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Macworld: First UK schools podcast up for new media award

Pupils and staff at Musselburgh Grammar School have launched the first regular UK schools podcast - and are up for a prestigious New Media award. Read the full story.

"Commenting on this, modern languages teacher and Web coordinator at Musselburgh Grammar School Ewan McIntosh said: "Hopefully, if we can win the award, we will be able to convince more and more teachers to use podcasts as a way of teaching and get more pupils engaging in their education. There are already thousands of subscribers to the show. That can only be a small sign of things to come."

Times Educational Supplement: Pocket Power

A new phenomenon is sweeping the internet. David Baugh investigates how podcasting could soon be arriving at a classroom near you. Read the full story.

Musselburgh Grammar School in East Lothian has been using podcasts to keep pupils informed with audio files containing entertainment, achievements of the school and news on forthcoming whole-school events. It is also used in the modern foreign language department to get audio recordings of vocabulary and listening tasks to pupils.

French and German teacher, Ewan McIntosh explains, "I can force-feed vocab to pupils every week when they synchronise their MP3 player with the latest Britney Spears or Slipknot. They can then practise the vocab or listening material on the bus, in the park or in their bedroom."

The idea of force-feeding perhaps needs some explanation. "A podcast can't be left in the bottom of a schoolbag, like a conventional vocab sheet so it will always be there in the music library on the computer and on the iPod," says Ewan.

The other exciting aspect of podcasting is the chance for pupils to create their own podcasts. This could take the form of a virtual school trip to Normandy, an idea used at Musselburgh Grammar School or, say, a radio station.