Podcasts

Podcasts have not only risen in popularity in recent years, but they have also become a powerful tool for student creation, collaboration, and sharing of ideas. I have used podcasts on several platforms in the past few years at school, but often with limited resources at my disposal. Without professional grade recording equipment or access to expensive recording software at school, I've had to make due with the free resources at my disposal. Here's a list of a few podcast platforms that you can use to create your own podcast or with students to help them share their ideas with the world. 

Anchor

I was told about Anchor this past year from my campus' digital learning specialist, and I have to say, I don't know that I'll ever use another podcast platform with students or myself ever again. The interface and ability to record, edit, save, and host your podcast all from one spot is a huge time-saver. In the past, I've used recording software to record the voice tracks, a different program to edit and add sound effects, and another site to upload and host my podcast. Anchor combines all of those steps into one place, and the best part: it's completely free. Anchor gives the user the ability to add sponsors to their podcast if monetization is something you are interested in, but I have not specifically used that function of the site. The audio comes out sounding really clean, and you have the ability to add background music, sound effects, and interludes between segments. I used Anchor this past spring when schools were down to create a podcast to keep students up-to-date on what was happening at school, and most families were blown away by how easy it was to access and listen to. Through Anchor, the user can have their podcast stream from Spotify, Apple, Google Podcasts, and several other smaller platforms. There's even a library of podcasts created through Anchor that the user can explore and listen to on their own. I'm sure there are dozens of other podcast platforms on the market right now, but I have not found one as complete as Anchor. 

Audacity

Audacity is less a podcast platform and more of a free recording studio that can capture audio and save it to your computer. This is the first software that I used when starting out with podcasts, and I have used it with students for years. Even the most novice of podcasters can figure out how the program works, and it is easy to trim audio, as well as save and upload files to different places in order to host podcasts and distribute them to others. With Audacity, I have had students record book talks and conversations with each other for me to then go back and listen to later. In a world where classes are as large as 30 students, having the ability to sit and listen to every student throughout the day is next to impossible. Audacity allowed students to record their thoughts and feelings, and gave me the chance to listen to them without feeling rushed or inconvenienced if they were struggling to get their ideas out. Once the user has recorded and edited their audio, a podcast platform like Anchor or Podbean would be perfect to host their podcast. 

GarageBand

Similar to Audacity, GarageBand is a recording software that can't host a podcast itself, but it gives the user all of the tools necessary to record, edit, mix, and add sound effects to. GarageBand comes free on Apple devices like the iMac and iPhone, and has more bells and whistles than Audacity does. GarageBand can add and record different instruments like a drum machine, keyboard, and even a guitar. Since acquiring a MacBook this spring for remote learning, I have been learning more and more about GarageBand and the seemingly endless amount of features it offers. Simple enough for a beginner but advanced enough for even expert audio engineers to take full advantage of, GarageBand is an incredibly powerful tool that could be really helpful if starting a podcast. The only Apple products my campus offers students are iPads, which are sometimes more frustrating than anything, so I have pushed in the past to acquire some iMacs, but so far that has not happened. 

Personal Choice

There are dozens of other podcast platforms for users to try out, including SoundCloud, which is a very popular music sharing service and works well for embedding audio into blogs and social media, as well as Buzzsprout and Castos. Most of the podcast platforms offer users limited features with free accounts, but to really take advantage of their services, paid accounts are likely the way to go. This is why Anchor is my personal preference for podcast platforms: everything on their site is free, and they even have an app that adds some features and editing tools as well. In the past, I have had Anchor open on my phone and laptop to add audio files and edit them quicker and easier. It is definitely more geared towards beginners in the audio community, but for students or anyone getting into podcasting for the first time, Anchor is the way to go. 

Podcasts in the Library

As I've mentioned, I've primarily used podcasts in the classroom to have students have conversations around a book they've read for me to listen to later. I typically send students in a small group to the library or a quiet spot on campus, leaving one student in charge of recording the conversation. Students have either recorded on a laptop with microphones or on one of their personal devices to make sharing with me easier. Some other options for podcasts in the library is to have a student-made podcast about the goings-on around campus, or even have students create a podcast around a certain club or sport. Podcasts are not the preferred medium for students to get information from - that would likely be YouTube or social media - but it has become more popular over the past few years. Either way, podcasts are a really easy way for students to make the transition from content consumers to content creators, and it gives them an avenue to share their ideas with the rest of the world. 

Educational Podcasts

Anchor offers up a place to find podcasts covering all kinds of topics, from sports and entertainment to education. The Apple Podcast app is a personal favorite of mine, especially for educational podcasts, but there's also Spotify that has added hundreds of new podcasts, some even exclusive to Spotify, over the last few years. Some personal favorite educational podcasts of mine include Dear Hank & John, Teach Me, Teacher, and TED Talks Education. NPR also has dozens of different podcasts to listen to, several of which fall under the education umbrella. Check out my group's podcast over leaders in the world of librarianship: