cheap hand-held sound recording devices (or get the kids to use their phones) and use them to make the sound files.(You can also pre-record sound files and upload those to Voicethread.) If you want this to be online, try uploading to Slideboom which preserves animations and voice files. You may also want to use ISpring converter to get it into Flash format and then you can upload just about anywhere. There's also Animoto, but I don't think it permits a slide by slide narration.
(2) Slidecast creators: Show Beyond (http://www.showbeyond.com/docs/about); others http://web2010.discoveryeducation.com/blog/index.cfm/2011/4/27/Digi...
(3) I personally love Photostory3 (older, free, dowload from MIscrosoft) as it creates a pan and scan effect so the slides have some movement and narration can be added to each slide in the series.
(4) you can convert the PPT slides to jjpg (image) files and upload to a video editing program. Upload the sound files into the audio track and sinc them to the correct slides. This is a little more technical, but it will be on your school's computer.
Finally, if you write the Voicethread forums and ask for assistance -- or write them directly -- you'll probably get the advice you need. There are a lot of educators who have this issue and they are good at helping people make their software work.…
re-certification.
My questions to the group are:
What form(s) should it be in?
- I'm pressing for online, async, long form for the summer (12wks so there's time for reflection and practice)
- There are other choices but they all limit the audience in different ways. Short form is possible, but would require intensive activity for a shorter period. Should we do both?
What courses would you take?
- I've got three in mind for "proof of concept classes." We'll be recruiting math, science, and reading faculty to work on specific curriculum based topics if we can prove that this is a viable program.
-- SecondLife Boot Camp where you learn how to do things like create an avatar, dress for success, and basic building and scripting. This would be a precursor to actually learning to teach there and would serve as an intro to get people over the learning curve.
-- Web 2.0 in the Classroom where we'll explore blogs, feeds, wikis, flickr, tagging ... and all the webaliciousness that is web 2. The objective is to give teachers enough experience with the tools to be able to make rational choices about incorporating them into their own practice.
-- Freebie tools to Extend Your Class where we'll look at how tools like PortableApps can provide every student with their own tools to take with them when they go and to use in other places. Key element here is basic familiarity with tools like Open Office, The GIMP, Audacity, etc.
What OTHER courses? What would you take if it were offered?
Thanks and I'm looking forward to your responses.…
plot -- and they have to make connections to their own lives. For my new Reading class, I also created a wikispace where I post weekly lessons connected to whatever reading strategy we covered the day before. So far, I have ONE lesson. It's a work in progress. . . LOL
Anyway, I had no idea you can include audio clips like your kids have done. Last year, I got a grant to purchase some digital audio recorders after I attended the Celebrate Oklahoma Voices workshop. After my juniors watched the first part of Alex Haley's mini-series, Roots, I had them interview a family member for their "Trace Your Family Roots" project. I taught them how to edit the audio in Audacity and insert transitions. Unfortunately, we never completed the project due to frustrating technical difficulties with our school's server. Their edits kept getting erased and their audio clips distorted. Only two students of 17 completed the editing and uploaded the audio into PhotoStory where they set it all to photos. Very very sad and frustrating. :(
I will definitely look into the "think alouds" you mentioned. Being completely new and untrained for reading, I will have to research the strategy about connections, etc. It definitely sounds like something I can do cool things with, though. I know the grade school principal will be on board because she is a former librarian and reading specialist. :)
Thanks again,
Melissa…
of our students live on boats even, so it is a great medium to leave messages for each other as we are too small to have full time secretarial staff. Letters home and homework are also posted so they can be downloaded at leisure if anyone loses them. The 'blog' pages have proved a great motivation for children's writing - particularly boys. They like the technology side and the opportunity to have their work published for world view!
Then there is podcasting - using programs like audacity and sites such as podomatic has had a big effect...on reading! The children record themselves reading aloud and play it back. It has been a real revelation to some and they quickly improve and start to become more conscious of what they are 'reading'. It helps presentation skills and gives writing a real purpose too. It has also enabled children to become 'critical friends' - to acquire the ability to listen and deliver constructive criticism, becoming active particpiants in their own learning.
Voicethread has been a wonderful tool - particularly for Language learning and sharing work on an International level such as collaborative partner school work. But we have also used it in RE to order and retell the story of the nativity. For children who have problems writing down their thoughts/dyslexia/English as a second language this tool offers a chance to show their peers just what they can achieve - a second chance.
There's lots more - del.icio.us to share and recommend homework helping sites that have been checked out first; youtube (as long as teacher has watched the clips first) is a fantastic source of though-provoking video clips from around the world; blogs by other schools as well as our own; file-sharing etc..
Hope this helps start you off...…
Added by Jo Rhys-Jones at 1:42pm on December 10, 2007
headphone combination) to record my audio. Very cheap.
What programs or services do you use to record your audio?I started in podcasting in Audacity. Currently i am creating screencasts with Camtasia Studio and I really like it!
