With renewed interest by the mainstream public, podcasts are again being looked at as an excellent way to tell narrative news stories, conduct interviews, and analyze/discuss topics. Podcasts, much like mini-documentary projects, revolve around research and are a great supplement (or replacement) to a paper. There are several ways to develop a podcast project and they can easily be adapted for different disciplines.

Some great examples of the potential of podcasts includes: This American Life, Planet Money, and Stuff You Missed In History Class.

From doing a Podcast project students can:

• Display skills in research and preparation for recording.

• Learn techniques for conducting interviews.

• Develop the ability to summarize information from a primary source.

• Learn to edit multiple audio clips together into a finished product.

Do not think that students will be on their own with this project. There are tools that they can use provided by the Catlab along with in class training.

Students have access to:

• Audio Recorders: provided by the CatLabs, students will be able to capture clean, clear audio.

• Garageband: A simple audio editing tool available on Mac computers.

• Audacity: A simple, free, multi-platform audio editing software. Students who have PCs and want to work from home will be able to use this.

On the iPad:

If you are thinking about checking out iPads for your class from CETLOE, this is a project that can be done using the iPad. Featuring a camera, mic, and access to iMovie on the iPad; students can create projects with a greater deal of flexibility.

Check out the project page:

You can link from iCollege to our project page which features tips, documentation, and examples updated regularly. Never worry about if you have the most up to date information to give your students.