# data[].attributes.body
Podcasts are an authentic product all students can create and share.

# data[].attributes.body
Students would like to hear from someone who "walks in their shoes."

# data[].attributes.body
Virtual local and global connections allow students to learn from other children and experts.

# data[].attributes.body
Knowing how to collaborate is not an innate skill for children. Digital collaboration "levels the playing field."

# data[].attributes.body
Whole class virtual meeting tools.

# data[].attributes.body
Students can demonstrate understanding using a variety of media and platforms.

# data[].attributes.body
Digital collaboration tools beyond LMS built in options.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Podcasting at Cooper Mountain Elementary School

# data[].attributes.headline
Why should we teach Digital Citizenship?

# data[].attributes.subject
Why should we teach Digital Citizenship?

# data[].attributes.body
Although our students are "Digital Natives" we cannot assume they understand how to use technology and appropriately interact in a digital world.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teen Voices: Presenting Yourself Online (2019)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Successful online global collaborations require some structure and planning. Educators need to be aware that planning that includes design and implementation is paramount to engaging students and building in success for global learning.

In a design-for-action mode, the essential strategies for successful collaboration include:

Finding like-minded educators.

Designing curriculum outcomes.

Selecting tools that all participants can access.

Managing the collaboration for success.

Newcomers to global collaboration may find it easier to join an existing project or implementation that already has experienced educators leading the collaboration. This often provides a shortcut to best practices and a ready-made PLN for support. For those wanting to design, run and manage their own global collaborations, the Online Global Collaboration Taxonomy provides five ways to move into online global collaboration. It shares the type of collaboration, purpose and communication mode as well as current examples to get started.

Level 1: Online interactions
This level applies to asynchronous communication and involves sharing online learning via digital platforms for others to interact with. Examples include class and individual blog posts as well as digital artifacts posted online for others to view and comment on.

Level 2: Real encounters
The goal of this level is to connect in real time using whatever tool is available to those connecting. This may be Skype or Google Hangout or other video or chat-based apps. Synchronous interaction means learning is instant and participants can ask questions, share media and build understanding of each other in a very short time. Mystery Skype is a typical example of the real encounters level, as is bringing experts in to support curriculum objectives.

Level 3: Online learning
The aim of this level is to encourage learning through digital interaction and sharing of artifacts. It applies to the development of online communities to support curriculum objectives and may be localized (between classes and schools in the same geographic region) or be more global. The learning focus is asynchronous interaction, although some serendipitous synchronous communication may take place, such as a chat facility for participants. Examples include student- or teacher-led online communities to support curriculum objectives, such as MOOCs, discussion forums and platforms that share multimedia. Projects like Global SchoolNet Cyberfair, PenPal Schools and eTwinning provide opportunity and resources to learn collaboratively online as part of this level.

Level 4: Communities of practice
Distinct from Level 3, this level is designed for specific learning objectives as a global community of learners. Communication can be both synchronous and asynchronous. The community of practice would normally have a shared objective, such as a global collaborative project and probably a set timeline that dictates workflow and communication patterns.

The essential goal is to foster authentic and diverse online global collaborative practices. Examples include the very popular Global Read Aloud where a small group of classrooms join together to read a book over a few weeks. The Flat Connections, "A Week in the Life" project for upper elementary school allows teachers and students to create a community around the exploration of global issues and share ideas and create multimedia artifacts together.

Level 5: Learning collaboratives
The purpose of this community is a little harder to grasp, but it's basically about fostering learner autonomy for online global collaboration. Each member of the collaborative (educator, student, community partner) has the confidence and ability to initiate collaborations and co-creations within the collaborative. The learning paradigm is redesigned to encourage students to take leadership roles and, in doing so, co-create solutions to global problems and challenges. The Connect with China Collaborative is an example of this level, where ways to connect between China and other places are explored to increase global collaborative opportunities for learning that include educational institutions and diverse community members.

Remember, designing a global collaborative experience involves transcending the obvious real-time linkup, fostering higher-order thinking and providing opportunities for cultural understanding, while usually making a product that impacts others in a positive way.

