Podcasting and Digital Audio
Engagement Task 4: Digital Audio recordings
Most computers have built in microphones, particularly laptops. You have undoubtedly purchased a headset for our online classroom tutorials, and you can use the microphone of your headset to record sound.
You will also need a software package to record sound. All PCs have Sound Recorder. You can find this by going to your Start menu, looking for All Programs. In some versions, Sound Recorder is found in the Accessories tab. In others, it is listed in the programs list. It is very easy to use.
A second option to record sound is Audacity. It is a free download, and commonly in use in schools and organisations. Audacity offer a range of tutorials to help you get started. Audacity is also MAC compatible.
Finally, my choice of options, is to purchase a record-enabled MP3 player. They are cheap. An iPod Touch is fantastic, as is an iPhone or iPad. And of course, your mobile phone. You are able then to record your audio on the move, and transfer it to email, or the web with absolute ease.
Create a brief recorded message, and save it to your desktop. What can you do with this? You can add it to PowerPoints. You can use it in movies you make in Moviemaker and PhotoStory. You can add it to Glogster (see later), or Blabberize (see later). You can upload them to your wiki. Unfortunately, you are currently unable to add it to your Blogger Blog. Upload your sound file to your wiki, and create a link in your blog to show it off. You can also upload your own audio for Vokis. Create a Voki and see if you can embed it in your blog. Or embed a Voki in your wiki.
I used the Voki website to create the Voki below.
It was fun to play with this tool and it was fairly easy to work out how to use it. I have noted that with the Vokis Wendy has used she sometimes records her own voice and sometimes uses the synthesised voice, which created interest in listening to the Vokis. Wendy also has the text of the Voki printed next to it which I really like because once you have heard the Voki it is good to be able to scan the text later when you go back to the site. In my teaching I would use both these techniques when i used Vokis.
One interesting thing with Vokis is that they now have a Voki classroom which you can sign up to. This would be useful to explore when getting a whole class of students to use Vokis.
The following is a SWOT analysis of using audio in teaching materials.
Strengths
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Weaknesses
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The use of audio is a great way to cater for Auditory learners.
With microphones built into many mobile devices it is easy to record voices and other sounds.
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Need to ensure that the rest of the classroom is quiet when students are recording. It is too easy to pick up background. Care also needs to be taken when recording in public spaces so that you only record the person that you want recorded.
Need to use editing software to improve the quality of the recordings. |
Opportunities
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Threats
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There are numerous opportunities for using audio in teaching. They can be used to introduce a topic and also to explain difficult concepts or how to pronounce words.
The use of audio in teaching languages would be fantastic. To give oral feedback to distance students about their work would be great. |
Must ensure that myself as the teacher and the students use only sounds and music that we created ourselves or were free to use. Always model safe, legal and ethical practice.
Childrens' voices should not be identified.
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Other applications to assist in using audio files:
I just worked with the Voki but really there are many other free applications for audio. Such as:
Other applications to assist in using audio files:
Crazy Talk (Wendy Fasso)
Audacity (Wendy Fasso)
Audioboo
I successfully downloaded audacity and will play with it later to test its affordances to use in the classroom.
Most computers and mobile devices have inbuilt microphones and the ability to record sounds. They also have basic editing programs. So getting a sound, interview or voices recorded should be relatively easy to do. Must always ask permission first BEFORE recording people speaking.
Reflection on using audio in eLearning
When I did the Multiple Intelligences testing and Learning Styles questionnaire in Week 1 my result was VERY low in Music Smart and Verbal learning. So I acknowledge that the use of sound to me as a learner is not important. It also explains why I like Wendy to include transcripts of her audio materials. Hence the use of sound and music in teaching does not come naturally to me. Fortunately I have a daughter in grade 9 who has displayed great ability with both playing and listening to music so I have a resident expert to guide me in the use of audio materials in my teaching context (grades 8 & 9 at an all-girls school).One advantage of using audio is that they can be listened to while you are doing other tasks such as washing up or driving. So I find that audio files, especially now with the ubiquity of devices such as iPods and other mobile devices means that students can download and listen to the teaching materials at their convenience.
Fortunately there are many spaces on the web that provide advice and examples on how to use audio files or podcasting in your teaching. Some examples are:
Pedagogy of teaching with Audio
The implications for my learners is that there will be auditory learners in my classes and I need to learn to cater for their needs. There are many ways that I could use audio in my classes. I have observed lecturers and teachers quieten a noisy group of students by playing some music that appeals to that age group at the beginning of a class. It draws attention to the front of the room and then the sound is lowered and the teacher has the full attention of the room.In the context of teaching the Technology subject I can see applications of using audio where students can interview their parents and grandparents about the 'old days' and compare their experiences with the students experiences growing up in the digital age.
When teaching mathematics I can see times when recording of the steps to complete a task or how to pronounce words such as Googolplex or even large numbers. Fortunately there are applications already available to assist, for example http://www.forvo.com/languages/en/tag/mathematical_terms/ allows the user to select mathematical terms and hear they are pronounced. I could also use some of the free tools to record words using my own voice.
