Task+2-+Audio+Tools

Audio Tools
====Several of you may have already tried the first tool. It has lots of fans and is easy to use for kids of all levels. There is an ipad app for this as well so you can use it if you have access to ipads. [|(here's information about that app)]It is a tool to help students combine an image with either written or oral comments. Voicethreads have been used by kindergartners and[| adults]. Can you think of a way that you could communicate something about your subject area or grade level and let the world comment? Here is a wiki that has many ideas sorted by grade level about using VoiceThread. The official [|Voicethread site] has lots of examples as well. This is a very natural tool for foreign language--from making vocabulary study sites to having them record dialog to go with a set of pictures. And there are examples there of Voicethread being used for Advanced Writing. And Kathleen and Abbie, this would be an excellent way to have kids share books with each other. Judy Callahan is an excellent resource on this for you and she is there and can help you if you have problems. ====

==== Here are the results of some searches that I did on VoiceThread. Maybe you will get an idea or you can do your own search. ====

==== These are examples of [|Shakespeare VoiceThreads]. Once you see how this is done, you can search for your own examples. Here is the [|Biology search]--you could use any topic. ====

==== media type="custom" key="19635854" This is a tutorial that you may want to use. There is also information in your packet about VoiceThread. If you want to use this, please see your divisional Technology Coordinator to have that person help you set up accounts and use their budget to buy group access. If you want to try this out, ask any of those folks for the information you need; I know Lower Division is all set and I believe Middle Division is as well. Macs cannot do VoiceThread so Mac-loving students will have to borrow a Windows computer for this--just a caution for you Middle and Upper folks. ====

====For those of you who have already used VoiceThread, here is another tool you might like to try. It is called[| Fotobabble]. Your "foto" does not have to be a photo. You can use any .jpeg or .gif file. You can use photos from the web as well. There is a limitation, though, on how big the photo can be. You may have to edit the size of it or if you take the photo yourself, you may want to set your camera to take pictures that are smaller. The finished products are embeddable in your blog or wiki or even social networking site. Students who have Macs will have to team up with a person who has a Windows computer for these (just one reason why students are better off with the Berkeley package). Here's my example. ==== media type="custom" key="19635992" ==== It is suggested on one of the sites I found about this that you can create a class account for the under 13 set to use. In the profile section, you can uncheck a box and make the Fotobabble private. I see this as being extremely useful because it is very user friendly. Maximum length of audio is 1 minute. In language, you could use it to have students record something about a vocabulary word.This technique would work well with a second language. It could be recorded by you as a prompt in a blog. You could use it with a Wordle or other word cloud. In a social studies setting, you could have kids find or draw a picture about an historical event and describe its importance. There are example uses in this[| blog]. You could string some of these together but I believe it would have to be done in some other tool. Here is a [|very good explanation] of the nuts and bolts of using Fotobabble. You can view a video [|tutorial here]. The teacher here combined it with Wall Wisher which is a tool we will explore later. Combining the two works well--you could set up a vocabulary site and have each student record something about a word and embed it or an historical event and have students get pictures that would be relevant to that event and record something and post it. Again, involve your technology coordinator before you make an assignment for your class. ====

====Another tool that seems like it might work with all ages is [| Little Bird Tales.] There is also an app for this and school accounts can be set up. There is a drawing pad inside this application and you can use scanned artwork or digital photos and students can make their own pages using the built-in art tools and then record their voice. I can see this tool being used for the 4th grade family album as a new way of doing things. I think there were some difficulties with this tool last year and I think it might work better in the FireFox or Chrome Browser than Internet Explorer. I am a fan of having kids use more than one browser anyhow so they can learn what a browser does. You can have a print copy for 99 cents each or email it. It is clearly meant for younger students but it also seems that it might be good for foreign language or vocabulary practice. It might be used as an alternative to VoiceThread. A class book might be made following a unit of work. ====

====Another tool that might be especially helpful for Foreign Language or just to get students to speak about a topic is [|Voki]. In the past year or so, they have added an Education account. Again, there have been some problems with this but when using Firefox, the problems have not existed so that may be a way to go. Here is a [|tutorial]for that tool. Have your technology coodinator set something up for you. You can read all about [|ideas for their use at their blog.] And another idea I recently ran across is having students make an avatar of a character from a book or from a story they are writing and then record what that person might say. Read the [|details] here.====

====If you want to simply record something, you can use [|Vocaroo.] You can try it here. Students can embed recordings or send them via email but there is no limit to the length of the recording.media type="custom" key="19636782" Here's a how to for [|Vocaroo].====

====There is another way that is friendly to both PC and Mac for recording. It is PowerPoint and a tool called Knovio. Students create a PowerPoint and then upload it to[| Knovio]. Each child must have an account or you could make a class account. After it is uploaded, video and audio can be added. Here is a[| tutorial about using Knovio].====

Points for this activity
==== 1 point for reading about two of these tools and exploring some of the many examples you found out there. Pay particular attention to ones on your age level or in your subject area ====

====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;"> 1 point for blogging about using audio tools on your blog. ====

====<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif;">1 point for sharing why or why not you are going to use an audio tool in your class. What appeals to you in your area of expertise? If you are using one, for what topic will you use it? ====