Julie Lindsay is a global collaboration consultant, innovator, "teacherpreneur," and author of The Global Educator: Leveraging Technology for Collaborative Learning & Teaching.
Explore more ways to connect your learning and embrace online global collaborative practices in Julie Lindsay's book The Global Educator: Leveraging Technology for Collaborative Learning and Teaching. Use the hashtag #theglobaleducator when sharing collaborations and best practices for global learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 levels for taking your classroom global

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Successful online global collaborations require some structure and planning. Educators need to be aware that planning that includes design and implementation is paramount to engaging students and building in success for global learning. In a design-for-action mode, the essential strategies for successful collaboration include:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
As the world becomes increasingly connected, so should our schools. It's a matter of bringing global collaboration experiences to the classroom and getting comfortable with handing over the reins of learning to students.

Exposing students to global collaboration builds cultural understanding, communication skills, and knowledge and awareness of the wider world, experts say. And while global learning isn't new, it is reaching a new level of maturity as more educators come to understand the value of learning in a global context.

Plus, today's free and low-cost videoconferencing tools, including Skype, Zoom and Google Hangouts, make it easy for students to collaborate on research, tackle an issue of concern and solve problems with their peers around the world.

"My kids see me once every 12 days and they ask if we are Skyping today. They love the learning experience, and I can't replicate it in any other way," explains Karey Killian, library media specialist for Milton Area School District in Milton, Pennsylvania.

But there's more benefits to global collaboration than just engagement, say Killian and colleague Erin Dowd, a global education specialist and consultant.

"It encourages students to look at themselves, their communities and their own culture and ask 'who am I and where do I fit in this world?'" Dowd says.

Killian and Dowd point to other benefits of global collaboration they've seen firsthand:

Showing students we're more alike than different. You might think meeting kids in a classroom in another country would lead students to identify differences. Not so, says Dowd. In her experience, students focus on similarities, like singers they all know or enjoying pizza. "It humanizes the whole situation and they connect to another person they would never be able to talk to otherwise."

Giving students the opportunity to learn through inquiry. When students are given the opportunity to ask experts and other students questions, they'll come up with some doozies. Some questions might even seem silly at first, like What kind of shoes do you wear? Or, what do you like to eat? But the little questions lead to bigger ones and send learners down exciting paths that can lead to global project-based learning opportunities or social justice projects.

Allowing students be the experts. When students work with learners in other classrooms, they can become the teachers. Killian saw just that when high schoolers in another state taught her third graders about STEM fields and 3D printing via videoconference.

Introducing students to careers they have never imagined. Imagine Skyping with a park ranger who works in a castle or talking about STEM careers with employees at Microsoft. Killian's students have done just that and used the opportunity to ask questions that go beyond what they can learn on the internet.

Teaching empathy. When American students Skyped with students from Africa who had gathered in a traditional hut, they saw firsthand what real students and real teachers looked like in a faraway place. And they learned that their distant peers needed books. Just like that, the U.S. kids decided they wanted to send books to Africa and they spent a year gathering enough books for every student in the school, not just the kids they had met.

"It just makes the world real to them," Killian says. "It opens their eyes to the world out there and helps them realize they can do and be so much."

Killian and Dowd share their ideas on getting started with global collaboration projects in their recorded ISTE Expert Webinar, " Bring Global Experts to Your Students " which covers:

How to use Skype or Google hangouts for global collaboration projects.

Tools and resources for connecting students to other classrooms and to global experts.

Tips for designing meaningful collaborations.

Julie Phillips Randles is a freelance writer and editor with 30 years of experience writing about education policy, leadership, curriculum and edtech.

This is an updated version of a post that originally published on Jan. 12, 2018.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 ways students benefit from global collaboration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As the world becomes increasingly connected, so should our schools. It's a matter of bringing global collaboration experiences to the classroom and getting comfortable with handing over the reins of learning to students. Exposing students to global collaboration builds cultural understanding, communication skills, and knowledge and awareness of the wider world, experts say.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
At its best, collaboration in the classroom can help students think more deeply and creatively about a subject and develop more empathy for others' perspectives. At its worst, group tasks can deteriorate into awkward silences, arguments-or frustration for the one child who ends up doing everyone else's work.

Now, as the teaching technique gains new prominence in state standards, researchers and educators are working to understand how to help students gain the skills needed to learn and work in groups.

"Learning through doing is an important component in this, ... but by itself, it's not enough," said Emily Lai, the director of formative assessment and feedback for Pearson, the educational publishing company. "Students go into these experiences with very little understanding of what they should be working toward-and so students walk away from these experiences a little jaded. Collaboration is just like any other skill; it has to be taught."

The ability to collaborate with others has become one of the most sought-after skills in both education and the workplace. A survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities found that more than 80 percent of midsize or larger employers look for collaboration skills in new hires-but fewer than 40 percent of them considered new graduates prepared to work in teams.

Collaborative Standards

Partly in response to industry and higher education recommendations, both the Common Core State Standards for reading and mathematics and the Next Generation Science Standards call for students to develop skills for collaboration and group problem-solving.

Even assessments are changing to focus on the skills needed for group work. In 2015, the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, added interactive tasks that gauge how well students can develop shared understanding of a problem, take action together to solve it, and maintain a team organization. The first results of that test are expected this fall.

The nonprofit Partnership for 21st Century Learning, along with Pearson, this month released a report breaking down three main aspects of collaboration that need to be taught: communicating with others, resolving conflicts, and managing tasks.

Without a task that requires multiple perspectives, Lai said, students often simply divvy up different aspects of a task "and then sort of smoosh it together at the end. That's not really collaborating."

That's what Emma Mercier, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, and graduate researcher Susan Kelly, both of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, are also finding in a large, ongoing series of studies of middle school students working in groups.

For one forthcoming study, the researchers assigned groups of students using electronic "smart" tables to answer questions on the nutrition and energy costs of different foods, using different data sources. In the 45 discussions studied, all the students could identify and repeat data facts, but the groups that engaged in more discussion of the data were able to begin to synthesize different sources of information and how they were connected.

Yet none of the groups was able to synthesize data from several sources without help from the teacher.

Mercier found in a separate study that regardless of whether middle schoolers collaborated using paper and pencil or smart tables to solve complex math-based "mystery" problems, the groups in which a student generated the first idea and then students responded to each other produced more ideas for solving problems than those in which the first idea came from a teacher.

"The elephant in the room when you have students work in groups is, if you don't explicitly teach them how to collaborate, they are not going to do it. If you just put them in groups and give them a task, that's not enough," Kelly said.

Equitable Benefits

Kelly was among several researchers at last month's meeting of the American Educational Research Association who are exploring how collaboration can improve student learning.

The quality of group discussions can be more important than the individual student's previous knowledge about a subject, according to a separate series of studies previewed at the meeting by Joshua Adams, a science of learning researcher at Arizona State University. Adams tracked the growth in understanding of small groups in secondary school and college, some of which paired students of roughly similar background knowledge and some

that had large gaps in knowledge between students on the team. While that sort of mixed-ability grouping sometimes prompts concerns that more-gifted students will be held back, Adams found students' learning was better predicted by whether they engaged in substantive conversations than by their previous knowledge. In fact, among high schoolers, the longer that students of different abilities participated in engaged groups, the more the knowledge of the subject improved for all students.

And just as students' background knowledge differs from subject to subject, Mercier found in a separate study that students' leadership roles in the groups can vary as well, even though students who are naturally more outspoken do tend to be more likely to be primary leaders. When the researcher kept the same students in groups for math and history projects, she found different students led the group in the two subjects, regardless of who had higher social status.

"A partner can bring in information that's not in the learning materials ... [such as] procedures they've used to solve other problems," Adamssaid. "Students can generate new knowledge and work at a higher learning level. Instead of trying to choose whether the high-performing students will benefit the most or low-performing students will benefit the most, if teachers focus on prioritizing interaction quality, ... both benefit."

Teachers can set the stage for better student discussions by only using group work for tasks that "are too cognitively large for any one student to do on their own," Mercier said, and by discussing and modeling appropriate talking and listening in a group.

Building Strong Discussions

One Ohio State University researcher is piloting a program to build up students' social skills so they can better function in group work. In the program, Collaborative Social Reasoning, developed by Tzu-Jung Lin, students are separated into small groups over the course of a year and receive direct instruction on providing clear arguments with evidence, disagreeing with a teammate respectfully, providing substantive feedback, and understanding each person's responsibilities for group learning.

