5 teaching strategies/ideas for incorporating the use of Podcasting or Audio in the classroom

Since the days of the Fisher Price Audio recorder. Children have been fascinated with having their own voice be recorded and played back.

With modern technology teachers can use the magnetism of audio playback and the availably of educational software to enhance their students' learning experience.

In this post I discuss 5 ideas for using audio in the classroom.


1) Weekly/monthly Podcast for parents, students and teachers which discusses the "news" or what is happening in the classroom

Teachers may find that having a monthly general podcast e-mailed out to parents or posted on a classroom website/blog is an excellent and creative way to communicate about what is happening in the classroom. The great thing about this form of newsletter compared to a paper copy is the opportunity, (especially in junior/intermediate grades) to have the students take initiative, be creative and use their own voice and expression to relay important information.  It puts the students in charge and gives them a sense of pride in sharing their classroom experiences. A teacher might find that parents are more receptive to acknowledging newsletters which their own children have had a hand in making and distributing. We need to remember that parents are audio, visual and kinesthetic persons themselves. Having different mediums available to parents is a great way to relay important information.

2) Students directed Classroom Podcasts for specific subject areas or individual projects.

Using podcasts in a specific subject area can be an excellent way to engage students but also help them focus on what they are learning. A teacher may have a student directed weekly " Grade 5 Literary Podcast" where the students answer important questions during a classroom novel study, or perhaps a "What's new in grade 8 science" podcast that serves as a Quirky Bill Neye inspired segment about a science experiment they did in class.

Podcasting can be a great alternative way to do a research projects as opposed to more traditional methods such as essay writing or poster board making. For example: a Grade 3 Social Studies culminating task could be to assign the students a character and have them do a dramatic interview: "Pretend you are an early irish settler pioneer arriving in Canada for the first time. Describe what a typical day in your pioneer life would entail. Start from the moment you wake up to when you go to bed." The children would be given a list of key elements to talk about such as their school, their responsibilities at home, their parents jobs etc. The information they learned up to that point would shine through in a creative way which they could share with their classmates.

Some might think that Grade 3 is too early to introduce this type of technology but an article I found made me disagree, "Monina Salazar, a 3rd Grade teacher uses Google aps software to integrate audio podcasting with her young students." The students use the software themselves so that they are the ones in charge of doing the recording and the editing. This video highlights the benefits of doing this curriculum based science project, (which had been done as a diorama in the past) as a audio podcast. She mentions that the podcasts teaches the children about fluency, script writing and the benefits of incorporating music and sound into their podcasts. This method can be a co-curricular and blended learning experience.

3) Using audio in French or Language classes

While learning different languages it can be extremely beneficial to have audio technology in the mix.  Trying to learn a new language often involves mastering the accent and pronunciation. In a language class, students can practice speaking by recording their own voice and then listening to the play back to see where they are going right and where they need to make improvements in their pronunciations.
Teachers can also bring audio material into the classroom for students to listen to as examples. 
I know I always did poorly in french Oral Presentations as a student and that is one of the reasons I gave up after Grade 9 (which I highly regret). I found the pressure and embarrassment of not being very good at pronunciation took it's toll; I would be too nervous when presenting. In a case such as mine if the teacher had given the opportunity first for me to record my presentation I think that they would have found that without the nerves of having to stand in front of a class full of students I might have been more capable of speaking correctly in french. This may have given me more confidence in the future to pursue french. I may have been more confident in future oral presentations if I had more practice speaking out loud without an audience.

4) Audio software for special needs

I have seen first hand what audio assistive technology such as Proloquo2go can do for special needs students who have trouble verbally communicating. I was recently placed in a Early Intervention Classroom with low functioning Autistic children who were mostly non-verbal. The children effectively communicated with each other as well as the teachers and EAs by using their IPADs which had the Proloquo2go software installed. Audio software can give a voice to the voiceless, there is nothing more precious than that. I remember the first time I heard about this AP was on a 60 minutes segment. I watched the episode before I saw it being used in the classroom and I have to admit it really is as amazing as it is depicted to be. 

5)  Having students record and playback their own voices while reading a book

We are constantly teaching children to review their work. We always teach students to read over an essay or a test before handing it in.  It can also be beneficial to have students who are learning to read, record and listen to the words they are reading being played back to them so that they may see their own weaknesses as well as their strengths. While tutoring grade 2 and 3 students in reading I tried doing this by simply using my iPhone, it was very effective. For the most part the children who had trouble reading because they were always second guessing themselves found that they read better than they thought. They found it was neat to hear there own voices and we looked at ways they could use intonation and punctuation to help their sentences flow better. 
This could also be helpful for students in high school Dramatic arts. Delivering lines or recording speeches and then playing them back is a great way to help with memory as well as promote improvement and self-evaluation.
Children who are afraid of reading in public could also benefit from this as well. It may give them the confidence to realize their potential and recognize themselves as capable readers. 


Educators need to use differentiated instruction and varied teaching styles to reach all their diverse learners. The strategies and ideas above are all great ways that audio technology can help reach auditory learners.