Podcasts

Podcasts do have a place in education.  Podcasts can be used as archives for teacher instructions or information for lessons, projects, or a form of assistive technology for special needs.  For my podcast project I focused on giving directions for a lab.  To relate the podcast to my overall topic of safety and the scientific method, I focused on guiding students through the Show Classification Lab.  The lab focuses on making good observations and the reason for a classification system in science.

I used the program Audacity to create my podcast.  Last semester I had to download the program for a graduate course, so I was already familiar with the editing software.  In recording my podcast, I found I stumbled on my words while giving directions.  For this reason I found it easier to record in sections, which also created smaller sections for when I edited the voice recordings later.  The first time I recorded my voice, the microphone volume was too loud.  The second time I made sure to lower the microphone volume, but then later normalized the sound level when editing.  The music I selected for the introduction, transition, and conclusion had to be mp3 format.   I was not able to use any music I purchased through i-tunes.  For the music I found I had to lower the sound level by using the Auto Duck effect.  Additionally, I used the Fade In and Fade Out effects to make the transitions better.  

The podcast was fun to produce.  I was able to use creativity while constructing an educational resource.  Being able to be creative while designing units and lessons is an aspect of my profession I enjoy.