Teachers receive training on how to devise the kinds of tasks that will spur constructive group work. For example, the pilot study asked students to analyze the history of Japanese-American internment camps during World War II and compare them with modern debates over immigrant and minority groups.

"Through these historical backgrounds, students were able to relate the reading to their personal experiences," Lin said.

Shufeng Ma, another educational psychologist at the University of Illinois, found that students who participated in group discussions created longer chains of reasoning to answer complex essay questions. Even students who spoke less than others in a group learned more when their group engaged in complex conversations.

Ma analyzed the group discussions of 160 students in eight schools across Illinois who took part in a six-week reading unit on ecology, economic, and policy issues related to wild wolves near a community. Of more than 3,300 conversational turns, students engaged in 122 discussions in which one student explained and expanded on another student's thought.

Once those conversations started, students were more likely to generate multiple chains of logic together, she found. "Reasoning is forged in talk. ... Children adopt the way other people think and talk, so conceptual relationships and the words to represent those become more accessible to children in a group discussion," she said.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Children Must Be Taught to Collaborate, Studies Say

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At its best, collaboration in the classroom can help students think more deeply and creatively about a subject and develop more empathy for others' perspectives. At its worst, group tasks can deteriorate into awkward silences, arguments-or frustration for the one child who ends up doing everyone else's work.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As students create their own commercials, they will learn to pay attention to detail and discover some fun technology.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With my kid in high school, I don't really get to read her writing anymore. It's so fascinating, as a mother, to read her thoughts and watch her interact with her peers. I'm really enjoying getting to know my kid on a different, deeper level." Melissa Bolin

​Parent from Arlington TX, USA

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A Global Project Based Learning Community

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With my kid in high school, I don't really get to read her writing anymore. It's so fascinating, as a mother, to read her thoughts and watch her interact with her peers. I'm really enjoying getting to know my kid on a different, deeper level."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Turning Texts, Images & Videos into Conversations

NowComment has the most sophisticated collaboration tools available for group discussion, annotation, and curation of texts, images, and videos.

It displays threaded commenting alongside the sentences and paragraphs of texts, the areas of images, and timestamps of videos to create engaging online conversations literally in context. Brainstorm, debate, and collaborate as never before!

Featured Public Documents

Key Features

Free Accounts

Upload and discuss documents with people you invite or with the whole Internet ("Public Documents") at no cost!

Time Efficient

Interesting comments can be found quickly (they're tied to relevant document passages), and summary lines make skimming fast and easy.

Powerful

Any sentence, paragraph, image, or video can have multiple conversations, keeping discussions focused and on-topic.

Simple to Use

Our interface is intuitive, your documents are accessible wherever you are, and we do the hosting and maintenance.

Feature-Rich and Scalable

NowComment has the features to handle very large groups: notifications, assignments, subgroups, moderation, and more.

Read It Your Way

By default comments are off to the side (with multiple sort options!), but you can also display comments in-line.

Click on a comment's summary to see it in context

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Turning Texts, Images & Videos into Conversations NowComment has the most sophisticated collaboration tools available for group discussion, annotation, and curation of texts, images, and videos. It displays threaded commenting alongside the sentences and paragraphs of texts, the areas of images, and timestamps of videos to create engaging online conversations literally in context.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
A podcast is a topic-specific digital stream of audio files (in some cases, video or PDF also) that can be downloaded to a computer or a wide variety of media devices. They are funny, entertaining, educational, often short, and rarely boring. They can cover news, current events, history, or pretty much anything the creator would like. When you subscribe, each new episode is automatically downloaded to your device, to be played at your convenience. You can play the entire stream or select an individual episode as part of your technology in the classroom arsenal. Here's how to use technology in the classroom podcasts to enhance your class.

If you're creating your own podcast, all you need is a digital device, a microphone, an Internet connection, and a topic you're passionate about. The two most popular sites for creating podcasts are (for PCs) and Garageband (for Macs and mobile devices). Once the podcast is completed, it is saved (typically) as an MP3, which can be played through any program that accepts that file type such as QuickTime, Windows Media, SoundCloud, and even Google Drive.

Here are popular ways to use podcasts in your lesson plans:

1. Audio Tours: Students record school tours, acting as the tour guide so newcomers can explore the school through the eyes of a peer.

