The II National School Podcast Contest, organized by Radio Nacional de España in collaboration with Eloquenze, already has winners: four award-winning projects and two finalists in each of the four categories, divided by educational levels. The objective of this contest, which last year won the Ondas Award for Best Radio Idea for stimulating creativity in schools and institutes, is to promote learning, fun and teamwork. Nearly 600 public, private and concerted schools and institutes from all over Spain have participated in this second edition, presenting an original school podcast, prepared by students and teachers, lasting no more than 5 minutes, with a free theme and format: an informative , an interview, a sound fiction… The scripts had to incorporate radio language resources (effects, music, etc.) and be recorded with the best possible audio quality. The jury for this edition was made up of Francisco Javier del Pozo, CEO of the Eloquenze platform; Alfredo Laín, director of RNE programs; Francisco Javier Palazón, director of EDUCATION 3.0; Marta Echeverría, director and presenter of Radio 3’s ‘Today Starts Everything 2’; Leticia Audibert, director and presenter of ‘La pequeteca’ on Radio 5; and Yolanda Flecha, director and presenter of ‘Educar para la paz’ on Radio 5. The program ‘Educar para la paz’ on Radio 5 will travel in September to the winning schools and institutes to carry out a special program from there and present the prizes : trophy, diploma, a set of RNE products, one year of free subscription to the Eloquenze podcast platform and one year of free subscription to EDUCACIÓN 3.0 magazine.
The award-winning podcasts
A mathematical invasion
In the first category, in which students from 1st to 3rd grade of Primary participated, the award went to the CEIP San Claudio, from León, with its school podcast ‘Numerical Difference’. This has been awarded for “its great originality and careful format with which the language of mathematics is integrated in a playful way in a very useful sound fiction, both for teachers and children.” The finalists were ‘Radio locuela’ from the CPI Poeta Uxío Novoneyra, by Seoane do Courel (Lugo) and ‘Being different is normal’, from the CEPR Virgen de la Cabeza, from Churriana de la Vega (Granada).
Teens and sexual harassment
The second category was intended for the 4th and 6th grades of Primary and the winner was the podcast ‘Europa en apuros’ from CEIP Antonio Hernández de Móstoles (Madrid). It highlights “an original and brilliant reinterpretation of a classic myth to reflect on a serious problem that threatens young people: the misuse of mobile phones and social networks, and the dangers, such as harassment and sexual abuse, of which they may end up being victims”. ‘Interview with Orson Welles… and unexpected news’ from the CEIP Nuestra Señora de la Peña, from Brihuega (Guadalajara), and ‘Cooking words’ from the CEIP Príncipe de España, from Miranda de Ebro (Burgos) have been finalists.
In defense of the Murcian orchard
With the title ‘Compodcast’, the IES Alpiquir de Cehegín (Murcia) has been proclaimed the winner in the third category, with its “reflection on a serious environmental problem (waste management and the care of our soil) from a local issue addressed through an original and careful sound proposal”. The finalists in this category, in which 1st and 3rd year secondary students participated, are ‘A week without a mobile’, from the IES Alonso Pérez Díaz in Santa Cruz de La Palma (La Palma), and ‘Generation of 07’, from the IES Alonso of Covarrubias, of Torrijos (Toledo).
The use of energy sources
The second edition of the contest has incorporated this fourth category as a novelty, to cover students from 14 to 16 years old (4th ESO, Baccalaureate and FP). The triumph has been for ‘Con fusion or confusion’ of the IES Izpisúa Belmonte, in Hellín (Albacete), for “being an original sound fiction that presents us, without dogmatism and with great informative effort, an absolutely topical debate such as the advantages and disadvantages of each of the main sources of energy”.
In addition, ‘The news of tomorrow’, from the IES Núñez de Arce, from Valladolid, and ‘Journey to the center of the cell’, from the IES Professor Tierno Galván, from Alcalá de Guadaira (Seville) are the finalists in this new category.