Podcasting for PC

When I was first learning about podcasting, I read everything I could find on the topic. Much of it was quite confusing because it was before GarageBand 3 was available. I tried Audacity, and a couple of other programs, but I had a hard time trying to get the RSS feed to work correctly.
Then there was the issue of podcast aggregators; what was that? I hope that the following articles help with your discovery of podcasting on the PC. The remainder of this blog mostly deals with Mac podcasting.


This article by Jake Ludington, "Create Podcasts Using your PC" gives more information about how to use the software for a PC to create a podcast. It includes information about headphones, free software you can use and posting.

Another good source for a tutorial is this article in about.com. Again, this is primarily for the PC user and it uses many of the same software programs mentioned above.

This step-by-step guide produced by CNET may make it a bit clearer to create, and post your own podcast. They have some suggested hardware to use when creating.

For another description of making podcasts try Engadget.com.

UCFSD Workshop

Here are some great places to find podcasts for your subject:

1. Social Studies:

2. Math
MathCast, MathGrad, The Math Factor, Calculus,

3. English
Grammar Girl, The Princeton Review, Fun With English,

4. Health & PE
Fitness Rocks, Motivation to Move, Diet and Fitness, Teachers TV,

5. Library
Harpeth School, Curtain Library Podcasts, The Library Channel,
A Conversaton aout the future of libraries by David Warlick,

6. Spanish
Hispanic Lifestyle, Insta Spanish, Coffee Break Spanish, Lots of links,

7. General Interest
Mabry Online, The Tech Teachers, Connect Learning, History Unwrapped,

Announce Your Podcast

There are several ways to announce your podcast to the general public.
1. iTunes - If you submit the podcast to iTunes, you will then have a way to share it easily with others.
2. Email - Send email to your colleagues about the publication.
3. Web page - Put a link on you school's web page pointing to a place for them to subscribe.
4. Submit to education sites - Education Podcast Network, and Education Podcast Directory.

Publishing the Podcast

There are many sites you can use and pay a small fee to publish your podcast.

1. Yahoo
   
2. FeedBurner - small fee
3. iTunes - Free
4. Poderator - Free help
5. Global Classroom - Free posting for educators
   

Enhanced Podcast

To view a more complete description of a podcast go to this wiki. Generally an enhanced podcast is an audio program with images that show. It could be moving action, still photos, graphics designed by students, pdf files or any other type of visual you wish to include.

After you have recorded the audio portion of the program, you can begin to add the images. Actually you can put them in the podcast track anytime it does not matter. This is where we had the students add the portraits of the President or first lady. You can add many photos. Don't forget to resize the image so it does not appear pixelated. If you double click on the image in the podcast track, a new window will open at the bottom. Again, double click on the image and you can resize or move the image to your liking.

Now you should see if the images match the commentary. Click on the information (i) button in the middle of the GarageBand window. As you play the podcast, you will see how the images show during the program. Make the adjustments you need.

An enhanced podcast should also show the websites it mentions in the program. It could even have a copy of the script. You should be able to locate information from the program by finding the links embedded in the podcast, or published on the podcast page.

Quiet on the Set!

We create all of our podcasts on the Apple using GarageBand 3. When opening the program, be sure to select "New Podcast Episode". You can record voice several ways. If you have a Mac with a decent built in microphone, that will do. We found the Logitec headphone microphone to be an easy way to have one person record. When you have more than one person, there are several alternatives.

One choice is the Snowball mic from Blue Microphones. Great sound for a USB multiperson recording or playing your own guitar into GarageBand. Cost is around $99. Another choice which is much less expensive, but not as good quality is the Logitec USB Desktop Mic for $29. We also cheat by using our Logitec USB Headphone/Microphone 350 and setting it on the table on the side and record two people leaning in to the microphone. It works!

In the Beginning

Once the topic is chosen, find some great reliable resources to use to find facts and information you wish to include. If doing this for students, create a web page filled with links for them to search for facts. It will save a lot of time if you prepare this ahead of class. Here is the link to two of my pages from the Presidential Buzz and First Ladies podcasts.

A folder was created on each computer with the questions in a file, so all data could be collected electronically. Students collected their facts on this document, then created a new document as an actual script of what they would say, word for word. Once that was written, edited and approved, students were ready to record.

What Should I Podcast?

Let's use this forum to create a giant list of podcasting ideas. Please add your comments for ideas. I'll start:
1. book reviews by kids
2. principal's weekly address to students or parents
3. teacher's newsletter
4. take an ipod with microphone on a field trip and have students dialog about the trip
5. interview someone
6. local historical landmarks or parks
7. science research documentation
8. record creative writing pieces
9. have students create new "School House Rock" style rhymes for learning anything, like states and capitals, order of operations for math, world capitals, science facts, functions of body systems and more.
10. have the PTO officers record their meeting for others to hear
11. create a library of podcasts about famous people from your state
12. biographical recording about authors
13. review new music or classical music
14. create podcasts about the different body systems and how they work
15. holiday traditions of the students in your classroom
16. have elementary students tell how to cook a turkey
17. audio reports on animals, plants, planets, scientists, countries
18. create a set of directions for your class
19. have parent or grandparent volunteers come and read stories for the class to download
20. directions to area tourist attractions, or other schools

Add your thoughts and ideas to this list so others can give it a try.
Some suggestions from Yahoo.com:

• Make audio walking tours of your city or a favorite museum.
• Record a restaurant review while you’re actually dining.
• Broadcast your band playing original music.
• Talk about your favorite sports team.
• Give your own reviews of movies, TV shows, or CDs.
• Read from your own original poetry or short stories.
• Create an audio cooking show.
• React to current events and the latest news.
• Interview friends and family on different topics each week.
• Record your experiences while traveling.

Background Information

If you have a variety of projects you have done year after year, you can perk up the students interests by turning them into podcasts. Instead of having students create a poster or PowerPoint presentation, have them write their information into a script and produce a podcast! Our school has embraced podcasting in a huge way. Music teachers have created programs on the orchestra, FCS teachers on the new food pyramid, an English teacher recreated "A Christmas Carol", and students worked on projects about presidents, first ladies, states and weekly school events. This week, we have geography students researching topics for their unit on natural resources. That research will be turned in to PowerPoint presentations for some, and others will make podcasts.You can listen to all of our programs by going to our CFPMS Home Page.

One of my colleagues, John Walsh has created this page of fantastic resources for anyone who is ready to do some reading about podcasting. There are many resources available on the web, and I would point you in the direction of Tony Vincent's page Learning in Hand as a starting point.

Looking for Programs

There are hundreds of sites where you can find some great quality programs for education.

1. iTunes - Just click on the Podcast link in iTunes and then education to find some great resources for your classroom. I recommend GrammarGirl, Radio WillowWeb, Our City Podcasts, Princeton Review Vocabulary Minute, KidCast, a variety of world language programs is available and of course I recommend CFPMS podcasts!
2. Podcast Alley - contains thousands of podcasts in every category.
   
3. The Education Podcast Network - run by David Warlick.
4. Podcasting News - The education link will take you to some good selections.
5. Digital Pencil - Teacher resources including podcasting directions and sites.
6. UCFSD - UHS Monster interviews created by Dan Lipowitz classes.
   
7. CFPMS - Students are creating like crazy! This page is a link to other programs.

Find a podcast or two that you could play to your students. It is not necessary to create everything, you can subscribe to these programs on a Mac or PC and listen to them on your computer.