2. Celebrate Culture: Students podcast about important cultural events and share these with parents, the school, or the community around them.

3. Current Events Newscasts: Students deliver weekly or monthly podcasts on interesting current events.

4. Debates: Hold a class debate. Record it in audio and have other students listen and weigh in.

5. Guest speakers: Make podcasts of class guest speakers to share with absent students or future classes. This can be stored in the podcast library (mentioned below).

6. Interviews: Have students interview each other as well as teachers and administrators about important school-wide events such as a sports competition or an award ceremony.

7. Musical Podcasts: Have band or orchestra students create podcasts for each instrument, detailing its specific sounds and characteristics.

8. Podcast Library: Curate the varied student-created podcasts into a library of podcasts for present and future students.

9. Publish Presentations: Instead of writing a book report or acting out a play, students record the presentation as a podcast, using only their voice to communicate ideas and build excitement.

10. Radio Show: Students make short radio broadcasts summarizing the books they are reading.

11. Roving Reporters: Send students out into the "Field" (read that: the school campus) to interview key players in important events.

Download Existing Podcasts

Not everyone wants to -- or has time to -- create her own podcasts. In fact, the most popular use of podcasts is for research and education. Here are oft-recommended sites educators use for that purpose:

Most are free and G-rated, but -- as with anything online -- preview before unleashing them to your class.

Overall, podcasts are education's secret weapon, unmatched in their ability to differentiate for particular student needs and be inclusive to the learning styles of everyone. Show students how to use them and then offer them often as an alternative when assessing knowledge.

More on Multimedia in Education
4 Ways to Use Podcasts in the Classroom 11 Webtools That Make Images Talk Bring Experts to Your Class Easily with Nepris
has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor/author of more than 100 ed-tech resources, including a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-8 Digital Citizenship curriculum. She is an adjunct professor in ed-tech, CSG Master Teacher, webmaster for four blogs, an book reviewer, CAEP reviewer, CSTA presentation reviewer, freelance journalist on ed-tech topics, and a weekly contributor to . You can find her resources at

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Technology in the Classroom: How, Why to Use Podcasts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A podcast is a topic-specific digital stream of audio files (in some cases, video or PDF also) that can be downloaded to a computer or a wide variety of media devices. They are funny, entertaining, educational, often short, and rarely boring. They can cover news, current events, history, or pretty much anything the creator would like.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
We don't expect you to be experts. In fact, we expect that most of you are putting a podcast together for the first time.

And even though this is a contest, it's also about learning new skills in a fun way. We want to make that learning easier - so we've put together a guide to help you along the way.
Getting Started Your Toolbox Podcast Examples Planning Your Podcast Getting Your Ideas Together Brainstorming Sounds Podcast Structure Podcast Production What Makes A Good Interview? Preparing For Field Recording Scripting Your Podcast Voicing The Podcast Production Tips Before we get started, we know you might have a few questions. Let's talk about a few basics. What's a podcast?
Podcasts come in all shapes and sizes. That's good news for you, because it means that you have lots of room to be creative and make something you're excited about. Some podcasts, like This American Life, are long - sometimes an hour or more. Others, like Kind World, a podcast from WBUR, are less than 10 minutes. Some podcasts, like NPR's Up First, are about news. Up First comes out every morning, and the hosts talk about the news and feature stories from guests reporting on the news. Other podcasts tell stories. Lots are funny. Some feature people having conversations. Many are educational: They teach listeners about a specific topic. NPR's Hidden Brain is about science and human behavior. And there's Planet Money, a podcast all about money and life.

Think about sound. We're challenging you to work with sounds - interviews, narration and recorded sounds from the world around you.
Don't I need fancy equipment to make a podcast?
Nope! There are ways to make a podcast without buying expensive microphones and recorders. We're writing this guide with the idea that you can make a podcast with two tools: a smartphone and a computer.
How many people do we need, and what roles are involved?
There isn't a set number of people needed to create a podcast, but it helps to have a team of people who work in different roles.

