Building a Better Podcast

Villano, M. (2008).Building a better podcast. T.H.E. Journal. 35, 31-33,36-37.

How can k-12 educators make the content in podcasts unique and significant to teaching and learning?

Be Prepared

• podcasting is like speechwriting- know the audience
• know the audience
• use a theme
• research topic
• practice
• be organized
• have a beginning, middle, and end
• use a standard lesson
• spend time researching the topic
• editing and revising help students adopt the learning
• backward design- know what you want as a final product, then create it

Focus on Sound

• presenters must sound good
• reliable microphones
• volumes of voices differ- The Levelator (Conversations Network)
• music interludes to switch topics (Soundzabound, RoyaltyFreeMusic.com, The Music Bakery)

Edit Wisely

• record first, edit later
• No more than 15 minutes
• create a catchy name or maybe even a slogan (Sloganizer, Slogan4u, The PCman Website's Free Slogan Creator

Be Consistent

• Feedburner- sends 1.1 million "feeds" to almost 600,000 users
• allows users to establish continuing relationships with peers and others at schools around the world
• IT coordinators- help educators to incorporate podcasting into the classroom
• motivate stduents to create podcasts
• commit to a particular number of podcasts at the beginning of the year

Follow the Leaders

• study what others are doing
• Education Podcast Network, Google Reader, and Feedburner
• podcatching software can allow for users to receive podcasts daily

Reflection

I really enjoyed this article because I have never podcasted in my life and have no idea as to what I am getting into. I really think the idea can be educational for students of all ages. I enjoyed going over the list as I mentally prepare for creating podcasts with the students. I think about the lessons and where the steps fall. For an example, as I was playing/practicing with audacity I discovered a script is a must. I also discovered the volumes are different as the recordings are made. Slogan or catchy phrase seemed as it would be another fun step to add for the students while podcasting. The background noises can be altered and editing is probably the most exciting step in the whole process. I believe that any person creating a podcast should go over this list of important steps in podcasting I have provided above. I also used youtube.com after I read this and began the playing/practicing using audacity for podcasting. I am excited to get the students playing with the program and have them show me how to do some things.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hrBbczS9I0

Impact

This article joined with the youtube video helped me to begin the first stages of the podcasting. I am very excited about the project and I have talked to different students about podcasting. They a very excited as well. I have the microphone from school, which is very old, and downloaded the audactiy program with an additional mp3 plugin. I had the opportunity to practice podcasting and it opened a new door for me. I am going to do more research for tips on using audacity. But, this article impacted me to not only jump into podcasting but engulf myself. It has been exciting so far to learn about podcasting and actually create a podcast.