Simple Methods for Producing Podcasts
This fall I started producing a weekly podcast. I’m not great at coming up with clever names so the podcast is simply called The Practical Ed Tech Podcast. In this post I’ll outline the process that I use for producing the podcast and some other methods that you might consider using.
My Three Step Podcast Production Process
- I record a video using Screencast-o-matic.com. You can use any video recording tool that you like, I just use Screencast-o-matic out of habit. The video is nothing fancy. It’s just me speaking into the camera. I do this because I like to publish the video on my YouTube channel. If you don’t have a YouTube channel then skip this step and go to step 2.
- Edit the audio in Garage Band. I import my video from step 1 into Garage Band where I then extract the audio and cut it as needed. If you’re not going to make a video, just jump right into recording in Garage Band. Here’s a great Garage Band tutorial for beginners.
- Upload the finished audio to Anchor.fm. I use Anchor.fm to host all of my podcast episodes because Anchor does all of the work of distributing your podcast to all of the major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts and Google Play. Yes, Anchor adds their own pre and post roll advertisement for their service, but that’s a small concession that I’m willing to make in exchange for the simplicity of using the service.
Other Methods for Producing Podcasts
Audacity is the gold standard for podcast production software that you can use on your Windows computer (also available on Mac). Pat Flynn offers an excellent tutorial on how to use Audacity to produce a podcast.
It is possible to create a podcast entirely within the Anchor platform. That process is outlined in this video that I published last year.
Finally, if you’re looking to have your students produce short podcasts (under 5 minutes) that don’t require any editing, take a look at Synth. Synth lets students create short podcasts and record responses to classmates’ podcast episodes. Here’s a video on how to use Synth.
Uses for Classroom Podcasts
Thanksgiving is later this week (in the United States). StoryCorps is hosting The Great Thanksgiving Listen which is a project designed to encourage young people to record conversations with parents, grandparents, and other family members around the Thanksgiving table. This could be a great way for kids to preserve some oral histories to share with classmates.
Another idea is to have students create a news or weather podcast. That can be a good way to get students to be aware of what’s happening in their neighborhoods.