Creating a podcast: The not so scary ghost story.

Sitting in my new house, in my new office looking out into a glowing moon, I reflect on the not so scary process of creating a podcast, a process I was chalking up to be the equivalent of seeing a ghost - - SCARY!

The process in actuality was in fact a cinch! I began by using garage band to try out creating a new podcast and when that went well, I sat down to explore podcasts that were already created (I love Women of Web 2.0 by the way! Check it out if you haven't already by clicking here), reviewed literature on how podcasts can help in the teaching and learning process and brainstormed ways in which I would use podcasts in my teaching positions. After doing this, I worked on recording my first podcast. I kept losing my train of thought so decided to write a script to keep my ideas and thoughts clear. After recording my script and doing some editing, I found royalty free music to add to my recording and then synced it and sent it in MP3 format to iTunes. Once in iTunes I renamed my podcast as I knew I would be publishing it to a site with the possibility of it being explored by the public. The site I chose to publish it on is podOmatic. It was a quick and easy upload after a quick and easy sign up. Once published to podOmatic, I got confirmation in my email that it was public and then was able to share it on my blog and tag it for the public to find. I am excited to see if anyone listens to it! I can retrieve usage statistics at any time from my account on podOmatic. It is available for account holders on podOmatic as well as any visitors to my blog.

After an initial hesitation to create a podcast in exploration for my masters course and having this success, I have no hesitation to use it as a teaching and learning tool in my teaching position as a Teacher-Librarian, Grade 4 science and PE teacher and early literacy program coordinator. Check out my podcast (see earlier blog post below) for my ideas on how I will use podcasting in education as an archiving tool for teaching and learning.

I think as my first adventure in using podcasts in my teaching situation I am going to record myself retelling a ghost story to share with my students on Halloween when they visit the library in a few weeks in their costumes. I can add haunting music and set the mood by decorating the library and turning the lights to dim. If their reactions are positive, I will venture into having each class write and record their own ghost stories on podcasts and post them on our virtual school library for all to enjoy...seeing as creating a podcast is not as scary as a ghost story!