Audio in the Classroom

Various audio media- for recording and transmitting the human voice and other sounds for instructional purposes. With so much concern about keeping our multitasking students (listening to music, watching T.V., instant messaging, while studying) engaged it may be hard to understand the importance of an audio experience.

However, audio can have dramatic effect if presented in the right situation. Consider this infamous Orson Welles radio broadcast. This Halloween radio program in 1938 created panic amongst listeners. Take a little time to listen to this broadcast. It is quite captivating. To listen to the broadcast click here: War of Worlds .

Not every podcast or audio played in the classroom has to be this dramatic. However, audio is important for students day to day, "typically elementary and secondary students spend about 50 percent of their school time just listening" (Smaldino, 281).

Podcasting

Podcasting is one term that always surfaces when talking about audio in the classroom. To gain an understanding of what podcasts are, review this video from Common Craft.


Podcasting in Plain English from leelefever on Vimeo.

Baltimore County has this wiki page devoted to podcasting/audio in the classroom. The page includes information about podcasts and how you can create podcasts for the county. Review and bookmark this site for future reference.

Other Podcasting Resources

• Podcast Resources

Audacity is a freeware that you can download for free http://audacity.sourceforge.net/.
If you need additional help with Audacity, a series of "How To" video created by another educator can be found here:

• Using Audacity

When using audio in the classroom here is a great resource to consider: Designing Audio Recordings

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Other Types of Audio in the Classroom:

Audio Pal - Using Audio Pal, you can embed audio messages into a website. Teachers can use it to explain assignments or give instructions.

• http://www.audiopal.com (6MB file upload limit)

Audiboo - A mobile (there's an app for that) & web platform that effortlessly allows you to record and upload audio for your friends, family or the rest of the world to hear.

• http://audioboo.fm/ (5 minutes worth of audio)

Vocaroo

• http://vocaroo.com/  Vocaroo is a shiny new service for sending voice messages across the interwebs. It's still under development though, so problems may occur.

Audio Books
Prerecorded audio books are also available throughout the internet.

Lit2Go - Collection of stories and poems in MP3 format.

• http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/