Journalism Teacher Workshop - Audio Storytelling

“We are in the infancy of podcast delivery,” began Russ Johns, a podcasting expert, in his presentation on Friday, February 12th at a training for regional high school teachers.

For the second time, GCJD and the Region VI Education Service Center teamed up to bring a training to high school teachers. This time, the topic was Audio Storytelling: The Art of Podcasting.

Regional high school teachers, along with SHSU faculty, participated in a day-long training to learn how to be more effective storytellers with audio, and how to launch their stories as podcasts. Both the teachers and the faculty were able to use the training hours towards their continuing education requirements.

The day started off with GCJD Executive Director, Kelli Arena, leading the group through audio storytelling techniques, and culminated with Johns walking attendees through the actual steps to launch a podcast. Through hands-on activities, the group learned about common misconceptions of podcasting , and how to find music, sound effects, and images without licensing restrictions. He also identified technology that can be acquired on a budget to make a podcast sound professional. The end result was that each person walked out of the room with an activated account on Spreaker,  a free podcast hosting site, and all the knowledge necessary to launch their own podcasts.

In addition to the technological expertise that was shared, the attendees had the opportunity to brainstorm and share ideas on how to utilize podcasts in their classrooms. Daniela Popich, a New Caney ISD Spanish teacher, left the workshop saying that she was, “ready to go home and begin working on her podcast tonight.”

Following the session, SHSU Professor Jeffrey L. Littlejohn and his colleague Professor Wesley G. Phelps began hosting their own podcast titled, Living History, where they discuss topics in World and U.S. History with the faculty members and graduate students at Sam Houston State University. Each episode features concise interviews with authors on current publications.The podcast can be found here.

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Global Center for Journalism and Democracy
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