PODCASTING FOR STUDENTS

Podcasts, everyone has one, knows one or has found their tribe through one. When we discovered Daniel Wang we were wowed by his passion for podcasting and helping fellow students find their voice through his website Studentpodcasts.com

We swiftly went down a rabbit hole discovering more and more about podcasting for students, and just had to share some of our favourites.

Daniel Wang| IvyPanda | Student podcasts from the teacher’s perspective | Spencer Howson and USQ | Competitions | Podcast Plays |Plus a couple of resource printouts from this article |

We hope this inspires you to explore podcast making with your students. Maybe your dance students can come up with a topic? What about your music students, circus students?

This is a platform that is not restricted to the classroom. Performing arts teachers, whether school or studio-based, we know you have students bursting with ideas! We’d love to listen!

Daniel Wang: StudentPodcasts.com

“In 7th grade, I had a lot on my mind. I wanted to have an outlet to share my voice, but YouTube was too daunting and blogging was too boring. After being gifted my first phone, I remember browsing through various apps and landed on the Podcasts app. Curious, I opened the app and began listening. A whole afternoon whizzed by, and I knew from that instant on, I needed to start a podcast.”

Through a lot of trial and error and a whole bunch of pre-planning that never felt right Daniel found a tribe that spoke his language, The Podcast Movement.  “I was missing what I had set out to do originally — share my unique voice to the world on what I cared most about.” Read about Daniel’s journey into podcasting here. 

It was Daniel’s research into podcasts that inspired him to create his own podcasting curriculum and resources for students in middle grade and high school, or Year 9 – Year 12 in Australia.

This is a guide for students by a student!

Daniel’s Student Podcasts website provides a step-by-step plan for students to follow in setting up their own podcasts.

The StudentPodcasts.com guide has 9 easy-to-follow chapters that breakdown even further to help students through each and every step required to create podcasts from the ground up.

1. An introduction to podcasts
2. Getting ideas
3. Choosing a name and cover art
4. Podcasting logistics
5. Planning your podcast
6. Recording your episode
7. Editing your episode
8. Publishing your episode
9. FINAL NOTES

You want resources? There are also printable resources to help students plan.

Daniel’s podcast – How my Town Found The Universe was a finalist in the 2020 NY Times Student Podcast Contest.

IvyPanda’s Top Ideas for Creating Student Podcasts

IvyPanda is a student success hub designed to improve the educational outcomes and learning capabilities of students around the world by connecting them with academic experts and by providing highly-efficient self-study services and online tools.

A fantastic post on the IvyPanda Blog titled How to Create Your Own Podcast: A Guide for Students is a comprehensive breakdown of everything you need and more to get started making your student podcast.

Tackling everything from building a team to topics, script writing, equipment and inspiration IvyPanda’s post is a great tool for teachers and students as they navigate the podcast world together.

How to Create Your Own Podcast: A Guide for Students  dives into:

1. What Is a Podcast
2. Creating a Podcast: Before You Start
3. Technical Preparation
4. Bonus: Best Podcasts For Inspiration
5. References (More great articles on getting started in podcasting for students)

The Teacher Experience

12 Reasons to Publish Student Podcasts to a Global Audience written by Tim Cavey, educator and host of the @TeachersonFire podcast, is a great read where Cavey focuses on the question: What is the educational value of publishing student podcasts?

Cavey’s 12 reasons will motivate you and your students to explore the wonderful world of published podcasting.

One of the sessions from the 2020 Soundtrap EDU Summit that focused on the benefits of student podcasts was ‘Empowering Student Voice through Podcast Creation’ with fifth grade teacher Stevie Frank, hosted by Matt Miller.

Frank worked through podcasting via Soundtrap with her class and discusses not only how the platform integrated into her experience but how her class full of younger kids went about creating their podcast.

For more head to the website: edu.soundtrap.com

AFTRS – Australian Film Televison and Radio School

AFTRS Media Lab provides accessible media arts resources to Australian primary and secondary teachers and students to help build core creativity and storytelling capabilities that will be required for the jobs of the future.

