Podcasts - Having Your Voice Heard

As educators, we sometimes face repetitive questions to the lessons that we cover in class. So how can we answer those questions without having to continuously repeat the same information time and time again? One word. Podcasts. Podcasts are basically audio recordings that are uploaded onto the internet. This is similar to YouTube, but without a video portion; instead, there is only audio.

 There are several websites that host podcasts specifically. There are two websites that I am particularly familiar with. About a year ago or so I used a website called Podbean (www.podbean.com) to upload an audio recording for a graduate class that  I was taking. That was the very first time I had created a podcast, so I was not sure what to expect. My experience was not horrible, but it was a bit time consuming. I had to record my audio through a pre-installed program on my computer (or phone). Initially, I thought this was terrible, but it wasn't so bad because my audio recorder has a pause button that allows me to interrupt my "speech" for all of life's surprises and then continue once I am ready. Once my recording was done, I had to find the audio file on my computer and upload it to the Podbean website. This was a little bit more complicated than it seems and than I would have liked because Windows 8 can be a little daunting when it comes to finding files that are not part of the Microsoft or Adobe family. There isn't a designated folder for audio recordings like there is for PDF or Word documents. After about ten minutes of searching, I was able to locate and attach the file. Once the file was uploaded, I gave it a name and added a short description to it and published it. The whole process did take a bit longer than I would have liked, but it wasn't the worst thing I've dealt with in regards to technology. One of the things I did enjoy about Podbean is its user interface and how vibrant it is. It sort of calls out to you and grabs your interest instantly. Even though my initial interaction with Podbean wasn't the greatest, I have used it a few times since, and I have become familiar with the site.

The second website I am familiar with is the one I played around with this week. I decided to take a look at Soundcloud (www.soundcloud.com) because I have heard several people mention this website. I have to admit the process went by a lot smoother than it did with Podbean. Soundcloud allows users to record straight from the website instead of using an external application, saving the file, and uploading it. It was quick and easy to just record and tap "Upload" once I was done. From there, the process was similar as with Podbean - I got to give my audio recording a title and add a short description. One thing that grabbed my attention was that I could add "tags" to my recording. Tags are keywords that you can use to facilitate a search. In other words, if students do not know what the title to my podcast is, but they are aware of the subject, they would probably use certain terms to try to find that podcast. Tags are meant to help users find your files. The down side for me was the lack of a pause button when I was recording. I tend to get nervous when I record, and I like to take a break. I was not able to do that with Soundcloud. I found I actually had to restart my recording a few times. All in all, I did like Soundcloud a bit more because of how easy it is to use.

Podbeans are an excellent way of mixing things up in (or out) of the classroom. English Language Arts teachers could take an overused assignment such as a traditional book report and have students create a podcast on the book using the same template. Podcasts would require students to think a little bit more about their responses especially if the teacher requires that students listen to each others' podcasts and comment on them. In addition, podcasts are also a great way to extend your lessons or reteach information.