The role of producers frequently varies between podcasts and radio shows. Often, producers are in charge of the sound: They record the sound and edit it to put the podcast together. You'll also need writers to write out questions for interviews or the script. (Sometimes, producers or hosts pitch in to help write for podcasts.) Hosts also "voice" the podcast by acting as the narrator and conducting interviews with subjects. Depending on the size of your class or group, some team members may work as researchers or spend time organizing interviews. After you record the conversations or interviews, your team will want to make sure you talk about what you want to cut out and keep in - that's all part of the editing process. You might choose to have editors on your team or assign editing duties to teammates who have pitched in in other ways.

You can divide up these duties in a way that makes sense for the size of your team. You might decide to have multiple people host and multiple people work as producers.
What does it mean to mix audio?
Mixing is the process of editing and arranging audio clips in a way that sounds seamless and natural to a listener. After you and your team record sounds from interviews, events or other sources, you'll need to arrange them in a sound-editing software, like Audacity, which you can download online free of charge.
I've been reading lots of training guides that use tons of words I don't know. Help!
This glossary from NPR's training site has lots of words that you might come across if you're reading up on podcasting.

Your Toolbox

Before you think too much about your podcast, you're going to want to think about how, exactly, you'll record the sounds you need.

Here at NPR, we use lots of equipment when we leave the office to record interviews or sounds for our stories and podcasts. But we don't expect you to have all that equipment - and you can make a podcast with a few basic tools that you already have.
1. A phone
If you carry a cellphone with you, chances are, you've got a recording device in your pocket. And if you use it the right way, you can record high-quality sounds that work just fine for your podcast.

You can record sounds, conversations or interviews with sound recording apps on your smartphone.

You can also use your phone's built-in recording app. If you've got an iPhone, go to your "utilities" folder and click on "voice memos" to begin recording.

You'll want to make sure you have enough storage on your phone to do this and that you can either email the sound file to yourself or plug your phone into the computer to upload the recording.

If you're recording a person speaking, hold the phone a few inches from his or her mouth. Not too close, but not more than a few inches away, either.
2. A computer with sound editing software
Once you've recorded your interviews or the sounds you want to use, you'll need to put them all together into your podcast. To do this, you need to use audio editing software to "mix" the sound files together. The good news is that there are lots of software options out there.

If your school already provides editing software on the computers, feel free to use that. If not, we recommend Audacity, which is a free software download available online. You can download it here. As you learn to use it, lots of tutorials are available from Audacity.

If your school or podcasting team has other tools available to use, it's important that you use them correctly to create the best product that you can.

Listening

Have you ever listened to a podcast or radio show before?

If you've listened to podcasts before - take a minute to think about them. What keeps you listening? What bores you?

Let's take a few minutes to hear a few examples. As you listen, think about the different ways that these segments are structured. Is there a host? Is it an interview style - or is a narrator telling a story, with clips of interviews in between?
Morning Edition: Hidden Brain: Hidden Brain: How Labels Can Affect People's Personalities and Potential The Haunting Effects of Going Days Without Sleep Reporting Live From Miami: A Bunch Of Fourth-Graders Tell Their Teacher's Story
How I Built This: Instagram: Kevin Systrom & Mike Krieger

Getting Your Ideas Together

Now that you've listened to a few examples, start to gather ideas. We've given you a few prompts to get you thinking. They aren't required, but you may choose to use them.

Here they are again:
Before you settle on one idea for your podcast, ask yourself:

1. Tell us a story about your school or community: about something that happened there - recently or in the past - that your audience should know about.

2. What is a moment in history that all students should learn about?

3. Show us both sides of a debate about an issue that's important to you.

4. What do you want to change about the world? What's a big change that students today will make in the future?

5. Explain something to us that kids understand and grown-ups don't.

Before you settle on one idea, take a few minutes to brainstorm. Try to come up with an idea that might work for each of these prompts. Be sure to think about how you might structure your podcast.

Would it be an interview with someone? Would one host narrate the podcast, using clips of interviews to tell a story? What sound would you use to give listeners a full idea of the story you're telling?

Is this podcast idea realistic?

If the idea involves traveling somewhere far away or interviewing someone famous, it might be difficult. Make sure you can do it before you settle on one idea.

Our friends at YR Media have a handy list of sounds that all podcasters should consider recording while planning their podcast. Scroll down to "what sounds to gather" on this page to find that list.

Does the timeline work? Can you complete your interviews or record other sounds well before the podcasts are due - so that you have time to edit the audio and submit it?

