Podcast Playground

More Practice

I have found a link to be most helpful. It is How to Podcast by Jason Vanorden. Yesterday I was once again working with the JHH bloggers and we had a lot of fun preparing podcasts containing "words of wisdom" about blogging. The fifth graders did a great job and I know the second graders will be so excited to hear their voices. Here is my introduction:

Download ADintro5th2ndAdvice.mp3

I still have a lot to learn but the learning is fun and it is starting to come together. I am going to put the  podcasts on the Neville's Bloggers site.

Post podcast

Download file0037.mp3

This is a quick post to share with Hillary this morning.

Hmmm, podcasts of select posts......

Audacity - combining voices & music

OK, after more time than I care to admit here is Derrick's podcast with music. It is very rough around the edges. I have to figure out how to lower the sound on the music or up the sound on the student voices. Also, it is 483kb. I'm wondering if I can get it smaller. I'm persevering but this is taking me way too much time. I'm feeling really slow here. Does slow and steady win the race or will I still be asking that question down the road? And the other question is can I remember all the steps I took to create this?

Download DerrickFinal.mp3

Learning Audacity - Act 1

Yesterday I began learning the ins and outs of Audacity. Thank goodness for tutorials on the web. Otherwise, I would be forever learning this program. I still think it will take some time to become proficient with it but I'm beginning the journey! If anybody has good tips or suggestions they would be most appreciated. The first thing I did was to break the large podcast down into individual podcasts (students, my part, music). I think I will post those files since I promised to post them soon. I know the House kids want to hear their voices! Then we'll see what happens when I begin the editing process. Should be fun!

Download JHHIntro.mp3

Download Derrick.mp3

Download Angel.mp3

Download Diana.mp3

Download Jason.mp3

Download Zachary.mp3

Download Marisela.mp3

Download JoseJuan.mp3

Download Janae.mp3

Download Graciela.mp3

 

Podcast on Comments

Today I was at J. H. House Elementary School visiting one of my favorite bloggers, the fifth graders in Mrs. Hillary Meeler's BlogWrite group! I am going to post the podcast we did as a group. It is unedited right now. I hope to get to editing it before too long. I'd like to break it down into individual podcasts, add music, and learn more about Audacity. It's on my "To Do" list - hope I can get to it before too long!

(the podcast will be posted a little later)

Thinking about podcasts

I haven't really embraced podcasting for my own use or student use in the classroom because I'm more interested in making writing the focus, especially for students. It's not that I don't think podcasts could have many uses. I do. I just find it hard to make time to listen to them. I'd rather browse through multiple blogs that lead me to all kinds of interesting learning. I can take more paths. I have more choices. Even so I've decided I need to explore the use of podcasts a bit more.

I have a feeling that they just might have a lot of appeal to the guys in the "at-risk group". The teacher and I have had some great conversations with them that have not been captured in their writing. Would podcasts work? I don't know but it's worth taking a deeper look. We'll see where it leads.

So last month, I  made an equipment request for a tool that would let me record on the spot. I didn't want to plug up to a computer and I wanted something small so I could easily carry it to the schools. Something that could be used right then and it would not be dependent on anything else to work - not on electricity, any special gear, or magic words!  We bought the MicroTrack 24/96 Audio-M   for $300 and spent an additional $70 for a 1 gig card. Here's a review on the MicroTrack:

It was so simple! Now I did not find the manual simple, all the terminology that I have no understandings of throws me. But once I figured out that generally it's a simple click to record, another one to stop recording and then all you have to do is drag it from the card to the computer. I can handle that. Today I've been busy using Audacity to make it smaller and learn what else I can do. I need help on places to go for free music that would be good for simple beginnings and endings.  I still would like to have a deeper understanding  of the terminology but I'm letting that go for now. I figure I will learn pros and cons as I go.

Now I did the recording in MP3s. It will also do WAV files. I did MP3s based on the advice of Tim, my co-worker. I wanted to cut off part of one recording. That should be a simple process but apparently Audacity does not edit MP3s. I got it all working but as I said I'm learning as I go.

I'll  be working  in a U.S. history class with this group  of guys so  if any of you have suggestions for podcasts in that area , fire away! Here's the table of contents  for the book we'll be using:
Download ushistorytoc.pdf
We're starting on  chapters 4, 5 & 6.

Georgia Legislative Event

This event provides the opportunity to meet and converse with Georgia lawmakers.  This extravaganza is held every year by Georgia State University during the first week of the state legislative session. It is a time for the University to showcase its many important programs.

Zachary and Jose Juan are two of the J.H. House fifth grade students who were chosen to showcase their blogging skills to let our legislators see how technology is being used effectively in our public schools. Our legislators were impressed!

During the event, I grabbed a few minutes to try out my first podcast. I interviewed Zachary and Jose Juan. I interviewed them about weblogs and what they have been learning.

Download JoseJuan16bit.mp3
Download Zachary32bit.mp3

Introduction

This weblog will be a space to hold the podcasts I create. I'm exploring possibilities for their use in education.