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"Using podcasts can promote active learning, foster creativity, and develop a range of valuable skills that students can carry with them beyond the classroom."
What are podcasts?
Podcasts are sound recordings which can be accessed online and subscribed to via a feed.
For the purposes of this guide, we will concentrate on the sound recording part as academic assignments are unlikely to ask you to actually broadcast your recording. For most information about podcasts in general, take a look at our vlogs and podcasts blog post.
The key think to remember is that the technical know-how is not the important part of podcasting - it is the ideas and how you craft those into a coherent narrative that will be most important for achieving higher marks in a podcasting assignment.
Thankfully, the technical skills are not too hard to pick up either - most sound recording apps start recording at the press of a button or a tap on screen (and stop recording the same way). Admittedly, most people do not like to hear their voice played back - but unfortunately, that isn't something we can help with!
How do I record a podcast?
Prepare
Write a script - speaking without a script is unlikely to produce the best results. It is also good accessibility practice to have a text version of your audio presentation available. The optimum reading speed for a presentation is around 150-200 words a minute. For a 5 minute presentation therefore, write around 750-1000 words.
Rehearse - record yourself reading the script. This will a. help you work out whether the script is the right length and b. test whether the recording equipment is working properly.
Remember the medium - you're preparing for an audio presentation, so consider how your script is going to sound when it's spoken, not read. Keep your sentences short and clear - simply writing an essay and reading it out will probably not make the best use of the podcast medium.
Set up equipment
For best results, record indoors, in a small room with minimal background noise.
Professional podcasters use high-quality microphones - you shouldn't have to as the sound of your recording doesn't need to be broadcast quality. Most mobile phones, laptops and tablets come with an audio recording app and a microphone which will be good enough. Practice positioning the microphone closer or further away to get the best results.
If you don't have a device with a microphone or it's faulty, you can use a library laptop.
Record and share
Speak at a steady pace - not too fast, no long pauses. Try to sound conversational, not too formal.
Listen back to your recording and if there are any problems, record again. You may need several takes to get it right.
Save/export your recording to OneDrive or somewhere else where you can share a link to the file. The best format for your recording is .mp3.
If you have been asked to include references with your podcast, put them in a Word document with a link to your podcast and submit the document.
How do I edit a podcast?
For short podcasts, rather than editing out a mistake it might be simpler to record it again.
If you want to edit a sound file, there are a number of options, but the most commonly used free program is Audacity which is available to download here: Download Audacity for free.
As well as letting you remove sections of a recording, Audacity has more advanced features which allow you to adjust volume levels if they are too high or too low, and filter out background noise. Guides and tutorials for Audacity can be found here: How-Tos and Tutorials for Audacity.
