How to make my first podcast

Introduction

Task

You can work individually or in  groups of three people. You will create a three series project on  "Species in Danger of Extinction".

Your project is a series of three podcasts on "Species in danger of extinction". It has to be a radio programme where each episode is about a different specie. If you work in teams, one person is the radio announcer and the other two are experts about the topic. 

The podcast should include music, and sound effects that you can download from the web. Each episode must last 5 minutes minimun and  8 minutes maximun. In my opinion 6 minutes or 7 seven minutes are enough time for everybody to participate. If you work individually 2 to 3 minutes lenght is appropriate. 

To start getting familiar with the animals, you can explore the following website, where you can watch animals in their real scenary and at real time. 

http://explore.org/live-cams/player/hawaii-pipeline-cam

Process

Activity 1. Watch tutorials.

First, you need to watch the following tutorials about Audacity and Podomatic. Audacity is an audio editor that will help you to record your's and your classmates' voice, it will also help you to add music and sound effects to your radio programme, and finally to convert your recording into an mp3 file that you can publish on Podomatic.

Audacity Tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqXLRnAl1f8

It's important to download a plug in called LAME and to store it in the same folder that store Audacity. This plug in allows Audactity to convert the files into MP3 files, so that you can publish them.

Podomatic tutorial

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTv-6EzlHEY

Activity 2. Write your Draft. 

Second, you have to do a research about the three species you would like to talk about in your podcasts. Summarize the information that you will give in the program. Then write the dialogues and participation of each member of the team. 

Then, look for someone who can correct your pronunciation. You could attend to mediateca so that a tutor correct the pronunciation of the team, a family member or friend who can help you or you could ask me to help you checking your pronunciation. 

Activity 3. Recording the programme. 

Get a headset with a microphone. Plug it on your computer. Then make some test to check the audio quality. Now, it's time to record your voice and your classmates voice. Try to choose a place and a time when you don't have interruptions or noise around you. 

Activity 4. Edit your Audio. 

First, you can download music for the entrance and ending of your programme, as well as sound effects that you can insert in the programme. You can use a free converter to have your files in MP3 audios.

Second, insert the music and audio effects in to your audio file. I mean edit your audio, and be as creative as possible. It's better if you do this project as a team because you can help each other. 

When you have the final version, transform your audio into an MP3 file. 

Activity 5. Create an account on Podomatic.com and publish your podcast. 

Open an account on Podomatic.com. Upload your audio file and add a picture about the animal the podcast is about. Congratulations, you have accomplished this goal. 

Finally, copy the URL of your podcast and post it on edmodo.com or send it to me by email. My email address is yadifca73@gmail.com

CONGRATULATIONS!

Evaluation

The following chart shows the criteria that I would follow to evaluate each project. 

Evaluation Chart.

 

2 points

1 point

0 point

Pronunciation

Few mistakes, clear pronunciation and fluent speaking.

Some pronunciation mistakes.

Many pronunciation mistakes. Communication is broken due to pronunciation mistakes.

Entonation

Students made an effort on catching audience attention.

Student’s audio is mainly monotonous.

Student’s audio is definitely monotonous and it is unclear to understand.

Content organization

The information about the topic is complete and the podcast includes an opening, a body and an ending.

The content about the topic is incomplete and the organization is unclear, something is missing.

The information about the topic is notoriously incomplete or it contains incorrect information. The organization is unclear.

Audio Editing

That it includes music and audio effects.

It only includes music or audio effects.

It does not include music or audio effects.

Publishing on

Podomatic

Students were able to publish their podcast on Podomatic.com

Students send their audio, but they couldn’t publish it on Podomatic.com

Students didn’t send their audio or publish it. They took their audio t class on their computer or on their cellphone.

 

Conclusion

The purpose of this project was ...

  • That you listen to your own voiced recorded in English. 
  • That you learned how to use digital tools. 
  • That you learned something new about animals. 

Credits

Teacher Page