IST675Podcasting Toolkit

The who, what, where, when, and how of podcasting.

Michael Finnerty

3/12/09

Focus & Description

• The focus of this toolkit is to help the entire school community to develop, distribute, and listen to educational podcasts. The toolkit will be used to help showcase work, disseminate information, and engage students. The target audience for this toolkit is primary age students and their teachers.

Purpose & Goals

• The purpose of this toolkit is to provide students and teachers with working knowledge of podcasting equipment, software, and strategies to produce and listen to educational podcasts. The goals of this toolkit are to get students and teachers using podcasting technology to enhance lessons, engage students, and provide better assessment tools.

Learning Standards• NYS Learning Standards

The Arts Standard 1: Creating, Performing, and Participating in the ArtsEnglish Language Arts Standard 1: Language for Information and Understanding Standard 3: Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation Standard 4: Language for Social InteractionMathematics, Science, and Technology Standard 2: Information Systems Standard 5: Technology

• ISTE Technology Standards (NETS)Standard 1: Creativity and InnovationStandard 2: Communication and Collaboration

• AASL Standard for the 21st Century LearnerStandard 3: Share knowledge and participate ethically and

productively as members of our democratic society.

Students will...

• Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes.

• Create original works as a means of personal or group expression.

• Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media.

• Use technology and other information tools to organize and display information in ways others can view, use, and assess.

What’s a podcast?

• iPod + Broadcast = Podcast• Podcasts provide an easy way to distribute

engaging multimedia content out to the masses who can listen to it whenever and wherever they like on a variety of readily-available platforms.

• Essentially it’s “talk radio/video on demand”

Teachers -Why podcast?

• Offers authentic opportunities to meet Learning Standards– Incorporates reading, writing, research, editing, critical

thinking, creating and publishing – Perfect for differentiated learning opportunities

• Engages otherwise reluctant students• Teachers can communicate with students who don’t/can’t

come to school.

Students Why podcast?

• Fosters cooperation• Improves reading, writing, listening, and public speaking• Empowers the learner – Perfect for inquiry-based

instruction• Instills life-long learning skills

Samples

• My Podcast – podcasting4school.blogspot.com

• Mrs. Nicoll’s 4th Grade class podcasts

– Le Roy CSD – Le Roy, NY

Ideas forPodcasts in the classroom

• Record public domain literature

– Check out podcast legal information at guest.portaportal.com/podcasting4school

• Book talks!

• Author interviews, other interviews (veterans, Sr. citizens, experts in the field, etc)

• Original student compositions and essays

• Field trip reports

• Community updates

• Enhance the classroom lecture

Step 1 – Recording(after you have your idea)

• Equipment– Computer with Internet connection– Microphone

• I prefer a headset – young children tend to move around – a headset stays in place.

That’s all the equipment you need for basic podcasting.

Step 2 – Recording Software and Editing

• Audacity – http://audacity.sourceforge.net• Audacity is a free (open source) software package

that allows you to record and edit your voice.

• Garageband for Mac– http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

• An intuitive record and mix program. Great if you have a Mac.

Audacity

Step 3 - Publish

• Once your podcast is recorded, you need to distribute it to the masses.

• You will need to upload that podcast to a server, post that podcast on a webpage (I post mine to my blog), and publish that webpage.

• If you want that on iTunes – you will have to submit your

webpage/podcast’s RSS feed.

• Sound tough? It’s not. Watch this step-by-step guide.

Podcasting Resources

• My Blog– http://podcasting4school.blogspot.com

• My Portaportal– http://guest.portaportal.com/podcasting4school

• Episode #1 of My Podcast– Look for it on iTunes!

Podcasting ToolkitIST675

References•Fontichiaro, K (2007). Podcasting 101. School Library Media Activities Monthly 23(7). 22-23.

•Schmidt, D (2007). Creating a broadcasting empire… from the corner of your classroom! Multimedia & Internet @ Schools 14(1). 13-16.

•http://www.k12handhelds.com/podcasting.php