What should you podcast? Classroom ideas include: Let parents and students know where to find the podcast online, perhaps linking to your podcast from your school's site or even just posting it there. It's free and very easy to get started.Īfter using one of the above options to record and upload your first podcast, don't forget the last step in podcasting: sharing. Option 2: Podcast by Phone with BlogTalkRadioĭon't have a microphone, or need to podcast off-site, maybe on a field trip to Washington, D.C.? With , you simply dial a toll-free number and record a podcast anywhere, anytime using only your telephone. You can even do some simple audio editing. Basically, just talk into the mic, export as an MP3 and upload to the Internet. There's no need to go high-tech.)Īudacity is a free and easy way to record and upload podcasts for the classroom. Many laptops come with internal mics, but if yours does not, or if you have a desktop computer, most electronics stores or big-box retailers sell small microphones for about $20. (Note: For option 1, you'll need a microphone. Below are two options that fit a variety of situations. The steps are easy - record, upload, and share - and the hardware can be as simple as your PC, or even a telephone. So, begin with the basics, by creating a simple non-serialized podcast for at least the first few times. How can you try podcasting yourself? For many teachers, the thought of a serial podcast (one that requires weekly or biweekly updates) is overwhelming, and few parents (or educators) may be ready to subscribe with RSS feeds anyway. Tim Tyson records his communications to parents and students in podcasts. At Mabry Middle School in Marietta, Georgia, 7th graders are sharing their science experiments while Principal Dr. Already, high school history students are recording reports on Chinese dynasties, while first graders are narrating paragraphs about their classs star of the week, and fourth grade classes produce a weekly news bulletin. Listening to podcasts is a first step, but sooner or later, many educators are ready to take the leap and record their own podcasts. Many Web sites now offer content through podcasts take a look at CNNs Podcasting page for dozens of news-related podcasts. You can download a single episode or subscribe to a whole podcast. There you'll find hundreds of podcasts on a variety of subjects - including education. If you're new to podcasts and want to listen to one, start at Apples iTunes, a free download for PC as well as Mac users. The term podcast is derived from the words "iPod" (Apple's mp3 player) and "broadcasting." Eighty percent of podcasts, however, are never put on an mp3 player, but instead are listened to on a computer. Podcast purists would add that a podcast should also be serial - like, say, an old radio show with weekly installments - and subscription-based, with listeners using RSS Feeds to tell their computer to download any new installments to be heard later. What is a podcast? A podcast at its simplest is an audio recording that's available on the Internet. Yet, for the simplest podcast, students and teachers need nothing more than the Internet or a telephone to create and publish recordings online. Podcasts can be an invaluable addition to teaching and learning but confusion over just what a podcast is and what is needed to podcast can prevent educators from integrating them into the classroom. Whether you want to use an existing podcast as a classroom tool, or whether you want to create (or have your students create) podcasts, the process has never been easier. Once only available to people with technical experience and high-level computer skills, podcasts are now easily accessible to everyone. What was once a dull and forgotten lecture became an exciting and memorable feature of the term-paper project. Each student also was required to listen to classmates' podcasts and comment on them online. Recently, library staff assigned one publication to each student and asked him or her to create a two-minute commercial podcast promoting the assigned text. But -no surprise - students were far from enthused during those lectures. Included is an introduction to such valuable reference publications as subject-specific encyclopedias. Mary's Episcopal School in Memphis, Tennessee, school librarians work with the history department on its yearly term paper assignment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |