5 FREE Audio-Recording Edtech Tools for Podcasting
My Podcasting Thoughts
Podcasting is becoming more popular in education. If we take a look back to pre-pandemic, student-made podcasts and student podcasting networks were hard to find. Now, as I search Google, I see more student podcasting endeavors showing up in my searches. Often times, I try to figure out why, but in this case I think I have a pretty good idea. I feel like there are several reasons that attribute to this trend, but I'll just point out three!
Reason #1 Podcasts are becoming more popular!
If we take a look the stats from the U.S. Podcasting Industry, in 2021, about 78% of Americans were aware of podcasting, this is a 56% increase compared to 22% in 2006.
Reason #2 With Increasing awareness, there is more interest to invest time in podcasting!
Nick and I are finishing up our 3rd year of podcasting. We were introduced to educational podcasts through our masters and doctorate coursework. We decided to start our own podcast to fulfill requirements for a project in our areas of study. We began listening to podcasts outside of education such as Things You Should Know and Serial. From there, we honed into some educational podcasts such as the House of Edtech by Chris Nesi, The TeacherCast Podcast by Jeff Bradbury, and the Cult of Pedagogy by Jennifer Gonzalez to name a few. Since the end of 2017 and heading into 2018, there have been many other amazing educational podcasts that has hit the podcasting scene. Some of the podcasts that I frequently listen to are Tim Cavey's Teachers on Fire, Charity Dodd's Blended Learning in Action, Jake Miller's Educational Ducttape, Bryon Carpenter's Fresh Air At Five, Alfonso Medoza's My Edtechlife, and Dr. Sheldon Eakins Leading Equity. I must admit that I am a podcast junkie and that my list of podcasts is easily beyond fifty at this point! Ok, let me try to land my plane and bring my point full circle. Teachers are go-getters. They get interested in a teaching strategy, do some professional development, and then implement new strategies into practice. Some educators start their own podcasts and some educators figure out how to implement podcasts into their teaching practice. Either way, more podcasts are being integrated into education!
Reason #3 The Pandemic
We all know that teachers have been challenged over the past 2 years in how we teach. To be perfectly honest, I believe there are a lot of silver linings that come with "Pandemic Teaching!" First, goodbye state testing. I was never a fan of state testing. In fact, I hated all multiple guess formatted tests. During the pandemic, we saw collaborative tasks occurring frequently, application-based assessments, and small personalized break-out meetings that provided students with valuable feedback.
5 Edtech Tools That You Can Use To Help Make Podcasting Possible In The Classroom!
Ok, so I have stalled long enough. If you made it this far, you must be really interested in audio recording/editing edtech tools. I have 5 different ones that I think are easy to work with, has a free version available for you to use, and is compatible with a lot of devices!
Tool #1 Vocaroo.com
Vocaroo is an online tool that allows users to record, send, and download voice messages. Teachers and learners can use Vocaroo in different activities, such as podcasting, digital storytelling, narrative, personal reflection, broadcasting, and giving feedback. Recordings can be easily be downloaded in a wave format! Vocaroo is compatible with any device that has an internet browser and is equipped with a microphone!
Tool #2: Sodaphonic
Sodaphonic is a small audio editor available as a web app, free and easy to manage. Sodaphonic is suitable for those who need a fast audio editing without having to learn a complex tool. You and your students will be able to record or upload an audio file and edit it with ease! And yes, this will work with Macs, PCs, iPads, and Chromebooks!
Tool #3: Audacity
Audacity is my editing tool of choice. Audacity does have more complex functionality, but the interface is not overwhelming for users. Audacity is free, however it does require you to download the Audacity client. This can easily be done on a Mac, PC, or iPad. Currently, there isn't a version that works on a Chromebook!
Tool #4: Twisted Wave
TwistedWave is an edtech tool that I consider to be an 'oldie but a goodie' tool! This was the first audio recording and editing tool that I used when I first started podcasting. The interface is easy to use for both recording and editing audio! TwistedWave is compatible with all browser-based devices!
Tool #5: Wavosaur
Wavosaur is a cool free sound editor, audio editor, wav editor software for editing, processing and recording sounds, wav and mp3 files. Wavosaur has all the features to edit audio (cut, copy, paste, etc.) produce music loops, analyze, record, batch convert.
About the author, Eric
Eric Guise is a media specialist and technology coach with more than a decade of experience as a teacher.
Eric was named the 2016 Biology Teacher of Year by the New Jersey Biology Teachers Association and is currently pursuing an EdD in Leadership in Digital Transformation in Educational Technology.