The Magic Of School Radio Stations
It used to be the case that anyone interested in radio would have to wait until university before they indulged their audio production skills. Now that technology has advanced and become ever more affordable, schools can embrace the empowerment of a student-run radio show, and reap the manifold benefits that ride those airwaves.
As an educational, creative, and inspiring tool of engagement, a radio channel can collect large numbers of young listeners under your institutional wing, reinforcing school values and injecting them with a new lease of life. Let’s explore how internet radio software can get pupils singing your praises:
Words, Words, Words…
Stringing together the higher functions of language shouldn’t be consigned to the classroom. Writing scripts, giving interviews, and a clear vocal delivery are all necessary for radio to succeed as it should.
Children and adolescents can flex their linguistic ability through audio content, which asks them to reach out to their peers on a semi-professional level. Editing, too, forces children to select their best ideas, and cut out language that strays too far from the central premise of their show.
Subject High Notes
If the podcast era has taught us anything, it’s that practically any subject can be entertaining. The obvious candidates are English, Music, and the Arts – reviews and the like tend to bring our best critical faculties to the fore, and invite brilliant arguments.
Even ‘drier’ topics, such as Maths and Geography, can be pumped full of adrenaline when they have passionate hosts on their side. An exploration of scientific experiments gone awry, for instance, can have just as much staying power as a weekly book reading.
Relax, Just Do It
Academic stress is something we all remember from our school days. Some students can sit 12 or more exams in a given month, and that’s a whole lump of pressure to deal with. Imagine, though: strains of Mozart gliding from library speakers, or ambient chill-wave covering the canteen. Music exerts a natural force on our mood, so why not calm those frantic minds with some well-chosen tracks to prepare them for study time?
No-One’s Alone
Creative enterprises do not survive on the authority of an individual. Collaboration is equally important as having a vision that’s all your own – in the radio show sandbox, you can play around with assigning roles to a team of students, fostering their teamwork skills. Producers, sound engineers, radio DJ hosts and other ‘official’ titles only work if they’re interrelated, and the joy of online radio streaming will satisfy adolescents who’ve ever doubted themselves. Who knows? A production team might do great things in the future, thanks to an opportunity you’ve provided.
Teaching should always be mellifluous, and school radio makes that concept very literal. Both your revolving production group, and the student body at large, will get a kick out of the unlimited horizons that radio broadcasting software can provide. For more information about our school radio packages, take a look at Spacial’s tailored educational options.
