#355 – Classroom Podcasting

#355 — Classroom Podcasting

AVID Open Access
11 min

Keywords
classroom podcasting, student engagement, critical thinking, planning phase, evaluation rubric, recording logistics, background noise, simple recorders, audio editing, sophisticated editing, sharing audience, school guidelines, free resources, podcasting tools, student creation

Transcript

Paul Beckermann 0:01
Welcome to Tech Talk for Teachers. I’m your host, Paul Beckerman.

Transition Music 0:05
Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. Check it out. What’s in the toolkit? What is in the toolkit? So, what’s in the toolkit? Check it out.

Paul Beckermann 0:16
The topic of today’s episode is Classroom Podcasting. Podcasts can be a great way to engage students in your classroom. Yes, they can listen to podcasts to learn new content and gain new perspectives but the real power comes in when students are allowed to create their own podcasts. They become active participants in the process. They must learn, and then they must share back what they learned. They will also be engaging in high levels of critical thinking and problem-solving throughout the entire planning process, the creation of the podcast, and sharing their work. It can be a really powerful learning experience. If this is something that you would consider with your students, here’s a quick guide to help you get started.

Integration inspiration. Integration ideas.

Step one is planning. As you begin the planning phase, be sure to define your objectives. What is the academic purpose for this work? What standards are you addressing? What learning will students demonstrate through this project? Once you’ve determined your purpose, you want to flesh out the parameters of the project. What will the final product look like? How long will it be? How will it be shared? How will you guide students through the production process? How will you evaluate the final recordings? If you can, it’s always good to provide students with a clear evaluation rubric before they begin, so they have a clear target to shoot for. After you’ve clarified your own objectives for the learning experience, you want to provide scaffolding for students to begin planning their podcasts. You may want to consider some of the following questions during this phase of production. What is your topic and does it align with the project requirements? What is the title of your podcast? And what is the title of this particular episode? Are you speaking alone, or will you have a guest on the show? What questions will you ask or answer during the episode? What equipment and software will you need? And what is your time frame or schedule for completing this project? To help guide your students through the process, it can be really helpful to have some sort of planning document or graphic organizer that they fill out as they go. They should have a script and a plan developed before they begin the actual recording process. Preparation is the key to ending up with a quality product in the end.

Step number two is the recording and production. Once students have a plan in place, they can move on to the Recording and Production Phase. You want to have students think through the logistics of this, especially if lots of groups will be recording in a small space. You could have all students recording in your classroom and accept the fact that there will be background noise. Or you could work with your media specialist and schedule a quiet place where students can take turns rotating through to complete their recordings. Sometimes your media centers will have these kinds of spaces. I’ve also seen some teachers bring in cardboard boxes that students speak into to reduce some of the surrounding noises. Sometimes they’ll lay on the ground with their heads and microphones inside the box as they record. If you have space, you could even bring in a larger box, like a refrigerator box, that they could develop into some sort of a pseudo studio in your classroom. As far as microphones, you don’t need anything fancy for this. You can use the built-in mics that you have on your devices, or if you have a small budget, you could purchase inexpensive mics that plug into the microphone jack on those devices. I’ve seen them for about $10 a piece, and they do help reduce background noise if you can get them. Still, if you can’t get those, don’t let that stop the process. Built-in mics are fine. Finally, you’ll need to choose your recording software. There are different tiers of options here.

