Oct 20 2008
Discussion
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Well, I’m doing what I promiced myself I wouldn`t do… spend the evening creating a class blog. It`s still really rough, but hey, it’s a start.
http://lemelintrailertalk.blogspot.com/
Looking forward to seeing yours soon, too.
Roger
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Nathan Toft Reply:
January 1st, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Roger,
I just had a look at your blog. You’ve done a lot already. Well done. Let us know what you think of Blogger.
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Where do you download audacity for home use?
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Nathan Toft Reply:
January 1st, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Hi Leslie,
You can download Audacity at:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
Make sure to download the “LAME MP3 encoder” (I don’t make these names up, honest) as well.
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Hi
I can`t seem to upload files to netcaster. The BROWSE button does not call up files. Any idea why? We are nowhere near our disk capacity.
I`m actually intending to post student works on our class blog. The only way I found to post MP3s on Blogger is by creating a link to the posting on Netcaster. Do you have any other suggested methods?
Thanks fo your help,
Roger Lemelin
Woodroffe Ave PS
Grade 3
[Reply]
Nathan Toft Reply:
January 1st, 2009 at 10:08 pm
Hi Roger,
What browser are you using? I recently discovered that the problem you describe occurs when using Firefox. The Internet Explorer browser works fine, at least for me.
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Well, the Audacity problem was a ‘user driven error’. It works fine now.
I still am wondering, though, why Blogger allows us to upload movies and pictures, but not MP3…no sound files! Sure we can link to Netcaster – but why? Am I missing something?
Thanks in advance for our help.
Roger
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Nathan Toft Reply:
January 1st, 2009 at 10:10 pm
Hi Roger,
We learned that very same thing when giving a workshop in Toronto. A teacher was having no success getting Edublogs to work for her (I haven’t figured out that one – it worked just fine for everyone else..) so we tried setting up Blogger. And, as you discovered, you can’t uploaded MP3s. As you say, you could link to somewhere else like NetCaster but that defeats the purpose of making things as easy as possible – especially at the beginning stages.
To answer your question, I don’t know why Blogger won’t allow MP3s. But you’re right, they don’t.
I have yet to find the perfect classroom blogging/podcasting platform for my needs. So far, Edublogs is the closest but I have concerns about there as well. I suspect they are heading to a subscription based model soon.
21classes.com might be a possibliity?
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Hey everyone, just wanted to add my classroom blog to the growing list. Tons of cool stuff going on. Our classroom blog features a media presentation we created for Rememberance Day using Audacity and Moviemaker. I then posted it as a video embedded in blooger.
Cheers and have a great weekend!
Mike
Oh yeah, here’s the link:
http://www.mrspeer7.blogspot.com/
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Here’s a new feature on the blog. I/You can comment directly about a comment.
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Nathan Toft Reply:
January 1st, 2009 at 3:41 pm
By clicking on [Reply] immediately after the comment, I can respond directly.
Kind of a visual thing, but I like it.
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Nathan Toft Reply:
January 1st, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Of course, you would have to be paid up as an Edublogs Supporter to access this feature.
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Hello Nathan and Jane. I’m a big fan of your work and I want to thank you for inspiring me to develop MPRadio (thanks for choosing my podcast as one of your Podcast Picks a couple of months ago). The level of student engagement in the classroom is phenomenal throughout all stages of the podcast production! I am now exploring other ways to incorporate web tools into my classroom (blogs, wikis, RSS, etc.). Thank you for “leading the way!”
Mike Poluk
http://www.mpradio.ca
http://www.mikepoluk.com
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Hi Folks – welcome back.
So I picked up a load of logitech USB headsets somewhat like those offered at out early-Christmas workshop. Plug one in and Hmmmmmmm!!! I`m getting an annoying hum that sounds like a bad ground. Problem shoot: record volume, USB outlet, other headset, other computer….no remedy! SO I went back to some recordings made with the other headset you offered us and there it is, too! I guess I had just missed or ignored it inthe excitement.
Any thoughts on how to get the hummmmmmm out?
Thanks in advance,
Roger
[Reply]
Nathan Toft Reply:
January 7th, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Hi Roger,
Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back. I haven’t experienced that problem but I’ll take a stab at it.
You’ve gone through all the troubleshooting I would have started with. The fact it is happening on more than one computer and with more than one headset would suggest it is something software related – like a recording level being set to high somewhere. Have you adjusted the recording level only in Audacity? You can also adjust it in the sound settings of your control panel.
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Roger Reply:
January 9th, 2009 at 10:24 pm
Nathan!
Nothing like an extra brain! Indeed, it seems to have been caused by the high record volume in Windows. I didn’t check it at home, but the there was no hum on the computer here…the rec vol is at 5 or 6.
Looking forward to the the 19th. I’ve also registered for the OTF workshop in Toronto. There is very little information about the workshop and I’m not even sure if my payment is a confirmation that I can attend. There is not even a contact number for the organizers! What the heck, we live dangerously.
Have a good weekend!
BTW, the LOGITECH headsets I bought are on sale at Best Buy – $30
Roger
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Here is a link to a very interesting page:
Communities of Practice – Learning as a Social System.
Although not referring specifically to educational settings, the frameworks presented elucidate the dynamics of our podcast learning community within the board and those within our schools. It is tempting to examine our classes through these lenses as well.
http://www.co-i-l.com/coil/knowledge-garden/cop/lss.shtml
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Hi Nathan and Jane and everyone
Here is my classes blog. It is with the French program using the plays from AIM, and with the students making their own radio broadcast with the weather, sports, ect.
The address is
http://radiosalleneuf.edublogs.org/
There are more pictures on our school website as I want to keep alot of the space for the podcasts.
Our school web site is
http://www.munsteres.ocdsb.ca
and click on “Francais” in the “classroom News” area. There will soon be a link between these two pages.
Hope everyone is well. Colleen
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Hi folks. Maybe someone can help me. My students have recorded themselves reading a picture book using the digital recorder you provided us (thank you for all of the wonderful equipment by the way – side note). I plug the digital recorder into our computer and we listen and all is great…we are listening through the windows media player. Now the problem is, we are trying to put these “stories” onto cd’s to leave in our library as a listening centre for younger readers. It will not burn onto cd for me and I have tried a variety. I have also used the little laptop you provided us and they recorded using audacity. Can anyone help the “technologically challenged” as myself on how do I get all of this onto cd’s?
Thanks – Janine from MES
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