Podcasting in the Classroom

I thought I'd already talked about this, but apparently I was wrong. So...here we go! Let's learn about one of my favorite things to do in the classroom: podcasting.

Source

What are podcasts?

Podcasts are downloadable audio broadcasts. If you have iTunes on your computer, you've probably seen the "podcast" tab. Those podcasts can come with video, too, but my podcasts are audio-only.

Benefits to podcasting in the classroom

1. Kids who are absent (for whatever reason) can still listen to your presentation in the comfort and convenience of their own home. 
2. Kids who are slower readers or thinkers can not only listen to your lecture/whatever multiple times, but they can pause your speaking so they can comprehend. 
3. Kids who left their book or notes at school can still get SOME information by listening to your podcasts, so they're not completely in the dark about an assignment or text. 

My history with podcasting in the classroom
I used podcasting quite regularly at my old school. A fellow teacher (she taught history) was using them, and I followed suite. She set me up with an account at mypodcast.com, gave me a set of headphones (like these) with a microphone attached, and I was rockin' and rollin' before she could say "go."

Unfortunately, I dropped the ball when I moved to my southwest OK school. First, mypodcast.com pretty much shut down. I mean, I think you can still access it, but it's no longer accepting new members, and it won't let its existing users post anything! So it's pretty much useless. In fact, I let my account expire because it was so useless to me. I was pretty discouraged by this, so I gave up on podcasting for awhile. I tried to get back into it around November, when we started reading our first classic novel of the year, Of Mice and Men. I was using a program on my Mac laptop called GarageBand to record podcasts (it specifically has an option labeled "podcasts"). I was able to record and post seamlessly using mypodcast.com the year before, so I figured I could do the same thing with a similar podcast-hosting website this year. ...No such luck. Turns out, GarageBand records in a funky format (.band, I think?), and very few podcast hosting websites can interpret that format. So no hosting site I was seeing (that was free) was working. I got so frustrated that I just burned my podcasts onto CDs and was done with it.

(By the way, burning your podcasts onto CDs is a good way to not only preserve your podcasts in case something happens to your files, but it's also a good way to allow students with no internet access to listen, as well. But I digress.)

The CD-thing wasn't nearly as helpful as the actual podcasting, though, so I kept looking for a way. I finally figured out how to convert the .band files to mp3s on my laptop...but it takes awhile. I started creating a different classroom website, using Wix, and that hosting site actually supports audio files! So I uploaded a few of my podcast-mp3 files to Wix's audio player and was super-excited! (To see the podcasting page of my Wix English website, click here.) My principal approached me about doing a presentation to my coworkers over technology in the classroom, and suddenly, I was fired up again about podcasting. There had to be another, easier way. I didn't want to go to the trouble of explaining all those steps to people who probably wanted the simplistic version. So I did some Googling. 

I know how to record on Macs, but I don't know how to record on PCs, since Mac computers come with a recording program. So I found this free program called Audacity that is compatible with both Mac and PC (rare!), AND it's free. Jackpot! My laptop memory is running low so I'm not privileged enough to be able to download anything right now...and downloads are blocked at my school computer, so I haven't tried Audacity for myself yet. However, this instruction blog over Audacity, complete with screenshots, makes it seem like a pretty easy program to use! So I'm excited for someone to download Audacity and let me know how it goes! Of course, you'll still need a microphone, but if your computer didn't come with one, you can purchase one quickly and easily at Walmart, Best Buy, Radio Shack, etc. You might even be able to ask your on-campus IT guy -- maybe there's an old one, lurking in a closet of the school somewhere! :) The external microphone I had looked like a headset with an attached microphone -- I felt like a pilot when I used it. :) You just plugged it into the computer, pressed the record button of the recording program, and began speaking. Simple as that.

Eventually, I'd like to get a battery pack that attaches to the back of my pants, and an omnidirectional microphone for my shirt, so that I could broadcast live during class. I think it would be so neat for students (or parents!) at home to be able to hear EXACTLY what is going on in my classroom...and since the microphone is omnidirectional, listeners could hear the students' questions and comments, too. That'd be great, because the Q&A section of a lecture or lesson is the most important part! I saw an advertisement for this portable recording system with multiple microphones. If it records in a .mp3 format, I'm totally buying this!

