Elementary Podcasting

For the past year and a half, I have had my students produce a weekly podcast in which they share the news of their week at school. Two students each week are selected to write and revise their script, summarizing highlights of the week, main ideas learned, planning interviews with faculty, and more. One of the kids' favorite segments seems to be visiting their younger siblings and talking about what they are doing in the lower grades. It has been an engaging and exciting activity, with some excellent opportunities for students to develop their expressive communication skills through writing and speaking.

A podcast, in its basic form, is like a radio show for the Internet. The name comes from the words iPod and broadcast, though iPods are not needed in the process. What is needed are a digital audio recorder (the built-in microphones on most newer computers are pretty good for basic recording) and web space to host the audio file. That's about it to get started - on the technical side. Having something to say and a reason to say it is especially important, too! There are many ways that students and teachers could use podcasting: reporting news, reading works they have written, sharing research results or opinion pieces, interviewing community members, and more. I'd love to hear other suggested purposes.

There are a lot of great examples of podcasting in the elementary classroom (besides my class, of course!). One podcast that is often cited as an exemplar is Radio Willow Web from Omaha Nebraska. The students at the school from all grade levels take their turn at sharing a topic they have learned. Their teacher, Tony Vincent, has put together some amazing resources at www.learninginhand.com. An extensive list of education-related podcasts can also be found at The Education Podcast Network. 

Like any good education experience, when it comes to podcasting with your students, you need to plan carefully to be effective. In working on the print version of my Independent Learning Project for my master's degree, I have been developing an integration plan for creating a weekly news podcast. Here are some of the key points.

Learning Objectives:

The students will...

• work collaboratively to develop a script.
  
• revise their scripts, taking into consideration organization, audience, and detail.
  
• accurately describe and discuss the week's content learning and class activities.
  
• speak clearly, with appropriate volume, diction, and pacing when recording.
  
• use recording software to edit their recording and prepare a final product (optional extension activity)
  

Creating a class podcast is , by definition, and on-going activity and is not completed with a single lesson. Instead, the project should develop and grow with the students' development of their skills. The best advice that I was given when starting my podcast project was to start small. Keep the scope of your podcast manageable and plan ahead for making it a success. If you take time with your students to create a clear plan and goal for podcasting, your end result will be that much more successful. As you and your students get used to the process and potential of podcasting, you will find new ideas to add to the quality of the finished product.

There are several topics and mini-lessons that should be covered with your students in developing their podcast. Some of these are:

• understanding what podcasts are
• brainstorming and planning ideas for a class podcast
• summarizing what has been learned in class
• writing a script
• developing an interesting lead and conclusion
• reviewing the script and making revisions
• understanding copyright and fair use policy
• speaking clearly and articulately
• planning and conducting interviews
• using software to edit and produce a recording

In future blog postings on this topic, I plan to include graphic organizers and an assessment rubric that can be helpful for planning and assessing student podcasts.