On the simple end of the spectrum, you can have students use tools that are very simple, start-and-stop, one-take recording options. They take very little to no learning how to use, and and even very young students can use them. They press a button to start, they talk, they press a button to stop. Because they are one-take options, students will need to have a plan so that they can record in one session with no editing afterwards. Here are a few options if you want to go this route. Vocaroo, this is an online recorder that’s free, requires no account, involves one-take recording, and lets you share the final product with either a link, a QR code, an embed code, or a file download. It’s simple and versatile. Online Voice Recorder is another option that’s similar to Vocaroo. It’s also free and requires no account, and again, would require a one-take recording. This one requires you to download the finished recording rather than sharing with a link. Learning Management System recorders. Many LMS systems provide audio recorders that are integrated into their own suite of tools. This can be a really good option since they’re already integrated into a system that you may be using, and the final products can often be uploaded right into the system as an assignment submission. That makes it really easy for you to manage, which is a plus. Again, these are typically one-take experiences with no editing. For instance, Schoology has an audio submission option, and Seesaw has an integrated recorder that’s really easy for even the youngest learners. A fourth option here is TwistedWave. This is an intermediate option for Chromebook Mac and iPad users. It’s a browser-based editor that lets you record and produce mono, single-track files up to five minutes with the free version. It also features basic effects and editing capabilities. So it’s a little more robust than just the simple start-and-stop one-take recorders. If you want your students to be able to delete mistakes and clean up their recording a bit, this can be a good choice, and it’s still pretty simple.

Now, if you’re looking for students to do more sophisticated editing, you’ll need an audio editing program. This involves a bigger learning curve, but students can be quite good at navigating them and figuring out how to use them, plus it’s great problem-solving for them to experience this type of learning. With these tools, students can have multiple tracks of audio, including a separate track for each speaker, or music, sound effects, all those things can be added in. Because they’re more sophisticated, some require a local installation, which may limit your options. You’ll need to decide what’ll work in your classroom. Here are a few options for free audio editors. Audacity: This is my go-to version if you have a PC that you can install it on. If you can’t install, there is an online version called Wavacity. It looks exactly like the installed version, except that you can’t save your work, so you’ll need to do the editing in one sitting. It can be found at W-A-V-A-C-I-T-Y.com. A second option is Garage Band. If you’re an Apple user, this is an excellent option, and would probably be my go-to. It’s got professional-level editing capabilities and will likely be enough to satisfy even your most ambitious students. There is a bit of a learning curve on this one, so be aware of that, and it’s free on Apple devices. A third one here is Kapwing. This is a full-featured online recording and editing studio. Students can produce 15-minute productions for free. They can record, upload, edit, add stock music tracks which are included, and more. Because it’s more sophisticated, it’s again, more complicated to learn for the users, but some students will really embrace the possibilities of this.

A third tier of options are intended for the entire podcast process: recording, editing, and hosting. These considerations are probably best for older students. The first is podcastle.ai. This one has sophisticated options for allowing students to invite guests, edit multi-track recordings, export, share, and even publish their podcasts. Podbean is another one that’s similar to podcastle.ai and offers 5 hours of recording and production for free. It also has hosting services. Riverside is a third one. This one offers 2 hours of recordings for free, and also supports multi-track editing and production like the first two examples I shared. Users can invite guests with a link and record audio, video, or both. You’ll need to decide what level is appropriate for your students and how far you want to go with this.

Step three, then, is sharing. The thrill of creating a podcast is being able to share it with an audience. What that audience will be is up to you and your students. Will you share it in class? Will you share it with a partner class, or perhaps the entire school? Maybe you go beyond the walls of the building and share with parents, a community group, or even a worldwide audience. You’ll need to determine what makes the most sense for your situation. You’ll also want to review school expectations and restrictions so you stay within allowable guidelines. And don’t be afraid to start with a really simple plan. Podcasts don’t need to be complicated. They can be recorded in one take and shared immediately. Or if you want to go further, they can be as complex and polished as you have time and inspiration to pursue. In either case, I think you’ll find that the experience is very powerful, inspiring, and engaging for your students.

To learn more about today’s topic and explore other free resources, visit AvidOpenAccess.org, specifically, I encourage you to check out the article, “Hear It, Say It, Play It: The Power of Audio in Student Creation.” And, of course, be sure to join Rena, Winston, and me every Wednesday for our full-length podcast, Unpacking Education, where we’re joined by exceptional guests and explore education topics that are important to you. Thanks for listening, take care, and thanks for all you do. You make a difference.