Tips and Tricks for Podcasting (Part 1)

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Like everything dealing with education technology in the classroom there are always tricks and tips to ensure success – this includes Podcasting!

Tips: Preliminary Steps before Jumping In

First Tip – for podcasting is to simply listen to other educational podcasts, if you have not already used them in your classroom. This will give you an idea of what other teachers are doing with their students.

The best place to visit is iTunes education. This service is free and worth the preliminary effort before jumping into the process.

Second Tip – is the first few podcasts typically take 3 – 4 weeks to produce. So you should aim to make one podcast a month to start. Once you and your students are more familiar with the process, the production time is much shorter.

It is always best to hold a couple of workshops with students to practice making podcasts and to test the production process.

Third Tip – is to prepare podcast planning sheets for you and your students to use when preparing podcasts. A good planning sheet includes the podcast number, title, and outline or script.

Fourth Tip – is to limit podcasts to less than 10 minutes, preferably 5 – 6 minutes, to avoid student loss of attention.

The following are the tricks to success.

Planning: A Three Step Process

There are three major steps you need to focus on in podcasting to ensure desired learning outcomes.

Step One – is the Pre-Production stage and involves:

• Determine the purpose of the podcast.

• Have students work in groups.

• Brainstorm ideas with students.

Step Two – is the Production stage and involves:

• You or your students create rough scripts for use during the Podcast. You or your students can improvise and change the script during the recording process.

• Hold recording session to produce the Podcast.

• Edit audio content as desired.

Step Three – is the Post Production stage and involves:

• Post audio file content to web server for publication.

• Use RSS to publish Podcast information to Podcasting directory.

• Use iTunes to subscribe to and download Podcast.

• Let other science or math teachers in your school or school district know about you and your students’ podcasts.

Recording: Additional Tricks to Podcast Success

The following are tricks to ensure recording success for both teacher and student.

• Use a Clear Chat USB Microphone Headset by Logic Tech ($40.00).

• Know your segment VERY well or memorized.

• Speak slowly and clearly so your audience can understand you.

• Do not touch or move the microphone. You will hear it on the recording.

• Be quiet if you are not the speaker. The microphone is sensitive and will pick up any little noises in the background.

• Avoid rustling your papers when at the microphone. Put the paper on the table if you need to read from it.

• Be interested in what you are saying – your voice will show it if you’re not!

• Do not move around when speaking into the microphone- plant your feet!

• Don’t get too close to the microphone. It will distort your voice and your audience won’t be able to understand you.

Podcast Software: Programs for Creating a Podcast

The following are software programs designed for creating podcasts.

GarageBand – select New Project and then Podcast. This program provides for easy integration music and images.

Audacity – is a free program designed for recording and editing audio files.

Next Blog Post: Tricks and Tips for Podcasting Part 2

Additional Resources

How to Integrate Podcasting into Science and Math Classes

Podcasting in Science and Math Classes