Podcasting Workshop
Podcasting is an exciting way to get students engaged in the writing process. Students are encouraged to write creatively, rehearse and practice reciting their work with excitement in their voices, and finally perform their original creations. It is authentic, fun work that can be used to supplement existing curriculum. The tools are easy to learn, the podcasts are fun to listen to, and podcasting can be used as another means of communicating between school and home.
Day One
We start the workshop with a crash course on podcasting. What is a podcast? It is a "portable broadcast," an audio file and a Really Simple Syndication (RSS) xml file that describes what the audio file is about, where you can listen to it, and other information. Without the RSS file, you cannot find or retrieve the audio file, so it wouldn't be a podcast in this case.
Michael and I briefly discuss what a podcast is then have the participants listen to several examples of podcasts.
Kidcast
Radio WillowWeb
Lakeridge Podcast System
NPR Education
Grammar Girl: Apostrophes
Sewing Grandma
Participants might note that the podcasts use music and other effects, that people speak with enthusiasm, and that the topics are wide ranging.
Next, Michael interviews me about how I started Tech Club at Lakeridge. We record the interview in Audacity, make a few purposeful mistakes and a couple accidental ones to edit from the recording. Finally, I add an audio snippet of an FM radio sweep to make it sound like we were listening to the radio and happened across the interview.
To finish day one I edit an existing RSS xml feed, copying and pasting an existing "item" and updating the information for the new podcast. I upload the RSS xml file to a public web server along with the mp3. Finally, I use both a web browser and iTunes to locate the feed and listen to the podcast. You can find the Interview podcast on my feed.
I also recorded myself as I presented and turned the recording into a podcast. This is the entire class, without me saying "um" so often, and without the Interview. You will hear me introduce podcasting concepts, edit Michael's interview with me, post the mp3 to a web server, and edit my RSS feed. This would be a good review for people who attended the class or a good way to catch up if you missed the class. You can listen to it here on my feed.
As Michael suggested at the end of the workshop, use the next week to find some podcasts that interest and inspire you. Here are a couple of ideas:
8th Grade History Podcasts
Texas History Podcasts (a classmate of mine from Pepperdine helped with these)
Learn Chinese - ChinesePod
English as a Second Language Podcast
Youth Radio
Next week we write our own segments or use a template to create a segment. We use Audacity or GarageBand to record our segments. Some participants might get so far as to begin editing their audio, though we focus on that area on day three.
Now that we understand what a podcast is and have observed a podcast being recorded, edited, and produced (including customizing the feed and uploading it to a web server), you are ready to start working on your own podcast segment!
We have four objectives during day two:
Learn and use the tools
Brainstorm a segment
Write and rehearse your segment
Record!
We introduced the workshop to the tools we use to make podcasts last week when we used a laptop, a USB microphone, and Audacity to record, edit, and produce a podcast. This week we start with a review of these tools. We are concerned with learning about the following tools this week:
Microphone
Audio recording and editing software
Michael and I have a variety of microphones available for participants to use, depending upon whether the segment is a solo effort or a group effort. Participants learn which microphone is appropriate for different types of recording situations. We also make participants aware of other possibilities for recording, like digital recorders, iPods with recording hardware, or even mobile phones.
We highlight the features and benefits of Audacity and GarageBand, and briefly touch upon Gcast.com as another means of constructing a podcast.
I highly suggest to people wishing to podcast that they read Radio: An Illustrated Guide, by Ira Glass and Jessica Abel. This book explains how NPR's "This American Life" is constructed and helps the reader understand how to create great "radio." Since podcasts are nothing more than "portable broadcasts," this book is a great resource. Participants start their own podcasts by writing segments. Some people might write their own segments, but we also have resources for the participants to use to generate content.
The San Antonio Integrated School District SCRIBE project developed a great template that students can use to develop their podcast segments.
KidCast is a great resource for teachers wanting to integrate podcasting into their curriculums and includes some great project ideas. We have copies of the KidCast workbook for participants to use. Additionally, Dan Schmit put together a Flash presentation about podcasting that has some good example segments.
