Casting Your Voice Out to the World

Audiocasting in Education By Kevin Hodgson Western Massachusetts Writing Project Sixth Grade Teacher, Southampton Massachusetts Casting Your Voice Out to the World

The Web 2.0 World
We are entering a new interconnected, networked world where more and more people are gaining access to the Web and its continually growing body of knowledge. And access doesn’t just mean being able to read what’s there; it means being able to create and contribute content as well. At first blush, that may not seem like such a big deal, but it is a shift that requires us to think seriously and expansively about the way we currently teach students and deliver our curricula.
-- Will Richardson
in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts ,
and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms

What is Audiocasting?
A podcast (or audiocast) is a digital audio file, or a series of such files, that is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds, for playback on portable media players and personal computers -- Wikipedia
All over the world, people are creating podcasts on subjects ranging from movies, to technology, to music, to politics and whatever else you can think of. This is new original content made by passionate people who want to share their creativity with the world. -- http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/what-is-a-podcast.htm
NOTE: Although the concept is often called Podcasting (after the iPod), it does not require an iPod or any kind of MP3 player, although these devices do allow you to listen to the audio more conveniently. Many people listen to audiocasts at their computer terminal.

Applications in the Classroom
Students read and review literature books
Students write and record poetry/plays/short stories/essays
Students post and respond to questions of other students in the world
Students create current event analysis audiocasts
Students audiocast a “virtual” audio tour of their school/community

-- from http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~magps/boylit/Podcasting%20in%20Education

Audiocasting Tools
A computer with an internet connection.
A microphone . Many laptops come with built in microphones, but the sound quality is low. As the authors of "Podcast Solutions: a complete guide to podcasting" suggest, "Many would argue- and rightfully so- that the microphone is the single most important piece of equipment piece of hardware.”
Handheld Digital voice recorders are now out that record voices very well, and convert the voice into files your computer can read (MP3). There are also many MP3 players that have voice recording options and attachments. All you need to do is to transfer your recordings onto the computer you'll be editing your sound with.
(also helpful) Audacity is a piece of sound editing software that is used by many if not most Podcasters. Audacity is a free, easy to use, software-based audio recorder and editor. With Audacity, you will be able to record live audio using your computer's sound input and then do some simple editing to the recording and then export it as an MP3 file so that it can be placed on a web server..." Audacity is available at http:// audacity.sourceforge.net / .
Adapted from http://chatt.hdsb.ca/~magps/boylit/Podcasting%20in%20Education

Audiocasting in the Classroom
Youth Radio: http://youthradio.wordpress.com/
Long Elementary School: http://long.dearbornschools.org/podcast/Long%20Elementary/HOME.html
Willow Web: http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio/podcasts.html
Chatham Middle School: http:// chathammiddle.blogspot.com/index.html
Read it-Write it-Say it Student Podcasts: http:// visitmyclass.com/blogs/rws/default.aspx

WWW-based Resources
Some great overviews of Podcasting:
http://teachdigital.pbwiki.com/podcasting
http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/22-free-podcast-hosting.htm
http://www.learninginhand.com/podcasting/
http://www.atomiclearning.com/podcasting
Video and Powerpoint Tutorials on Podcasting: http://podcastingvideos.blogspot.com/
How to podcast with (free) Edublog site: http://edublogs.org/2006/02/23/how-do-you-post-a-podcast-with-edublogsorg/
Create your own free Edublog: http:// edublogs.org /

RSS Feeds
RSS stands for “really simple syndication” and it is a way that an audiocast gets sent out to “subscribers.”
iTunes can be used as a collector of RSS feeds but others are available, such as Bloglines, Feedburner, PageFlakes, etc.
Many Weblogs (such as Edublogs) automatically create an RSS feed whenever you post something new to the site.

-- from http://cravingideas.blogs.com/backinskinnyjeans/2006/09/how_to_explain_.html

Are You Ready to Podcast?
Boil down your week into one sentence
Write it down
Line up to record your sentence
Speak clearly – not too fast, not too slow
Watch as I use Audacity to record the audio
Create an MP3 file
Upload to my Weblog
Listen to the audio online (and view the option for download, too)

Casting Your Voice Out to the World

by dogtrax on Apr 29, 2007

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