#4 Make a student podcast using Anchor and share in Google Classroom

 * Update September 2023: This blogpost is 2 years old and there has been one big change to the Anchor podcast. The name has changed to Spotify for Podcasters. So if you want to download the app, look for Spotify for Podcasters, not Anchor. Nothing else has changed.

________________________

It's September 2021, back to school. But school is not quite back to normal here in Hong Kong. Masks are mandatory, no group or pair work is possible for students, with transparent plastic space bubbles around each desk isolating every student from their peers. As we enter into a new school year at least schools are open and students are attending. However, primary schools are only open on a half-day schedule and everyone is working to a very tight timetable. This means putting on extra-curricular activities for students either after school or during recess and lunch times is extremely difficult or just impossible. 

This has left me with a challenge at the start of this school year: How can I continue our regular EFL weekly student broadcasts? Usually we grab some students in recess time or lunchtime and they make a video recording of some sort, or do a live performance beamed to all the classrooms in the school. It's a lot of fun but seemingly impossible now.  

Well, it turns out, it's not impossible at all. You can make podcasts. There is no video, just audio, but it's super easy to do. In fact, it's the easiest tech-related activity I have every done. Here's how to do it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

- Choose a speaking topic for a podcast (or ask some of your students to choose)

- Choose your students and prepare them.

- Take a tablet and download Anchor from the App Store or Google Play.

- Gather your students and record the podcast. Then publish. 

(You can add some simple background music / sound effects quite easily within the Anchor app).

- Send the link to all your students in their Google Classrooms so they can listen and volunteer to make future podcasts and also choose the subject matter. Also, you can use the comments sections under the post to encourage students to give their opinions and ideas about the podcast topic.

- Repeat with another podcast. It's that easy!

Example Podcast Link Click Here 


Anchor App

Anchor Interface

Podcast Page


List of Podcasts - Easy for students to acces



Send link to Google Classrooms, student interaction






























Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

#22. Introducing Chat GPT to Young Learners through Storytelling Activities

Image
 This blogpost may be of interest to educators who are looking to introduce the concept and powers of Chat GPT to Young Learners in a fun, interactive way. For this example we will be using Books by AI , which is currently in its Beta phase. This is a platform that allows you to create and modify books (or the text at least) through inputting prompts.  Before we start with the activity example for this blogpost, let's quickly touch upon the ethics of students using AI and specifically Large Language Models chatbots (LLMs). There are good arguments for both allowing and not allowing students access to AI tools to supplement and support learning. Personally, I think if there are productivity tools such as Chat GPT, which are now being used and will be used in daily life and work in the future, then it's probably a good idea to introduce students to these tools and try and get them using them in a productive and responsible way. No doubt some students will be unable to responsibly
Read more

#17 Google Workspace Marketplace: An interesting and useful place to visit during downtimes

Image
It's June. The summer holidays are almost upon us. As educators, the summer months can be both exciting and daunting. With the end of school year activities behind us, it's time to think about how we'll spend our summer holidays. Of course, we will be on the beach. However, if you really do want to keep one eye on work, one way to make sure your break is potentially productive and interesting is by taking a look at Google Workspace Marketplace. The summer holidays is a great time to casually browse a platform like this as you may randomly find some useful tools which you will incorporate into the next academic year. So, if you are using Google Workspace products such as Slides, Docs, Gmail and all the rest, and you aren't familiar with Google Workspace Marketplace, what is it? Google Workspace Marketplace provides an extensive list of educational apps, add-ons and extensions that are designed for teachers, trainers or any other type of educator looking for new ways to
Read more

#20. The (AI) Power of Stories

Image
Reading & Writing Activities for Young Learners with AI-powered Tools This blogpost might be of interest to educators who want to develop collaborative reading activities which can utilise individual reading, guided reading, shared reading while incorporating speaking and writing activities. We all know the story about stories: Stories are a great way to help students learn so many things, not just literacy but morals, ideas, concepts etc. However, in terms of literacy we know the studies have been done repeatedly and in many places in recent decades with the general conclusion that students who read more do better at school over time. For any educator working with young learners in an ELA, EFL/ESL environment, the use of stories is crucial in engaging students and aiding that literacy development. However, with young learners now frequently using tablets and phones - and therefore being more image-focused than text-focused these days - there is a feeling amongst many educators tha
Read more