Once the segments are written and rehearsed, participants record their audio. They might consider making a test recording, listening to it, then deciding whether to re-record based upon how many mistakes they make or how the recording sounds.
We teach people how to use both Audacity and GarageBand to record their podcasts. There are a couple of great resources to help students understand how to record using either of these programs.
Recording with Audacity explains the very simple steps you need to take to record your audio.
For those people using GarageBand, there is a great two-page document written for second graders in Florida: GarageBand for Primary.
Just like last week, I recorded my presentation and turned it into a podcast. You can find it on my feed, under Podcast Workshop Day 2.
Next week we will take the audio the participants recorded and work on editing it. Once the work is edited we will be ready to customize our RSS feed file and publish our work on the Internet!
In the previous two sessions we learned about podcasting, wrote and rehearsed segments, and recorded them onto our computers. On day three we finish the steps necessary to create a podcast.
We have four objectives during the third day of the workshop:
Clean up the audio (edit)
Convert the audio to mp3 format
Create your RSS feed
Publish your podcast!
Participants are instructed how to use Audacity or GarageBand to edit the audio they recorded during day 2. They might remove any gaps in the recording, reduce the number of times they say "uh, um," or correct any other issues with the audio. Additionally, they might add music or sound effects to enhance their recordings. If the segment was not recorded sequentially, they might need to move the introduction to the beginning of the broadcast. Participants are instructed how to edit their audio in both Audacity and GarageBand.
Cut, Copy, and Paste covers basic editing in Audacity
Editing Vocal Tracks is a more advanced Audacity tutorial
Once the segment is edited and participants are happy with the way it sounds they are ready to convert the recording to mp3 to maximize the number of devices that can play the file and to gain the widest possible audience. An mp3 encoder exists for Audacity so participants can export their completed audio to the correct format. If they use GarageBand to create their podcast they learn how to use iTunes to convert their audio to mp3 format.
We then learn how to use iTunes to "tag" our mp3 audio file with metadata. This information explains who recorded the podcast, when it was recorded, and other information about the recording.
Finally, we edit an RSS xml template and customize the information. This file is used by programs like iTunes to "subscribe" to the podcast. Unlike magazine subscriptions, it usually costs nothing to subscribe to a podcast. When you subscribe to a podcast, the computer collects new episodes when they become available, without any intervention from the user. It is a nearly-automated process.
Customizing the RSS feed xml file can be intimidating but is mostly a matter of replacing information in a template with your own information. Take a look at this page to learn how to customize your RSS feed.
Once the RSS xml file is customized, we upload our feed and the mp3 file to a public web server. Now people can start listening to our podcasts!
To finish day three we consider a couple different rubrics for assessing podcasts in a classroom. Participants consider what makes a podcast exemplary and some of the issues that might warrant improvement on a student-produced podcast that is being assessed.
I recorded my presentation during day three and turned it into a podcast, available on my feed, under Podcast Workshop Day 3.
Once the participants edited their podcasts and created their RSS feeds they uploaded them to public web servers. Below are some examples of the segments that participants recorded.
All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace - Josh Burker
Fourth Grade Biography Speeches - Sydney Odell
Podcasting is a technology that has matured to the point where the tools are easy to use, powerful, and readily adaptable to an educational environment like a classroom. I hope that the participants of this workshop leave understanding how easy the podcasting process can be. Equipped with the right tools and the knowledge of how to use them, it is my hope that we start to hear podcasts that capture the creativity and innovation of not only the teachers who participated in the workshop, but the students in these teachers' classrooms.
There are a number of resources that Michael and I used in this workshop.
PowerPoint presentation: the slides for the presentation. Included are some helpful screenshots.
The SAISD SCRIBE template was used by some participants to generate segment ideas.
The KidCast workbook was also an invaluable resource for participants to discover podcast segment ideas and to learn how the software works.
You can listen to my presentations from this workshop by accessing my feed.
