Creating My First Podcast: Social media in Education

Too often there’s a dystopian view of the use of social media in society and very much so within the education system. In my first podcast I discuss the value social media can have in the education system if planned appropriately and make a few reflections from my own experiences through my first year at university. I provide a balanced perspective outlining some of the hurdles that educators must address to use social media in the classrooms successfully. Creating my first podcast, I researched my topic, started with dot points I wanted to cover and expanded my content from there based around my research. You can take a listen here:

When I selected this topic for my first podcast, I started by looking for recent research on the use of social media in education so that I was educated on the subject matter I was producing. I found three research articles very informative which I’ll reference at the end of this blog for those interested.

I recommend anyone starting out in podcasting or with sharing anything online to start with a foundation of factual information rather than one which is solely opinionated. Credibility is earned through commitment to evidence-based research. Providing a balanced perspective is important but your opinions are more credible and influential if they are peer reviewed for accuracy.

Before I started planning the script of the first podcast, I wanted to experiment with music that would brand my podcast. I wanted something that was catchy and recognisable if I use it consistently but had enough variation that I can use different pieces of the same track in the future throughout longer podcasts to keep things interesting.

Finding CC music on SoundCloud wasn’t immediately intuitive to me. I found the YouTube tutorial below most helpful, and highly recommended if you are starting out and looking to find your own music to use.

Using Audacity I was able to trim the track and use fade in/out effects as well as adjusting volume levels to provide some normalisation of the audio vs my speaking. It’s free and fairly intuitive to use.

I recorded 22 of my podcast sound clips on professional audio recording gear, but only listened to them back through low quality headphones which meant I didn’t hear an issue with my eq settings until after I had finished all my recordings. I recommend if you are starting out, to:

1. Just use something easy like a mobile phone, or a good quality microphone plugged directly in to your computer. The hassle isn’t worth it, keep it simple.
2. Do a short test recording, but also listen to that recording on a variety of speakers. This will allow you to detect higher and/or lower frequency noises or issues with your recording that may not be noticeable if playing back on a mobile phone or headphones.

Biggest challenge was talking without sounding like I was reading. I still struggled with it. Practice Practice Practice!

Another challenge was the script I wrote made it difficult for me to read out, so I found myself constantly re-writing the script and re-recording. Try try again! It’s never too late to change.

Let me know how you go with your pod casting adventures and feel free to leave comment and/or ask me any questions below in the comments.

POD CAST:
// S01E01 // Social Media in Education
Daniel talks about the use of Social Media use in education.

Music:
Swing by nikhil-shevade-1 (CC BY 3.0)

Blog Feature image:
IMG_8005 by AFS USA (CC BY 2.0)

References:
Davis K, Ambrose A & Orand M 2017, ‘Identity and agency in school and afterschool settings: Investigating digital media’s supporting role’, Digital culture & Education, vol. 45, no.2 pp. 31-47, retrieved 21 January 2019,< www.digitalcultureandeducation.com/cms/wp-…vis.pdf >

Howard S & Mozejko A 2015, ‘Considering the history of digital technologies in education’, Teaching and Digital Technologies: Big Issues and Critical Questions, pp 157-168, retrieved 28 January 2019, Port Melbourne, Australia: Cambridge university Press

Neier S & Zayer L T 2015, ‘Students’ Perceptions and Experiences of Social Media in Higher Education’, Journal of Marketing Education, vol 37, no.3, 133-143, DOI:10.1177/0273475315583748

Connect with me online:
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/danielcairns/
Twitter: twitter.com/danielcairns