RM has introduced Podium, a podcasting tool designed for educational institutions.

Podium is designed to allow students and teachers to communicate by creating enhanced podcasts, which incorporate audio, text and images. The tool, available for Windows-based systems, provides simple input fields for podcast and episode names, as well as credits. Images can be added to the podcast, and users can control audio via a waveform editor in the main interface.

“Podcasting allows educators and students to move closer to the ideology of 1:1 computing,” said Kevin Pawsey, managing director of RM Educational Software. “Many students already have access to iPods, and this allows teaching and learning to be done in an environment that is both stimulating and motivating using technology that they relate to; this is a simple to use but effective educational tool that will help increase student attainment across all areas of the curriculum.”

Podium also offers a scripting interface to facilitate “group working,” according to RM. This allows students to assign parts of the podcast to different members of a group by color coding text on the screen for individual speakers.

Pricing and a release date for Podium have not been announced yet..

In addition to the launch of Podium, RM also said it’s looking for one school in each state in the United States to become “Power Podcasters,” exploring the potential of podcasting in the classroom. In formation on this program can be obtained by contacting podium@rmeducation.