Along with other resources available to primary and secondary students, the Media Lab Podcasting Resource contains information, worksheets and suggested activities to guide secondary students through the process of preparing and making a 2-5minute podcast, and include a teacher guide. Media Lab Podcasting Resources sign up

AFTRS Podcasting Courses

AFTRS Graduate Diploma in Radio and Podcasting: (Full-time or part-time)

Designed specifically to meet the needs of the Australian radio and podcast industry and is firmly based in practical craft development. The course is structured around analysis of broadcast, podcast, online and multi-platform theory. You will learn about current practices and future trends in radio and podcasting and graduate qualified to work in commercial or public radio

Radio Fundamentals Online (Short Course) Ages 18+

If you’re interested in learning more about radio, this course will give you the necessary skills to plan, structure and present on-air content, while also developing your writing for radio and interviewing skills.

AFTRS Website: www.aftrs.edu.au

University of Southern Queensland – Bachelor of Television and Radio Production.

Well known Queensland radio host Spencer Howson leans on his experience on air to lecturing in Radio Production at the University of Southern Queensland.

USQ’s Bachelor course takes students through traditional broadcast television or radio to streaming, podcasting, and live presentations via social media, these core skills will open pathways to work in this exciting industry here in Australia or anywhere in the world.

USQ Experience Days

• To receive information about the USQ Radio and Television Two-Day High School Experience Days at USQ Springfield campus, typically during the June/July and Sep/Oct QLD school holidays.
• Interested? Shoot Spencer an email: spencer.howson@usq.edu.au

USQ HEAD START For High School Students

• Find out how your high school students can take USQ courses, including TVR1002 Introduction to Radio Production, while they’re still in years 10-12 with HEAD START.
• Learn More: USQ HEAD START for High School Students

APATA members can access Spencer Howson’s masterclass: Radio and Podcasting for High School Students, by logging in to the APATA Digital Library.

NPR Student Podcast Challenge

The annual NPR Student Podcast Challenge received over 2000 amazing entries for the 2021 challenge. Read and listen to the full list of 2021 finalists here.

“Sibling drama, identity crises — so much climate change — and of course: the challenges of school and life in the pandemic. This year NPR’s Student Podcast Challenge has all those things, and more. For the last few months, students all over the country have been doing what we do here at NPR — recording interviews, editing tape, creating home studios and reading their stories into a microphone. This year’s contest brought us more than 2,600 podcasts from 47 states and the District of Columbia.”

The Middle School Winners of the 2021 NPR Student Podcast Challenge were Sayre Middle School. “The school has a maintenance staff of five. And now, the unsung heroes who make up that staff are the subject of a podcast that’s won the middle school top prize. Read and listen here.

The High School winner of the 2021 NPR Student Podcast Challenge was Kriti Sarav with her podcast, My Very Own Bully, the story of her struggle to embrace her Indian-American identity.

Check out the full list of the 2021 NPR SPC finalists, there may be more than one that resonate with your students and would inspire them on their podcasting journey.

The NY Times Student Podcast Contest

Celebrating its fourth year, the NY Times Student Podcast Contest drew entries from 1,500 students. Daniel Wang, creator of www.StudentPodcasts.com (top of this article), was actually a finalist of the 2020 competition.

Discover the winners of the 2021 NY Times Student Podcast Contest HERE.

Teenagers around the world are asked to submit a five-minute podcast about anything that interests them.

The NY Times Learning Network provides a guide to creating your podcast : Making a Podcast that Matters – a guide with examples.

Podcast Plays

We discussed Radio Plays and podcasting in our article on The Parsnip Ship, a Brooklyn-based company that hopes to revolutionise the way you hear theatre with live events and audio podcasts that are eclectic and transformative, creating communities in person and digitally.

Use this Radio Play Resource pdf to help you and your students explore and create your own radio plays.

Now it’s Your Turn

Podcasting is a form of communication that provides students with a opportunity to share their voice. How often we repeat this phrase. In the performing arts sharing your voice is the utmost goal. Sharing stories is at the very core of what we do.

Here is the link to our Student Podcast Resources pdf