Podcasting 101

1
Podcasting 101

• The Basic Steps
• The Educational Value
• Potential Problems

2
The Basic Steps of Podcasting

• Our group started by deciding on a topic. We
  selected fifth grade as our target audience and
  chose science as our subject. Then, we selected
  an SOL and chose to talk about natural disasters.
• We divided the subject into three parts
• 1. Earthquakes, avalanches, and mud slides
• 2. Hurricanes and tornadoes
• 3. Wildfires and blizzards
• And each member of our group picked one,
  researched it, and wrote a script for that part
  of the podcast.
• Next, we came to class and we all recorded the
  different scripts we had written using Audacity.
  After we had recorded all of them, we listened to
  them and edited out small mistakes that we had
  made in our dialogue.
• After we had a smooth audio track, we searched
  for good intro and outro music and cool sound
  effects. We used the websites Free Play, Acid
  Planet, Sound America, and Partners in Rhyme.

3
And A Few More Steps.

• We searched for music that would fit our theme
  of natural disasters. We wanted the initial audio
  to be suspenseful and frightening. However, we
  wanted the outro music to be the opposite. After
  the podcast had discussed safety precautions, we
  wanted the ending music to be more soothing, but
  still weather related. It is important to have a
  good match between music, sound effects, and
  topic.
• After we found the perfect audio companions to
  our podcast, we finalized it by saving the
  finished product as an MP3 file. This enables the
  podcast to be shared with the rest of the world
  via the internet!

4
Podcastings Educational Value

• Podcasting is a fantastic tool for teachers to
  use in the classroom. It gives the students the
  opportunity to select a topic, practice research
  methods, and learn a lot about a topic by trying
  to teach other people about it. It also gives
  students a great chance at expressing themselves
  and using their creativity in a positive
  educational manner. They can try to make their
  script funny or whatever they choose, while also
  making it informative. Then they can experiment
  with different music styles and sound effects to
  make a project that is unique to their own
  imagination!
• If podcasting is done in groups, it is a great
  way to teach cooperation, social skills, and
  planning techniques.
• Lastly, the exercise of podcasting adds to a
  students combined technological experiences
  which are very important in their future
  educational career. Any practice that they get
  with not just computers, but less common pieces
  of technology will increase their collection of
  tools to use in the future, and thereby increase
  their chance at success.

5
Potential Problems

• While podcasting has numerous educational
  advantages, there are a few things to consider
  before embarking on a podcasting adventure
• Podcasting can be time consuming. It is
  important to limit the topics students can choose
  from and plan a detailed time schedule to stick
  to.
• It is best for students to do the research and
  script writing outside of class time, but you
  must consider the resources that different
  students have available to them outside of the
  school building. They are certainly not equal.
• In order for students to complete a podcast they
  must be familiar with how to use an audio editing
  program like Audacity. Many will not know how to
  do this, and instruction of this nature may not
  be the best use of limited class time.
• The alternative is for the student to just write
  the script, record the audio, and find the right
  music, leaving the mixing and formatting up to
  the teacher. This still benefits the students and
  cuts down on class time, but it places a major
  burden on the teacher. Completing one podcast is
  not such a load, but having to do twenty five is
  a significant project on top of all of the other
  responsibilities that teaching brings.