Three Microphones for Classroom Podcasting for $7!

Whenever I write about or give presentations about podcasting people ask me what kind of microphone they should for their classrooms. For years I’ve recommended the Blue Snowball iCE microphone and the Insignia Omnidirectional lapel microphone. But those are often too expensive for the discretionary budgets of many teachers. So last week I went on Amazon and ordered the cheapest microphone that I could find.

The cheapest microphone that I could find on Amazon was this no-name brand mini lapel microphone. It is only available in a three pack that costs $6.99. The package arrived on Friday and I used one of the microphones to record my voice while making screencast videos yesterday. There wasn’t any set-up involved in using the microphone. I just plugged it into the 3.5mm jack on my laptop and started recording. Would I use these microphones if I was recording podcasts or voiceovers that millions of people listen to? No, but for a classroom project these are a fine, inexpensive choice.