It's an audio recording and editing package that is downloadable for both Windows and Mac users.

Of the more advanced, laptop-focused software, Audacity is one of the most popular ones we heard about. 'I love how user-friendly it is, and it's easy to explain.' Other tools let you add transitions, sound effects and background music to help make your podcast unique (NOTE: Please read our strict rules on what music you can add to your submission).Īnother benefit for students doing lots of experimenting: No storage limits.Īmanda Suttle says that when she started using Anchor, she didn't know anything about editing sound. (Of course, we're not endorsing these, we're just sharing what we've heard from many of you).ĭeveloped by Spotify, think of Anchor as a mobile recording studio: With a wi-fi connection, you can record with multiple people in different locations at the same time (as long as they have the app).Īnd you can edit what you record right in the app, using simple tools like trimming and removing segments. So, with several weeks still to go before the contest deadline, here are some of the apps and programs teachers told us they're using. 'I can spend time helping students develop their stories rather than explaining the app,' says Amanda Suttle, an English teacher who's using the Anchor app to help her juniors and seniors get their podcasts in shape at Licking Valley High School in Newark, Ohio.

In many cases, the technology is already downloaded and, like Keating's eighth-graders, students these days are pretty tech-savvy already.Īll of which means teachers can focus on the substance - ideas, writing, narrative, editing - instead of process. In many classrooms these days, teachers and students have their own laptops, Chromebooks or iPads. The good news? Many of these apps are free. Keating's class is writing, producing and editing podcasts that they'll submit to the NPR Student Podcast Challenge, and, like many teachers, Keating is using apps to help them make it happen.Īs teachers and students around the country are working on their podcasts, we checked in with educators to see what digital tools they're using. With the click of a mouse, their laptops become studios, and they're ready to record. Karen Keating's eighth-grade English students at Lower Dauphin Middle School in Hummelstown, Pa., fire up their laptops and gather a bundle of snowball microphones.

Using audacity to record podcast