PortablePD.ca

A primary teacher who is involved in our TLLP podcasting workshop was sharing with me today about how she was starting to get her students into recording audio.

I teach junior, grade 5/6 students and I have little experience with the grade 1 and 2 set but I can see that it would be a challenge to get some kids recording while others were working. Donna (the primary teacher) solved the problem by having her grade 6 lunch monitors record her primary students during the lunch hour. The grade 6s felt important using the voice recorder and being the “big kids” and the younger students each got a chance to have their say. The topic was the weather. A simple start but it involved many students at their own levels. Big kids and little kids working together and it didn’t become an add on for the teacher.

Terrific!!!

Time to put on your troubleshooting gloves.  Or put it off and find something really strong to drink.  It all depends on how your day is going.

If you are using a USB headset microphone we suggest that you first plug them in and wait a few seconds so that the computer recognizes them. Then start up Audacity.

On some OCDSB computers, you will get a password prompt when anything USB is plugged in. The board has put out an installer called “USB Thumbdrive…”. Install that and reboot. Jane says the computer freezes after installation. Of course that never happened to me – so either way you have to restart.

If that doesn’t work or you are using a “regular” non-USB microphone go to edit/preferences in the Audacity menu. You’ll be in the Audio I/O tab automatically. Click on playback and record menus and select a different device. In the case of USB headsets, the name of that particular headset should show up in the menu. In the “regular” microphones just try picking a different one and cross your fingers.

Perhaps this doesn’t need to be said, but check that the microphone is plugged in to the microphone jack. It is often in both the front and back of the computer. Try both if you have the patience.

Another thing about USB headsets: they often come with an on/off button that is not so obvious to those of us, like me, who don’t read instruction manuals. A solid red (or blue or whatever) light means the mike is operating. If it is blinking it is not recording.

We hope there was something there that did the trick.

Is it really so dirt cheap to start podcasting in the classroom?

Absolutely.  It can be free assuming you have a computer, microphone and Internet access.  One of the biggest attractions of podcasting, for us anyway, is that it could be done with hardware and software that our school board already had, or, was freely available on the internet.  As long as you have a computer that either can run Audacity, Internet access, and a microphone you already have everything you need.  You might discover that your school has lots of unused microphones lying around from older computers and tape recorders.  They are still usable.  Easier still, your computer already might have a built in microphone.  No microphone?  They can be found at dollar stores.  I wouldn’t suggest shelling out big bucks until you know what you’re dong and if you want to invest anything more into it.

But I really want to spend money on shiny gadgets

OK.  Fine.  Just for the sake of not going completely overboard, let’s say that you have money to burn or your principal or some mysterious benefactor has given you $1000 to spend on some sort of podcasting kit.  What would you include?  Jane and I have put a great deal of thought into this very topic (Some of this stuff goes on sale so there’s a good chance it will come out a little less than $1000):

Sony ICD-UX70S MP3 Recorder

-    plug and play (no proprietary software)
-    built in USB (no lost cables)
-    single AAA battery
-    relatively inexpensive
-    similar to the model Jane won in another grant
-    really important: it saves to the MP3 format

Battery Charger

- help avoid that infuriating moment when your students are set to record and you have no batteries

- make sure it charges AA and AAA

AAA rechargeable batteries

- most voice recorders run on AAA

Eee PC 4G

-    once Audacity is installed, you can use it as a student editing station
-    small enough for students to use at their own desks
-    inexpensive enough to include in a kit like this
-    plug in a USB headset microphone, or use the built in microphone to record your students
-    install iTunes to listen to and subscribe to more podcasts

Mouse

- because the eeePC keyboard is really tiny for adult hands

- Audacity can be used almost entirely with a mouse

8GB Memory Card

-    we found a Kodak SDHC card for $20
-    also available in 16GB and 32GB, probably will keep increasing in memory and decreasing in price
-    triples the memory of your Eee PC 4G
-    allows you more flexibility to store and edit audio and install other programs

USB Headset Microphone

-    USB simplifies things, don’t have to fiddle with sound settings
-    quality recording for a single user
-    students are less tempted to bump microphone around resulting in a cleaner recording

Stereo Headphones

-    allows for quiet sound editing
-    we suggest you get at least four sets to allow for more that one student to edit audio on a computer or listen to podcasts

Headphone Splitter

-    allow for two headphones to connect to one headphone jack on a computer, CD player, MP3 player, etc.

Kidcast: Podcasting in the Classroom
by Dan Schmit  (FTC Publishing)

-    detailed overview of how to start up a podcast in the classroom
-    information for both Mac and PC users

FTC SoundPak
(FTC Publishing)

-    CD contains over 3,400 sound effects, music loops, and other sounds created specifically for the classroom.
-    feel secure in the knowledge that you are respecting copyright

Our Class Podcast
by Jane Smith and Nathan Toft (Scholastic)

-    handy way to introduce podcasting to your class
-    six copies in package allow you to meet your Guided Reading requirements at the same time
-    part of Scholastic’s “Moving Up with Literacy” guided reading series
-    well known and respected authors

The Ontario Ministry of Education is looking for proposal from teachers for the Teacher Learning and Leadership Program. This program provides funding to encourage teachers to share their learning with colleagues. If you are interested in developing a project idea the information and forms are available at the following link:

www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/teacher/tllp.html

Proposal applications are due at your board office by November 14th, 2008 for the 2009-2010 school year.

