This production template will give your students a good starting point to build out their podcast. Feel free to make a copy.

Podcasts, like any creative medium, have thousands of iterations and options. Here are some ways that I have seen podcasts used effectively in the classroom:

• As presentation / report replacements or options

• Storytelling podcasts

• As a reporting/news medium

• To share quick bursts of learning or information

• As an interview

• To share informed points of view or opinions

Utah's Online Library has a free music / sound effects resource page called SoundszAbound. It is free to download and copyright free.

First - Your Laptop/Chromebook Microphone will go a long way. You may find that you do not need a dedicated USB microphone.

If you want to budget out money for a microphone, this are my recommendations: Samson Meteor Mic ($59), Blue Yeti ($99), or Rode Wireless Go II ($269).

Adobe Audition allows users to create a multitrack session easily and explore music, sound effects, and spoken word to a single track. It looks like a difficult tool to master, but it actually only has 3-4 things that any beginning user needs to know.

As students complete their podcasts sharing them with an audience is an essential part of the project. Listening parties are a great way to help students share their work and build them out. Here are some options:

• First, build a Google Site or Microsoft Sway with all the podcasts shared on the site. It allows for sharing across classes and even with parents/guardians.

• Second, listening parties in class. I would always bring popcorn and we would celebrate all their good work.

• Third, share podcasts to the public (with a permission slip from a parent/guardian) using a service like Simplecast.