Last week NPR announced a new opportunity for students and teachers throughout the nation: a student podcast challenge.
The contest is open to students in grades 5-12, and the window for entries opens Jan. 1 and closes March 31 of next year. Two winners will be selected from all eligible submissions, one from grades 5-8 and another from grades 9-12.
There are a few rules that entrants should pay attention to. I’d encourage you to read through the whole list of contest rules, but a few biggies are:
- submissions should be 3-12 minutes in length
- no music should be used
- submissions must be uploaded to SoundCloud
- submissions must be publicly viewable and downloadable
There’s a helpful judging criteria breakdown on the rules as well. Advisers hoping to use this as a class project could easily adapt them into a grading rubric or a post-production critique tool.
And if you’re looking for some great resources to guide your students through the podcast creation process, check out the archives of all podcasting-related posts here. There’s also a series of six lessons and a checklist available from WWNO in New Orleans here.
Winners get a visit from NPR journalists and a trophy, but the coolest part is that winning entries will be featured on NPR national programs in the spring. Good luck!
Written By: Michelle Balmeo