What programs or services do you use to edit the audio?Camtasia allows me to edit.
Where do you host your recorded audio files?I originally was hosting them on our school server. In October I launched www.masterymaze.com and now have them in the Subjects section of the site. They are also available through iTunes as MasteryCast.
What service do you use to manage your feed?We are using Feedburner.
What programs, services, or hardware do you use to *listen* to other podcasts?
I also use iTunes for all of my podcast listening. I agree it is very easy and convenient!
Is there an important aspect to podcasting that we missed asking about?The podcasts on my site are created by me as a review tool or "masterycast". My site has download capability as well. The key for me has been the students ability to "take them" with them and listen to them at their leisure as they would anything else. The repetitive nature of it has helped many of my special education students stay in school as they feel they have a chance with the help of the podcast. We have also purchased inexpensive mp3 players for students to take home "pre- loaded" to study. We have been able to take advantage of the "plug in" power of the iPod to help kids learn. I'm just another song on their player. :)…
gn. We love it. We use flipcharts using Promethean software, have access to all the school programs such as KidPix, and also use a wide bank of Web 2.0 tools on it too.
We also have a pod of 7 laptops (every class does, so we can borrow from other classes to make up 1/2 or full class bank). These can be left in the classes' separate side room area (glass windows between this and the main room from bench to ceiling, sliding windows can open if you want - or closed to contain a noisier activity). They can also be taken into the classroom (wifi) for a small group/partner/individual work. We have two kiddies with major OT issues, so typing is a better option than writing for them at the moment while they get some therapy. Also have 4 kids on major alternate/extension programs. Great for differentiation.
We also have our own school intranet page (school stuff including photos - available to our school community only) and a class blog (Edublogs) where we post lots of fun stuff, learning games, videos, podcasts and where the kids learn to blog (using initials instead of names).
We also have access to 3 labs - scheduled times with some free to 'book'. Great if whole class needs to use the computer at the same time. Programs most used include:
Google products (Google Docs, Google EArth, Google Maps), Microsoft products (Word, Powerpoint, Excel, Publisher), Wordle, Taxedo, PhotoFunia, Prezi, Audacity to name a few.
As teachers, we are discovering Elluminate! Amazing place to hold and participate in webinars.…
Added by Angela Clark at 11:25pm on March 30, 2011
n, Doug Johnson, Kathy Schrock and so on… This month we’re doing things a bit different. We’ll be hosting a webinar every week for the month of April, focusing specifically on unitedstreaming. Even if you don’t have unitedstreaming at your school (I didn’t when I was teaching), some of them will definitely still be worth attending because much of the content will apply to just about any digital media application.
Cost? NONE. Free and open to the public!
To register, just head over to this page and you can enroll in any of them:
April 4: Staggeringly Great Things Mixing Media and Google Earth with Hall Davidson
April 11: unitedstreaming 24/7 with Lance Rougeux
April 18: Widgetizing the Builders with Steve Dembo
April 25: Do You Have the Audacity to Podcast? with Jannita Demian
Tomorrow’s webinar with Hall Davidson definitely promises to be fun. Hall is one of those presenters that never does the same thing twice. And if you haven’t seen him before, all I can say is that you should brace yourself and prepare to hold on for dear life as he has an enormous amount to share and moves quick!
If you’re school does have unitedstreaming, then you can’t go wrong with any of them. They’re all solid webinars and promise to be great fun and great learning. If you don’t have unitedstreaming, I’d probably lean away from mine this time around. It’s going to really focus in on the Builder’s tools within the site and how you can jazz them up with Web 2.0…
bout 70 employees. Since we support school districts that use Mac, the office tolerates those of us who are Mac converts! ;)
I really love my Mac for production - there is so much you can do with it right, as the commercials say, out of the box! I am not a network person, I am a 'user coach' person, so most of what I do is teach applications. And yep, I do teach software in both worlds.
Making podcasts can be done on a PC - we use Audacity. Not quite as user friendly as GarageBand, granted; but it can be done and the finished product is just as good. We use Microsoft Office across the board, both platforms. Inspiration and KidPics - both platforms; where my PC fails in comparison is iWeb - gotta love it. It is the easiest way to helpt teachers and kids make a web page - and it didn't cost anything for the software - it's just a part of iLife! As for movies, well, you can make pretty nice movies with MovieMaker on a PC.
In fact, when I host classes for teachers, I host both platforms at the same time and it is not as confusing as it sounds. If you're focusing on what your going to do as a result - what the students and teachers will be able to know and do, then you can teach both platforms in the same group at the same time.
When I teach movie making, for example, I teach iMovie and MovieMaker at the same time. Sometimes I use two laptops, one Mac and one PC, and two projectors, but what we're doing is learning how to storyboard, shoot video and photos, download video and photos, record narrations and music, and put movies together. Platform can be pretty unimportant in the grand scheme of things. MovieMaker has good instruction pieces available in their 'help' section and online - I often print them out for beginning PC teachers who like to have handouts to help them out.…