Sounds Like You're Making a Podcast

OK, so you've settled on a topic or idea for your podcast.

Now it's time to start thinking about the sounds that you'll use. Regardless of how your project is structured, it helps to feature a variety of sounds.
Here are a couple of examples of radio pieces that use sounds to add to the story.
Try to record sounds relevant to your story. If I'm telling a story about the mayor of my town, I'll try to go record him leading a town hall meeting, talking to his constituents, and even doing day-to-day activities, that I can play during my podcast.

Let's say you're heading to a protest in front of my local town hall. You're heading into a "scene" that you might want to describe - and include sound from - in your podcast. What sounds should you include?

Compile a list of sounds you'd like to record - and bring that list with you when you go into the field.

Listen to this "Radio Field Trip" from New Hampshire Public Radio. What sounds do you hear? There's narration from the show's host, Rick Ganley - but there's a lot more than that.

And here's this one, from Radio Rookies, a series from WNYC. Listen to the sounds that Radio Rookie Edward uses and weaves between his narration.

Let's Talk Structure

Now that you know what your podcast is going to be about, and you've got an idea of the sounds you want to use, it's time to think about structure.

Before we start planning the podcast - before we get to scheduling interviews or scripting pieces - let's ask a few basic questions. Head to this link, from NPR's training site, and think about your answers.
Before you get there ...
Of course, the structure of your podcast will depend on the idea you've chosen. Will hosts from your class narrate the podcast? Then you'll start differently from the way you would have a conversation on tape.

What Makes A Good Interview?

There's a good chance that you're interviewing someone for your podcast. Maybe you're even talking to lots of different people. It's important to make the most out of the time you take to record them.

Do your research.

Make sure you understand why you're interviewing this person. Read up on who the person is, what he or she does, and the subject you're making a podcast about.

Prepare questions.
When you arrive ...

Come up with a list of open-ended questions you'd like to ask during your interview. It's OK to veer off course and good to ask follow-up questions that you haven't planned. But a list will help get things started.

Clarify the terms of the interview.
When you start recording ...

Make sure your interviewee knows you're talking to him or her for the NPR Student Podcast Challenge. The person should understand that you're recording audio.

Meet somewhere quiet (unless you want to record the noise!).

Don't choose to meet for an interview in a busy mall or a windy park. If you're indoors, head to a quiet room and close the door. If you're interviewing someone at an event, it's OK if there's some noise in the background - as long as it's the sound you want to have in the background. But try to avoid recording when there's music in the background - it's hard to edit around that sound.

Ask the interviewee to introduce himself or herself on tape.

The person should give his or her name and job title (what he or she does). A student should give his or her age and grade.

Record your own questions.

You'll want to hear these questions when you listen back to the tape later on.

Be curious.

You'll have some questions prepared - but that doesn't mean you're following a script. If the person says something you're interested in, ask questions. That's why you're there.

Remember: It's normal to be nervous. The person you're interviewing is probably nervous, too. It helps to be prepared. The better you know your questions and the better you know your equipment, the better you'll feel.

Before You Record Sound ...

Make sure you set aside time to:

Whether this is your first podcast or you're an audio pro, some basic tips can make your project a lot easier.

Test your equipment before you start.

Don't get stuck in an interview with a phone that doesn't have any storage or a microphone with no batteries.

Bring a teammate along to help when you're going to an interview or to record sounds.

Ask this person to time the interview and make a note of the interesting or compelling moments. Make a note of the time at these moments. This will help when you're cutting the audio and looking for these moments later.

Listen to the audio soon after you record it.

Save it somewhere you'll remember, and label it so you know exactly what your recording includes.

Checklist For Field Recording

Before you head out for an interview or sounds for your podcast, make sure you've got everything you need.

Download a checklist for field recording here to take with you when you're getting ready to head out to record.
Starting the story
Scripting Your Podcast

At NPR, some podcasts are scripted. That means that we plan the order that everything will be in before the host gets into the recording studio and records the narration. That can happen only after getting "tape" - sound from lots of interviews and audio from other recordings.

Let's take a look at the script of an audio segment. Here's one from the NPR Training team featuring a story from NPR's Ailsa Chang. There's not one correct way to write a script for a podcast - but it helps to indicate where your narrators will speak, and where you'll be using sounds or interview clips recorded beforehand, and how long these clips last.

