Podcasts
Podcasts are a great way for teachers to provide
information, but they are also a wonderful tool for students to use to create and share
knowledge and information. Podcasts are audio recordings that are similar to
blogs, but available in an audio format and they are becoming increasingly
popular in today’s society. According to the PEW Research Center, 44% of
Americans ages 12 and older have listened to a podcast sometime during their
lifetime. 26% of Americans have listened to a podcast in the past month. These
statistics show that the number of people who listen to podcasts are on the
rise.
My partners and I created a Podcast on “Genrefying the Library.” This is a topic that is often debated in the world of libraries. Listen to the podcast below to hear the pros and cons and other important tips for genrefying your collection.
We used Garage Band for the initial audio recording and
Wevideo to edit the file. Then we converted the video file to an audio file and uploaded the file to
Podbean as our “hosting site.” Click the link below to listen to our podcast on
Genrefying the Library.
The platform that we used to record our podcast was Garage
Band. While this app provided much more flexibility in regards to adding music
and other sounds, it did have some negatives. This app is only available to
people who have an apple product (such as an iphone, ipad, or apple computer). It
was a bit of a learning curve…it took me some time to figure out how to make
the bar length longer in order to record our entire podcast. I also wanted to
turn the metronome off while I was recording. I was able to adjust the huge
echo effect that was present during my very first recording. After some
practice, I ended up with a great sound file that I shared with my partners.
However, we did encounter some problems in sharing the Garage Band file. We
tried to use Google Drive as a method of sharing, but were not able to reopen
the file after it was shared it ended up being an “unsupported file type.” We
were able to use the audio file downloaded from Garage Band to Overall, once
you learn the little “quirks” of Garage Band, it was fairly simple to record.
Podbean is another free podcast hosting site that can be
used in creating and sharing podcasts. This is a platform that I have used in
the past in hosting podcasts. When using this platform, I usually record my
podcast using Audacity, which I then export as an .mp3 file and upload to
Podbean as the hosting site. This process is fairly simple, but it appears to
be more of a site for “hosting” than for recording/editing podcasts. Once the
audio file is uploaded to Podbean, the podcast can be given a title and listened
to from the website. It also has a share button where the podcast can easily be
shared to Facebook, Twitter, Linked In or Tumbr. It can also be downloaded from
there. It was a super-easy process to upload and looks very professional once
it is published. It is also easy to embed the podcast into a website (as seen
above).
Another option for creating podcasts is through the use of
Soundcloud. However, the free version is limited. You only have 180 minutes available
to upload. Once I uploaded my audio file, I could choose if I wanted the file
to be “public” or “private.” If you choose “private,” you can share your
podcast using the share link. It was very simple to upload the podcast. Soundcloud seemed like a nice place to listen
to music and audio files. You can follow your favorite artists, labels and
friends on SoundCloud and then follow their posts on your stream.
WeVideo is a video editing subscription that we used when
adding music to our podcast. They have a free version, which limits the user to
only 5 minutes/mo, 1 GB of cloud storage and a max video resolution of 480p. We
were able to upload the m4a file into the program, make edits and then convert
the video file into a .wav audio file. This program was very simple to edit and
add layers to the sound file. There were all different kinds of free music and
sound effects available for us to utilize to add to our podcast.
Overall, I really liked how easy Podbean was to upload and
host the Podcast. As far as recording and editing, Garage Band took a little
getting used to. We ended up using Wevideo, which was an easy-to-use platform
for adding music to our podcast. I think that any video recording program can
be used and then edited for the final podcast. In my opinion, I believe that
Podbean is a wonderful platform for hosting podcasts. We can teach students how
use voice recorders (such as Garage Band, Voice Memos, Audacity, etc.) and then
give them the skills to edit those sound files and upload them to Podbean for
publication.
Using Podcasts in
Education
In the library, we can use podcasts to announce new books
that are in the library. Podcasts can be created to recommend books to others,
or for students to summarize books that they have read. Students can use
podcasts as a platform to demonstrate what they have learned about a particular
topic, which can be integrated into any academic area.
Check out these great educational podcasts for kids!
Educational
Podcasts to Follow
Podcasts are a great resource for educators, too. They can
provide ideas for teachers and keep teachers up-to-date on current trends in
education. Here are some educational podcasts to follow.
Resources:
Cornwall, G. (Jul 22, 2018).
How Genrefication Makes School Libraries More Like Bookstores. MindShift. Retrieved
from https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/51336/how-genrefication-makes-school-libraries-more-like-bookstores
Courtney, L. (n.d.) 18 Great
Educational Podcasts for Kids. Retrieved from https://www.aswewalkalongtheroad.com/2017/09/18-great-educational-podcasts-for-kids.html?utm_content=buffer0ebaa.
Dunne, K. (2015, August).
Genrefication of the fiction collection in an elementary school library.Research
Papers. University of Central Missouri. Retrieved fromhttps://centralspace.ucmo.edu/bitstream/handle/123456789/417/Dunne201530_RP_Genrefication.pdf?sequence=7&isAllowed=y
Eichenlaub, I. (Oct 1, 2018).
Genrefication: Removing Barriers to Access. Knowledge Quest. Retrieved
from https://knowledgequest.aasl.org/genrefication-removing-barriers-to-access/
Hora, A. (2015). Genrifying the school library's fiction collection. Graduate Research Papers. 94. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uni.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1094&context=grp
Minton, C. (May 4, 2014). Beyond the Shelves: “Genrefying” a High School Library: A Detailed Planning Document. [web log comment]. Retrieved from https://christyminton.wordpress.com/2014/05/04/genrefying-a-high-school-library-a-detailed-planning-document/
Stiles, L. (2004). Shelf Shifters: Thanks to a New Fiction Section, a Quiet Library Now Has a Booming Business. School Library Journal, 50(9). Retrieved fromhttp://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.shsu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ706113&site=ehost-live&scope=site
PEW Research Center. (2018, July 12). Podcast listenership. Retrieved from https://www.journalism.org/chart/sotnm-radio-podcast-listening/.
Watson, Angela. (n.d.) 12 of my favorite podcasts for teachers. Retrieved from https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/12-of-my-favorite-podcasts-for-teachers/.
Alexandria Automation Software blog:
Thanks for sharing your ideas! I feel like a terrible NPR fan for not knowing about Wow in the World!!! I can't wait to start listening to it. After following the link you provided, I can't wait to share this with teachers and do a little easy listening myself.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post! I need to try out that Wow in the World with my students because I think they would really like it! I have used podcasts with my students a little bit, but just by listening to them and not having the kids actually MAKE them. That's definitely an area where I need to grow because I think the kids would LOVE that!:)
ReplyDeleteI like the way you introduced the podcast and the organization of your post. I would like to explore GarageBand more fully. I hope I can get the application to work on my phone.
ReplyDelete