Start writing!!!

If you are an employee of the Ottawa Carleton District School Board, you have another way to store audio files.  Netcaster is kind of like YouTube for the OCDSB.  Keep in mind you will need to contact your Computer Contact Teacher, or, if that person is you, Hotline for your school’s password.

Start on page 3 for instructions on uploading your audio to Netcaster.  While the document is geared toward video files, it is the exact same process for audio.

Posting to Netcaster

Thanks to Tim Hawes for creating this.  Find more discussion about technology and education at www.commun-it.org.

We were recently asked how to go about getting your finished audio onto the Internet.  One easy and free way to do this is through Edublogs.  Other blog providers will work much the same way.  Here’s a screencast showing how it is done:

Click here for a full screen version of the tutorial.

Prefer to read instead of watch?  The following document from Round Rock ISD takes you through the same process:

Uploading Your Podcast to Edublogs

There is a real cool factor about having your podcast in iTunes.  It makes it easy for people to find you and to subscribe to your show. And it’s FREE!

The first thing to do is to get an account with Feedburner. This is a free service that does all the mumbo jumbo scripting that needs to be done for iTunes to recognize a podcast. Nathan did try to script it himself following iTunes instructions but I don’t think it was a pretty experience (he still twitches a bit). A feedburner account will give you a url that leads iTunes to the stuff that it needs and understands. Another reason for having a Feedburner account is that it will also give you statistical information on how many visitors your are getting and what episodes they are listening to.

Once you have the Feedburner account, download iTunes application and visit the (if you haven’t done so already) iTunes store page. Click on Podcasts in the left hand column. Once you are on the Podcast page it is just a matter of scrolling down to the bottom of the left hand column to where it says Learn More. One of the items is Submit a podcast. From there I believe it is pretty straight forward (although I haven’t actually done it myself but Nathan makes it sound easy).

You will need to plug in information as they ask for it. They will ask you for a credit card number but that is just to establish your iTunes account (unless you already have one). Posting a podcast is free just as subscribing to podcasts is free.

Let us know when you have your podcast up and ready for subscribers. We are always looking to promote student produced podcasts.

Take advantage of the Discussion button on the top of this blog where you can post questions or dicussion items.  Sending e mails also works nathan.toft @ocdsb.ca  or jane.smith@ocdsb.ca

Episode four has arrived.  We hope you enjoy it.

Download

Links

ECOO Conference

Jane’s class blog

Nathan’s class blog

Podcast Picks

The Clever Sheep (more of a blog)

The Clever Sheep’s podcast (also known as Teacher 2.0)

Mr. Carruther’s Grade 6 class

Web Resources

iTunes

Tutorial

Using Audacity to Export Multiple Audio Files (screencast)

Music

Hot Doggin’ – by DeerFoot (Podsafe Music Network)
The Kool-Aid Makes Itself – Psykosoul (Podsafe Music Network)
Mumbo Jumbo – BD Lenz (Podsafe Music Network)
Hook, Line and Slinker – Podington Bear
Bump and Run – Derek Audette

Prelinger Archives

How to Keep a Job (1949)

We often have our students record little pieces of sound for our podcast (station ids, announcements, etc.). A fast way to deal with the different student recordings is to take advantage of the built in capacity to Export Multiple sound files on Audacity. This allows you to work in one Audacity project and yet keep your audio tracks separate. Watch this video (created with Jing) for directions on how to do this.

I am writing this post in the hopes that other educational bloggers out there will add to a discussion in order to provide information for people who are thinking about getting into blogging with their classes about which provider to sign on with.

We (obviously) use Edublogs. Edublogs has just undergone a massive makeover. Last week was quite rocky. The service was up and down while they worked out the bugs. They are very good at communicating when they will do work but I think they were a bit blind sided by how much work the makeover would be. If you had asked me early last week about Edublogs I would have told you to avoid it like the plague but this week the sun is shining again.

I find it very easy to manage the blog and have actually abandoned my website and now just use the blog. Setting up student accounts is getting easier and I like how I can post from any computer anywhere – unlike my website. It means that I can post daily and my students are doing some of their writing from home.

I also like the fact that edublogs is a free service that is advertising free. I don’t like sending my families or students to sites that post commercials.

Another plus is that it is really easy to upload pictures and video to the site. Nathan has provided a video tutorial on how to upload a google calendar to the site. I am interested in coding and the background mumbo jumbo on how these things work so I appreciate how easy it is to manage and modify the blog.

I look forward to seeing comments about other blog providers. If you would like to see my classroom blog please visit 56j.ca