Podcasts aren’t just for true crime mysteries or pop culture chats. They can also be an effective way to showcase what schools and districts are doing and to engage communities, said Katie Nieves Licwinko, director of technology for the Chester school district in New Jersey.
Knowing that podcasts are a major form of entertainment for many people, Licwinko started thinking about how to use a podcast as a form of communication with her school community.
“Instead of newsletters, instead of emails, instead of blasts on the website that get lost,” she said, “How can we [use podcasts to] communicate with our parents, with our stakeholders, with the community, and showcase what schools and districts are doing, but in a way that might be more meaningful and a little bit more in depth than just a quick blurb in a newsletter on a website?”
Licwinko started a podcast at her previous district, in Wayne, N.J., to increase community engagement.
She was scheduled to present a session on how other districts can create their own podcasts at the ISTELive 25 + ASCD Annual Conference 25 in San Antonio, June 29 to July 2. Education Week interviewed Licwinko ahead of the conference to discuss what districts need to know about starting a podcast.
The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the steps districts need to take to start a podcast?
Come up with what you want this to look like. I’ve seen and worked with districts [where the podcast is] just the superintendent recording, giving some updates. I like the interview format, because I like engaging back and forth with people. But you don’t have to go that route. There’s plenty of options.
How often are we hoping to get this out? I like to say, don’t start too ambitious, because you know you’re going to say, “I want to do it weekly,” and then it’s not going to happen. Maybe start with once per marking period to close out or whatever works best.
I try to keep them at most 15 to 20 minutes, so people with a shorter commute can listen, people with a longer commute can listen to that plus whatever else they want to listen to.
Then we get into logistics. How do we choose a hosting platform? Which one fits our needs?
Then we start to think about, what do we want our episodes to look like? I always like to tell people to jot down, what are some things that are happening that you’d like to learn more about? What are student projects that are going on? What are staff things that are going on?
Then we get into the logistics of microphones and studios and how to record. I try to keep things simple. Some districts are very fortunate. They have really great podcasting and news studios. My [previous] district, I did most of the recording in our board office. Use what you have available.
Then, publishing and outreach. School districts are kind of nice because, like when I was making my podcast for my own personal project, I had to build that audience myself. Schools already have all the contact information they need. They can push it out on their website. They can push it out on social media.
That seems like more time and effort than an email newsletter. Could you address that?
I’ve advised people to keep the podcast piece for things you want to go a little bit more in-depth into. Something like a general update is still fine in an email. But there are certain things that you want to showcase a little bit more. I always think about, like, things that parents might be paying for with the budget. They might want to see a little bit more of this renovation that we’re talking about; or this initiative that we’re starting off, that we’re really excited about, let’s talk about that; or highlighting classrooms and what’s going on.
I try not to keep the episode super long. I try to keep them at most 15 to 20 minutes, so people with a shorter commute can listen, people with a longer commute can listen to that plus whatever else they want to listen to. It also just makes life a little bit easier, because you’re not editing hours and hours and hours worth of content.
How did the parents and the community engage with the district podcast?
Looking at the analytics, we had a decent listener base. A lot of times, I hear feedback, whether it’s my previous district or districts I’ve worked with and talked to about [podcasts], it seems to be that parents are like, “Oh, I didn’t know this was happening,” “I didn’t know about this project,” “I didn’t know about this.”
It’s really nice that [podcasts] have that opportunity to almost open the doors to the school and see what’s going on. It really gives the school the opportunity to showcase things that parents might not know about or that get lost in an email. That’s really kind of nice, especially for parents who can’t go to things like after-school nights and things like that.