There are many sites where high quality podcasts are freely available to use in the classroom. Some examples are:
- ABC website
- BBC website
- SBS website
- Discovery Channel
Safe, Legal and Ethical
Be careful when using music as the use of any third party materials is a breach of copyright breach. Hence you cannot use it and re-distribute. However, if the learning materials are behind a firewall that is password -protected and the music is duly attributed they the students should be ok to use music.
Wendy also made the following suggestions for free music:
Wendy also made the following suggestions for free music:
She also suggested having a look at Creative Commons. Its a type of sharing that has some personalised rules on use of materials. Some will just let you use their creations if you credit them others want reciprocal sharing. For more information: http://creativecommons.org.au/
Engagement Task 5: Using web-based Podcasting
Finding and Using Podcasts
Search for podcasts that you believe are relevant to your teaching context. Refer to the Learning Materials to find a starter pack of sources of great podcasts. Analyse them in your blog, creating links. How will you use them for great learning?
Download iTunes, and search for podcasts once it is available as one of your computer programs. Browse through the iTunesU (look for the link in the opening page of iTunes) - open-source university podcasts and links to image repositories, museums and other resources.
My very first experience with Podcasts was from the ABC website: http://www.abc.net.au/services/podcasting/
The ABC were pioneers in the use of podcasts of their shows both TV and radio.
One of my fellow students Michael Thomas has a great list of podcasts that are relevant to us Pre-service teachers http://mickytblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/03/camera-sound-action-new-tools-for.html
An introduction to the use of podcasting
Podcasting in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.
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***Tasks to complete at a later time
Engagement Task 6: Podcasting
There are a number of free podcasting tools online. If you are an Education Queensland teacher, you will be provided with a secure podcast room within which to work.
Podomatic is a free online facility that will allow you to upload and provide subscription to your podcasts.For some, real podcasting may be a little complicated, so this is an optional activity.
Try Podomatic - tutorial! Here is a tutorial to help you! You will receive an email telling you you have started a limited trial. But this will default to a free, limited account if you do not approve payment, so you will still be able to access your podcasts.
Create your podcast, and create a link to it in your Blog. In your discussion, ensure you consider how podcasting (created by both yourself and your students) could be valuable for learning in your context.
If you do not wish to work in your wiki, or Podomatic, you have a small problem, because Blogger does not support sound files. A way around this is to create a movie, using a single image (even just a title screen) with your voice as the sound track. Try it out (instructions for moviemaker follow).
Digital Tool 5: Podcasting
A podcast is simply a sound file. But it is a sound file that is shared with others, usually by subscription. Clearly, podcasts can be accessed online, created by others across the web. They can be accessed online as files that you create for your students. But importantly, they are also files that your students create and share by uploading online.
In its simplest form, it is a recording of student performance or speech that is saved on a computer. This recording can be done direct to computer, or using a device such as a portable voice recorder or MP3 player. These recordings can be used in their own right, or can be used to provide a sound track on a movie, or embedded in PowerPoint.
In the next step up, audio recordings can be uploaded online. They can be uploaded to wikispaces, but unfortunately not into your blog. However, you can link from your blog to your wiki. The wiki will embed your voice recording into a player so it streams from your wiki page. Recordings can either be downloaded or streamed.
To get a baseline idea of how podcasting might be used in a variety of classroom contexts, visit the Podcasting in Education wiki: http://podcasting-in-education.wikispaces.com/ . This site has everything you need to know about podcasting, including tools, tutorials, teaching and learning ideas and is well worth the browse.
Aural literacy, together with visual literacy, is becoming very important in the 21st Century literacy set, as indicated in this paper: http://archive.nmc.org/summit/New_Literacies.pdf. Consider the implications in this era of mass communication in multimodal ways, of not developing new literacies in your students. So podcasting is not merely creating recorded information for easier dissemination to your students. It is about literacy and ways of communicating in a contemporary world.
Some ideas about podcasting are to be found at Educause podcast
Podcasting in the Classroom: EDUCAUSE Pocket Edition #3
and DETA (WA)'s podcast page Podcasts in the Classroom
Other ideas include podcasts for self-guided field trips or tours, music composition, interviews, promotional clips for productions, simulated talk shows, story telling and training.
Whilst it is desirable to be able to create podcasts, and your students will thank you for the opportunity to use audio presentations, there are a number of ready-made podcasts for learning, including iTunes U (University).
Download iTunes if you do not already have it on your computer, and explore the podcasts available.
You will find PodCasts on websites like the ABC, SBS, Discovery school, BBC etc. Searching in Google for Podcast or Vodcast together with key words will also uncover a large number of very interesting resources.
Download iTunes if you do not already have it on your computer, and explore the podcasts available.
You will find PodCasts on websites like the ABC, SBS, Discovery school, BBC etc. Searching in Google for Podcast or Vodcast together with key words will also uncover a large number of very interesting resources.
Be conscious of the fact that overall your teaching focus is not about delivering information to your students, but rather for your students to be creating themselves. Therefore, your core focus should always be on your students creating their own podcasts and sharing them.
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