested in becoming an intern, we do want to know something about you, and why you're interested in webcasting.  

 

An 'intern' is defined as someone who has begun the process of learning how to produce live, interactive webcasts and is willing to work collaboratively with others in the community.  Interns can begin at any time and take as long as they need to complete all the steps involved.  In the past, the Webcast Academy scheduled six week sessions that were designated by Class numbers (i.e. the Class of 1.1 or the Class of 2.3). Although we are currently experimenting with 'rolling admissions' and sessions of variable lenght,  interns are still assigned a class number based on when they begin their internships. If you first participated in a previous session and are rejoining a new session, there is no need to re-register.  Simply use your existing account, post a new audio introduction and pickup where you left off. 

 

A Webcast Academy 'Guide' is someone who has gone through some or all of the intern steps and has offered to provide synchronous and asynchronous assistance to new interns for a certain period of time.  A variety of collaborative tools may be used, including group skype chats, the Academy Forums, screencapture tools and desktop sharing programs.  Live sessions (sometimes called live labs) can be requested by interns or scheduled by guides and occur at anytime that is convenient for those involved. While guides and the entire community are willing to help as much as possible, interns should first make some effort to find answers on their own by checking the Academy FAQ, Forums, Book of Webcasting, & Screencasts. 

 

  When posting questions in the forums, skype chat, or elsewhere, please provide as much information as possible . Posting or linking to screenshots and/or screencasts of your problem or questions makes troubleshooting much easier. Visit the Collaborative Tools Used page for more information about how to use these tools most effectively.

 

Because the Webcast Academy is a global community,  we use GMT as the general time reference.   When posting details about live events, please include GMT time and a link to the Timeanddate.com Fixed Time .

Certification Process & Graduation Requirements

Basic Program
   In order to receive certification from the Webcast Academy as a 'live, interactive webcaster', interns will need to:

  • complete their internship assignments and participate collaboratively in the Academy community. Interns who enter the Academy with all necessary skills are asked to collaborate by providing assistance to novice webcasters
  • produce, edit and publish 3 interncasts
    • shows need to include some kind of interaction with a live audience and should be at least 15 minutes in length
    • audio should meet Worldbridges specifications, be of 'listenable audio quality',  and include proper ID3 tags
    •  published nodes should include some kind of show notes and chat log
  • complete a webcaster portfolio page
  • create at least one 'webcaster setup' page
    and
  • stream their own 'gradcast' .  Each gradcast will be different, but the general goal is to demonstrate your webcasting ability, reflect on the process of becoming a webcaster, share lessons learned, and discuss your future webcasting goals and plans.
    Graduationcasts should include
    • a properly posted event listing beforehand
    • an overview of their 'webcasting journey' (original motivations, personal & technical challenges, etc.) 
    • a brief overview of their webcasting setup and any special challenges they faced using their hardware
    • short descriptions of their 3 featured interncasts
    • a discussion of their future webcasting plans and goals

      Gradcasts posts should be published on the Webcast Academy site within a week of webcast and include a link to the intern's webcaster portfolio, the chat log from the webcast, and properly encoded audio (with ID3 tags).

After session leaders verify successful completion of all  tasks, interns will be awarded their  Webcaster Badge and Certificate of Proficiency.   They can then apply for a Worldbridges Webcasting License and become eligible to become a 'producer'  at any of the Worldbridges webcasting communities.   They will also receive 'webcaster' permissions and additional hosting space at The Webcast Academy.