School radio is a pedagogical tool that gains more popularity every year in educational centers in our country. This is corroborated by the report 'School radio in Spain', prepared by the COPE Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, which indicates that 28.7% of the schools surveyed use it as an educational medium, surpassing others such as newspapers and magazines. This study also highlights that student participation is highest in Primary, followed by Secondary and Early Childhood.
What advantages does school radio provide?
Thanks to school radio it is possible to create different projects such as interview programs, news, debates and even musicals that motivate students to share their learning both inside and outside the classroom. At the 'National School Radio Congress' held last September, several benefits of this learning were noted. One of them is that projects around school radio promote creativity, collaboration and, above all, inclusion among students. They also promote the possibility of 'opening the doors' to new forms of learning, expression, communication and interaction with the environment, improving coexistence and strengthening the sense of educational community.
How to create a school radio?
It is possible to start with devices such as mobile phones or computers, and then progress to more advanced studios that include a mixing console, headphones and microphones. Its implementation is simpler than it seems since it can be done through free tools. For example, with programs like Audacity you can record, edit and process audio without having advanced knowledge, while ZaraRadio makes it easy to broadcast these programs via public address system, streaming or FM. There are also other resources that expand the possibilities in this sense, such as 'Listen 2 my radio' or 'Ivoox' that allow you to host all the content linked to recorded radio programs or podcasts.
Real experiences
This article published on our website shows eight projects that serve as inspiration for teachers. Among them are 'Waves for Solidarity', which uses the radio as an instrument to make visible the informal learning of students around solidarity; 'Radio Solidaria Amiga' in which Kindergarten students conduct interviews with figures from the world of culture, sports or education; and 'Las Colinas F.M' which wants to improve linguistic communication and cooperative learning of students in a creative and playful way.