I’ve found a pretty good recording setup for students and teachers who want to get going with podcasting, but want better sound than what you can get from cheap microphones. M-Audio makes solid audio products and their Podcast Factory includes all you need to make a good sounding recording.

I’ve been helping some students with their audio production and I’ve found an arrangement that works pretty well with this equipment. I recommend a division of responsibility. Have the reader do the voiceover with nothing but a mic on a stand and their copy. Worrying about recording levels is too distracting. Assign a second student to be the “recording engineer” and teach that student how to adjust the gain of the microphone to avoid “clipping.” That student wears headphones and listens carefully to catch audio problems. This arrangement lets each student focus on a single role and promotes cooperation.