Podcasting in the Classroom

Have you tried podcasting with your students yet? One of my goals for this school year was to try it out with my students, and I have to say I was thrilled with the results. Podcasting was a great way to explore the not always so thrilling topic of wastewater management (in science class).

I have been a long-time fan of CBC's "Quirks and Quarks" program and thought this would be the perfect way to introduce a science podcast to students. We listened to a couple of different episodes and then began breaking down the common parts and identifying them. For example, students noticed that each podcast began with a short commercial for another podcast or radio program, followed by a theme song and overview introduction of the episode. On chart paper, we wrote out the basic podcast structure and then decided what main topics needed to be covered (how Waterloo Region processes water and wastewater as well as a local water issue). We also discussed ways to "bump up" their podcasts and engage the audience through the use of sound effects, music, "hooks," and expert "guests."

I assigned partners and they began researching and script writing. To be completely honest, at this point I had no clue on how I would actually have students record their podcast, but I had faith if I couldn't find an App or way to do it, my students would! I did a bit of surfing to try and find some options, but none seemed to work how I wanted. I then did a Web Store search for audio recorders and found "Cloud Audio Recorder." This was a very simple audio recorder that would record up to 7 minutes, record as a mp3, and would even save to Google Drive. However, while this worked beautifully for me, students had a bit more trouble with the restrictions placed on Apps that they could add to their account. A few of my expert tech problem solver students were able to get the App working for each group. Today we were using "Cloud Audio Recorder" and instead of trying to add it to students GAFE Apps, we just used the website - issue free!

Students really were engaged and eager to make their recording perfect (which meant many re-takes!). Once their podcast was recorded and filed in their Google Drive I had them share the file with me. Here is one great example by two of my students - Water Podcast.

This project was also a great opportunity to integrate reading, writing, media and oral language into our science project. Here's the Podcast Rubric that I used when assessing.

I would love to hear if you've had any podcast adventures of your own!

Until next time,

Katrina