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.
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)
Posted by Anne Davis on February 07, 2006 at 07:04 PM in Comments | Permalink | Comments (0)