First things first. So, you've figured out how you want your podcast to be structured and you've gathered the sound you need. Whether you're scripting the entire podcast or not, you probably need to write out at least one part: the very beginning.

Here's a post from NPR Training with some ideas about how to start, no matter how you're structuring your podcast.

Voicing The Podcast

After you've scripted the podcast, it's time to record the narration from the host or hosts from your group or class.

If you're hosting or narrating the podcast, you might be a little nervous about recording your voice. But here's something important to remember: Your voice is what makes you - and your podcast - sound unique. You want to sound natural, alert and energetic. You want to sound like you - the real you. Everyone stumbles over their words. And when that happens here at NPR, we often go back to the script and write shorter sentences that are easier to read and won't leave you feeling out of breathe. The key is to try to sound how you would if you were talking to a friend.
Some tips:
Here's another tip: Keep the frogs out of your throat by keeping a glass of water next to you while you're recording.

Production

Mixing is the process of editing and arranging audio clips in a way that sounds seamless and natural to a listener. After you and your podcasting team record sounds from interviews, events or other sources, you'll need to arrange them in sound-editing software, like Audacity, which is available online as a free download.

Don't leave audio mixing until the last minute. Mixing is time-consuming, especially if you're using new software or listening to long recordings. It can take many hours just to edit a few minutes of a podcast. Give yourself sufficient time to mix audio before you need to submit the podcast. Remember, the deadline for this contest is March 24.

Take the mixing process step by step. Prioritize things you need to do to make your podcast sound the best it can. Before you can do anything else, you need to cut your sound down to the clips you need, get them in order and adjust their volume levels so they're not too loud or too soft in a listener's ears. These are all things you can do in any audio editing software.

If you're already an audio mixing pro and you want some more guidance, check out this guide put together by Rob Byers of Minnesota Public Radio and NPR's training team.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Starting Your Podcast: A Guide For Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Give all students a voice in your classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
design discussions
no-schedule meetings
professional development
collaborate with clients
sales and marketing

replace text-only discussions
interactive lectures
support UDL principles
no-schedule office hours
professional development

student presentations
conversational practice
professional development
rich assessment
safe and accountable

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
design discussions no-schedule meetings professional development collaborate with clients sales and marketing replace text-only discussions interactive lectures support UDL principles no-schedule office hours professional development student presentations conversational practice professional development rich assessment safe and accountable

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
November 2016: Science 2.0: When Students Become Digital Citizens

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Interactive lessons and activities for all students!

Use digital citizenship lesson plans to address timely topics and prepare students to take ownership of their digital lives. Browse lessons by grade and topic below, or see an overview of the curriculum.
We've got more new lessons! Explore all lesson plans or check our lesson collections!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
DigCit Curriculum | Common Sense Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Research-backed digital citizenship lesson plans help schools navigate timely topics, such as cyberbullying, online safety, privacy, and media literacy.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Introduce students in grades 6-8 to Digital Compass™ by Common Sense Education. The award-winning game is an innovative way to give students the freedom to explore how decisions made in their digital lives can affect their relationships and futures.

Through the suite of popular choose-your-own-path games, students play through the perspective of one of eight main characters, each of whom is facing a different digital citizenship dilemma. The varied story paths and multiple decision points encourage students to play repeatedly in order to explore alternative courses of action. Games are also available in Spanish.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Digital Compass by Common Sense Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Introduce students in grades 6-8 to Digital Compass™ by Common Sense Education. The award-winning game is an innovative way to give students the freedom to explore how decisions made in their digital lives can affect their relationships and futures.

# data[].attributes.headline
Teen Voices: The Pressure to Stay Connected

# data[].attributes.subject
Teen Voices: The Pressure to Stay Connected

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teen Voices: The Pressure to Stay Connected

# data[].attributes.headline
Teen Voices: Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint

# data[].attributes.subject
Teen Voices: Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teen Voices: Oversharing and Your Digital Footprint

# data[].attributes.headline
Teen Voices: Friendships and Social Media

# data[].attributes.subject
Teen Voices: Friendships and Social Media

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teen Voices: Friendships and Social Media

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
International Podcast Day is September 30 and is an international celebration of the power of podcasts! #InternationalPodcastDay