Monday, August 4, 2014

Podcasting and Audio in the Classroom

Share 5 teaching strategies or ideas that specifically incorporate the use of Podcasting or Audio in the classroom. These are actual classroom activities, at various grade levels, that incorporate both student and teacher created audio content.

  1. Podcasting Our Way to Reading: Increasing nonfiction comprehension and fluency:

    3. Below is the overview for this assignment/activity. I think it is a great idea for the classroom and could be altered to work for different grades, and the tools, resources, and curriculum that were available to you.
Dell Edu4U
Author: Jill Janes
Current Event Newscasts: Practice non-fiction reading skills by having your students do weekly or monthly podcasts on an interesting current event. Students will learn to find the main idea and summarize nonfiction as they read current events news from both print and digital sources.
Description
In order to help students become more fluent readers while practicing nonfiction reading skills, my students will create digital podcasts with current events news on a monthly basis. Students will first practice comprehension skills by reading and summarizing nonfiction news articles. Then, they will create a "script", practice being fluent readers, and record their digital podcasts before posting them for live, authentic audiences.
Objective
Students will learn to find the main idea and summarize nonfiction as they read current events news from both print and digital sources. Students will also increase their oral reading fluency as they practice reading aloud and record themselves. They will develop self-evaluation skills as they evaluate their own podcast performances. Students will also gain technology skills as they learn to use digital audio recording software and web site creation software.
Materials
The project will use digital voice recorders(5), web site creation software (iWeb), digital recording software (Garage Band), microphones (5) Internet and print media, headphones (5) and laptops (5)

  1. Free Audio Books and Why You Should Try Them: Listening and reading: a multi-sensory approach to reading that works (by Amy Mascott):

    2. This is an article by Scholastic that explains the importance of audio books and gives 8 different links for free audio books.
    3. I know for our school this is useful knowledge to pass along since we are beginning the Daily Five structure for our Language Arts curriculum. The Daily Five incorporates one of its five options as audio books for students to listen to the correct fluency, and pronunciation, etc. of a book.
  2. Creating Your Own Audio Books for the Classroom:
    1. After reading through the Scholastic article I realized it would be nice to know how to record my own audio books that could then be put on whatever devices we had in the classroom for Daily Five. After looking through Pinterest I found another teacher who had the same concern/idea as myself since she also teaches L.A. using the Daily Five structure. She gives a tutorial on how to use an Apple App as an audio book recording tool. I have also pasted a link to connect to resources for PC Apps that do the same thing.
  3. Ideas for Podcasting in the Classroom:
    1. This link has a couple different ideas for podcasting across different subjects. They also list the external resources used so that you could then do your own further research into each topic.
  4. The Walking Classroom:
    1. This link explains how the idea of the Walking Classroom came about and how to connect to it. I like this idea since I myself enjoy listen to educational podcasts while I am commuting to and from work. It’s a great concept to combine, what Ontario Education would call, DPA (daily physical activity which is suppose to be separate from physical education and recess) and learning, and I think it could be done in Ontario schools as well (if it’s not already being done).


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Three Technological Tools for the Classroom

Create a post that shares and reviews 3 specific technology tools or resources and how they impact teaching and learning in the k-12 setting.
  1. Fast ForWord is a computer program we use at JKCS for Grades 1-4. It is a program designed by Scientific Learning that they have described as, “ A radically different online reading intervention that targets foundational phonemic awareness, language, memory, attention, processing and sequencing skills.” It can be used with gifted students who would like to challenge themselves and advance these skills, or for students who need extra support. It can be used on a PC or an Apple product, and it can be used at home or at school. Students from our school love this program because it helps them master the skills listed above through games. It also has a ton of resources and support for instructors facilitating the program, including webinars and videos for training in the program.
    2. This program impacts learning in a positive way. It makes learning the above skills challenging in a relatable, meaningful manner for students since it’s learning through computer games (an activity most students enjoy).
    3. It impacts teaching in a positive way was well. Teachers do not always have the time to spend with each individual student on every area they are struggling in. Yes, our classrooms are expected to be way more inclusive than they ever have before, but a teacher is only one person and can achieve only so much in a day. Therefore, this program is useful because it can be used as a teaching tool to guide and help either the whole class or certain individuals as they work independently.
  2. I have mentioned before that at JKCS we also use BrightLink. There were some of you who were wondering what this was, and I myself had never fully understood what this technology tool was that was being installed in all of the classrooms. I have now looked into what exactly it is, for the benefit of this course, but also so that I am better informed as I enter the new school year. Basically, BrightLink is an Epson product for both businesses or education. Our school has invested in their BrightLink Interactive Projectors. In every classroom we can now, either from laptops or wirelessly through tablets or iPads, have the option to teach from a different perspective using a new technological tool. From here we could invest in document cameras, interactive curriculum software, etc. From what I understand this is now the foundation for our school to begin going further in the area of integrating computer technology in our classrooms.
    1. http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/education.do (Check out this link for classroom/school case studies as well.)
    2. This technological tool can definitely impact learning in a positive way. Like I mentioned above it is a foundation for further technological growth and learning. Using this product opens a whole bunch of doors for students to learn in different ways that they may resonate with, and it provides opportunities for them to stay connected with up-to-date technology in a safe environment - learning safe practices.
    3. BrightLink impacts teaching in a positive way since it gives teachers another format and teaching tool to blend with their curriculum - units, lessons, concepts, etc. can be taught differently.
  3. Some of you may already know about this App, but hopefully it’s helpful for others. It’s an App I have used personally, but then just made the connection that it is also the App my co-worker uses in her classroom - QuizUp. It advertises as the biggest trivia game in the world. Students can play against other classmates in real time or individually. It’s an App that is free for both Apple products and Androids. My co-worker uses it as a “free time” educational resource for students. If some of her students are done a test or assignment early she has it set up so that they can only access the certain topics under Education and Language Arts (since that is her rotary subject). I have observed that it is a great way for students to still stay meaningfully and educationally engaged while they have some free time in class. The L.A. section quizzes students on riddles, word definitions, word scrambles, tenses, spelling, and the thesaurus, etc. Students can challenge one another to a set of questions that they try to answer before their opponent. Whichever student has the highest percentage of questions answered first and correctly would achieve a new record for their profile.

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