This week, we're talking podcasting, as we look at the popular audioBoom app for iPad, that gives students and teachers access to a vast repository of content, as well as letting them record their own shareable podcasts...
What is audioBoom?
audioBoom (Audioboo Ltd, free) is a podcasting app that lets you create podcasts as well as access a huge range of existing content from various media channels and education resources. It operates as both an online, browser-based service, and a complementary app for iPhone or iPad. If the name rings a bell, you may be thinking of the former Audioboo app – the company renamed it to audioBoom last year.
Once you've signed up for a free account, you can immediately start browsing podcasts, which are divided up by sub-sectors to make content easy to find. It's not specifically aimed just at educators, so there is a lot of content which may not be too useful (one of their main selling points is the Russell Brand podcast), but there's plenty on offer for students and teachers, including whole History and Knowledge sections, with stories relating to pretty much every subject. You can then save these to your playlist, or share by embedding the files on your website, over social media or using a QR code.
How can it benefit the classroom?
audioBoom is a great tool to provide supporting content in the classroom, for students to learn at home, and also for teachers to promote the idea of a flipped classroom. Students can create topic-specific playlists that link current affairs and stories with topics currently being studied, and share the playlists with the class. Teachers can also use the resources to keep up to date with current educational topics, so it works towards professional development too.
What's the best feature?
Another great thing about audioBoom is that it lets you really easily record and edit audio straight from the app, so students can start creating their own podcasts without the need for any other equipment. Our Apple Education Trainers have been showing teachers how they can easily make audio recordings that can then be accessed by their students via QR code or any other way of sharing a weblink. This is great for creating sound-based resources (just scan a QR code next to a word to hear how it sounds, on a book to hear a book review, on a piece of work to hear some peer feedback, give an instruction in a treasure hunt, or add URLs to ThingLink to make a soundboard, and so on…)
Where can I get it?
It's completely free to sign up for an audioBoom account, and you can download the app from the App Store on your iPad
Want to know more about our favourite apps and Apple for the classroom? Get in touch with the team on 03332 409 306, email education@Jigsaw24.com, follow @Jigsaw24Edu on Twitter or ‘Like’ our Jigsaw24 Education Facebook page for all the latest technology in education news, reviews and articles.