Blue Ribbon School Zone

Education Best Practices Showcase, 501(c)3 organization

B.R.SchoolZone

It's Podcastic!

Nancy Bentley, Wood End School - Reading, MA


What are podcasts?

Podcasts are amateur radio shows that you can play on your computer or mp3 player.  Podcasts are different from regular audio files because you
can subscribe to them using an RSS feed.

How can I use podcasts in my classroom?

There are so many podcasts that are related to your classroom curriculum whether you teach preschool or high school.  They can be played for students in school or your students can download them to their MP3 players and listen to them on their own time. The itunes store is a great place to get started.  You can find audio and video podcasts under the podcast education section.  They are free, educational and often times entertaining.


Why should I have my students create podcasts?

Having students create podcasts is a great way to teach students 21st century skills.  They require the students to move beyond the 3 Rs reading, writing, and arithmetic and incorporate the 3 Cs: creating, communicating and collaborating.


Where can I find examples of student created podcasts?


You can look on iTunes  for schools.  Our school’s podcasts are listed under Wood End Radio.  Some Departments of Education such as Florida have their own pages.  A recent article in The Reading Teacher by S. Michael Putman and Tara Kingsley, October 2009 mentioned these sites.


What do I need to create podcasts?

Podcasts are easy and inexpensive to make.  You will need …


Here are the most important buttons on the Audacity tool bar.

 

 


Tip: Remember if the software does not allow you to click any of the buttons, it’s probably because you clicked “pause.”  Click the “stop” button and try again.

 




What if I forget how to use Audacity?

There are many sites with instructional videos on Audacity.  I like http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/17-audacity-tutorial.htm

 

I want to add music to my podcast, but I am worried about copyright laws.

Podsafeaudio.com has music that you can import into Audacity.  Always read the fine print to determine if songs are safe to use.  Since not all the songs on the website are appropriate for children, I usually select a few songs for my students to choose from and place them in a folder on my desktop.         


I finished making my podcast and exported the MP3 file, now what?


Once you turn your podcast into an mp3 file, you are ready to upload it to a host site, so your students, their parents, etc. can hear the podcast and subscribe to future podcasts.  There are many free host sites available.  Two sites that I have used are podbean.com and gcast.com.  I prefer podbean.com for several reasons.  It gives you a user-friendly webpage

and your account can be linked to itunes. 


Anyone can go to podbean.com and set up a free account.  I have created a couple of tutorial videos to help get you started.


The first video will help you upload your mp3 files to your podbean account. http://tinyurl.com/uploadmp3topodbean.
The second video will show you how to link your account to itunes.  The process is a little more complicated but it only has to be completed once.  http://tinyurl.com/podbeantoitunes


Remember that before you upload your students’ work to the internet, you will need their parent(s)’/guardians’ permission. 


There is a sample permission slip on our district’s wiki http://expandingtheboundaries.wikispaces.com/2009+Blue+Ribbon+Confe...





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