What to post on your podcast

1. Lectures, notes, or project explanations
2. Reading material
3. "Radio shows"
4. Book reviews
5. Student projects/presentations

The "project explanations" thing is pretty self-explanatory, but for the lectures/notes, I upload the presentation to the class website. In the podcast, I instruct the student to first obtain a copy of such-and-such notes from the extra handouts folder in the classroom or the so-and-so page of the class website. Then I tell them to view the such-and-such presentation while they're listening to my podcast. If they're viewing a Prezi, I can tell the student exactly when to click the "next" arrow button, so that they're seeing on their screen EXACTLY what the other students in class were seeing, and hearing the exact same words to go with it. This is really helpful for those kids who are involved in everything and have to miss a lot of school, kids who are absent for another reason, kids who need extra help/reminders at home (because they forgot everything between class time and now), or kids who forgot their materials at home, but needed those notes to do an assignment. Oh, yeah, and it can help kids on an IEP, but we'll discuss that in the next paragraph.

The "reading material" category might sound a little ambiguous, so let me explain. As an English teacher, we read lots of short stories and novels. Some of these contain large vocabulary words and/or are very long in length. My slower readers have a hard time staying caught up with us AND understanding what's going on. Kids who are struggling readers oftentimes prefer to listen and learn that way. A friend I have is dyslexic. Even though he wasn't the best reader in school, he adapted by being an excellent listener. His memory is amazing when he gets to listen to things! Maybe you have students like this. Podcasts can help them. A friend of mine, who is a copyright guru at OSU, told me last year that I could only post about 15-20% of a text before it became plagiarism. Last year, I figured that 15-20% of the our current class novel was about 3 chapters. So I would post myself reading chapters 1-3, wait until we were completely done with those sections, take those chapters down, and then post chapters 4-6. You have to be careful, and it can be mildly time-consuming, but it's worth it to 1) make it available for your students and 2) set a good example by avoiding plagiarism! Of course, another alternative to avoiding plagiarism is to write to the publisher/author and request permission to post the entire thing for educational purposes. As long as you don't post the whole book and you're not selling the portion you've posted, you're in the clear, according to my friend. I just like to tread lightly around plagiarism issues, especially since I'm an English teacher!

As for items #3-5, those are some student-centered ways to use podcasting in the classroom. When I taught an applied communications class, my students and I talked about various mediums with which humans communicate. The radio naturally came up on our list. My students ended up creating their own radio show to communicate headlines in various topics (weather, news, etc.) while I recorded it via my laptop. But you could create a classroom radio show that "airs" on your class website once a week...or whatever works for you!

I love the idea of students doing book reviews via podcast. While I push, push, push reading in my classroom, I know that it is a dirty chore for most students. Reading is just not the "cool" thing to do, unfortunately, and many secondary students are not interested in it. So while I love the idea of using Shelfari, blogging, or some other web-writing tool in order to post book reviews, I know the majority of classmates are more likely to pay attention if they don't have to read the review. Therefore, doing book reviews as a podcast and allowing the students to listen to the recommendations might be a good idea.

As for projects and presentations, I'm sure you can think of more ideas, but what about using them in a speech class? Or for an oral report that must be given? You could record the student as he/she speaks. Then you could either post the recording online for others to hear, or you could even let the student listen to his/her speech and critique the presentation!

I've also heard of elementary classrooms allowing their students to create their own podcasts.  It's mostly the elem. student reading, and then being able to listen to him/herself and see where the mistakes are. I really wanted my communications students to make a podcast whenever we were studying media communication, and I'd assigned them the task of making their own radio show! So there are some interactive ways students can use podcasting, as well -- it doesn't just have to be the teacher's voice on the broadcast.

I think that's all the info I have about podcasting for now. When I get more, I'll update this post. Until then, happy podcasting!

::Edit:: I found an extensive list of ways to use podcasting in this 11 page PDF document. Check it out.