Student learning. Adult learning. These are two things that I have been thinking about in regards to available AUDIO RESOURCES. How can we use them to enhance our own learning? These new technologies and innovations provide meaningful learning experiences for all. I believe there are always opportunities for us to capitalize when integrating technology into the classroom.
The use of audio in the classroom enriches the imaginative capacity of students. This ability to form mental images of abstract objects and events allows all of our other senses to assist our thoughts in connecting to a particular learning experience. It requires students to be able to discriminate between the audio stimuli, employ aural decoding skills and generate meaning of the specific message.
There are a wide array of audio materials for teachers to use. Here are a number of online resources that, when effective integrated, can contribute to the development of listening and interpretation skills.
Audacity
- Mini stories or student journaling can be recorded. These can then be linked to a class website, blog or wiki to showcase student learning or develop a theme being studied in class.
Drama
- Using a radio drama from 60 years ago in Language Arts class. They motivate students to write, read, listen, speak and collaborate more effectively. Some can be found for free on iTunes and the other places online where one can purchase a kit containing the radio program and class materials. Check out Raven Radio Theater for middle years students.
- Drama teachers can record the audio of their play and make it available to the actors so they can practice their parts without having to have the whole cast available.
Lyrics
- Have students rewrite and record newer lyrics to a famous song that fits with the content they are studying.
Music
- Using Music in the Science Classroom by Caroline has a phenomenal amount of ways that you can use music to introduce a concept, to link to a theme, to review lessons already studied. Well worth the time to read!!
- An online music jukebox allows you to have specific playlists saved on a wiki, blog or website.
- Grooveshark is a free internet radio station where you can set up playlists that can then be embedded into a wiki, blog or website for you to use. Â For instance, a teacher can set up a Classical Math playlist which I can easily be played while students are working on various math word problems. Grooveshark has a variety of music styles, composers and artists.
- Check out Eric Whitacre’s Virtual choir “Lux Aurumque”. Have students first listen to the music, then show them the YouTube video. How could they collaborate to make themselves into a virtual choir to possibly present at the next school assembly?
- Play scenes of atmospheric music which establishes a certain mood or scene in a story. Have students reflect on how to describe a particular atmosphere (scary, sad, excited).
- Studying a figure from history? What music would he/she like to listen to? Would Napoleon Bonaparte be a closet rapper? How about John A. MacDonald? Justification of songs chosen is important to the discussion. What criteria are you using when choosing the songs for that historical figure?
- Noteflight is a free online music writing application that lets students compose, view, print and hear music.
Narration
- With PowerPoint 2010, you can record a narration of your lesson. This is especially great when you have a substitute teacher in your class or for students to review concepts studied or even for parents to understand while assisting their children in their learning. Check out Mike’s “how-to” video on this topic.
Podcasts
- This is a great way to host your audio for students to review concepts, be introduced to a particular theme or even record the weekly class newsletter. Using Audacity and then uploading to a site like Podomatic is a great way to have a place to host all the audio in one area.
Poetry
Sounds
Speeches
- Download famous historical speeches to use as a starting point to classroom discussions.
Timer
Above all, enjoy your time with sound. I am sure your students will thank you for it! (And they may even have a few suggestions!)
Image – http://filmdirection.net/images/sound.jpg
Flipgrid – is a video response platform that has ongoing monthly updates. Recently, educators can now use GClassroom roster import, students can publish their responses with mic only mode, and there is a fantastic whiteboard among the many other features. Feel free to watch this intro video by Flipgrid:
RW4GC Voice Note – create up to 1 minute voice responses on a GDoc. I really like leaving voice notes for students working on a project while students like being able to either respond to questions or demonstrate their learning creating their own voice notes. Mote Chrome Extension – voice responses anywhere (especially in GClassroom). I really like this extension as I can use it anywhere in Google Classroom. Makes leaving comments on student work quick and easy. Students like hearing their teacher’s voice. Whether you are a F2F, hybrid or remote learning teacher, voice responses are an efficient way to share your thoughts, guidance or questions.
Screencastify is a great screencasting tool. Use with your browser, various tabs, presentations to support student learning. Students can even demonstrate their learning through developing a slide deck or visuals while adding their commentary (video or just microphone). I have worked with grade 1’s who have created a small slide deck sharing what they know about the letter C and then they screencast to demonstrate their knowledge of that letter, how it sounds, what words/visuals they found. And grade 9’s, during a project on Space Exploration, added gifs, visuals, text on their slide deck and demonstrated complete understanding of the specific outcomes during their screencast.
Loom (Premium for Teachers is free). Another screencasting tool. This one I really like since I can edit it, add Call to Action buttons, see how many times the video was viewed, etc. Very nice to share hints for a new topic to get students to WONDER. Also gives students opportunities to rewatch instructions/information at their own pace (speed up video, captions) as many times as they would like. You will see that many of my videos come from Loom that are posted on this blog. I like the versatility and ease of use it offers. As well I can adjust my preferences – do I want comments left open? emojis? notifications when someone has viewed the video? There is a lot of feedback that I can receive depending upon what I leave turned on in preferences.
Google Keep – mobile version with audio + transcription. This is a gem among the Google apps out there. The mobile version allows users to create a quick audio note that is transcribed in real-time. Then you can log into your web-browser of Google Keep which keeps the audio and the transcription which can be shared with teachers, students and parents. I also like that I can move the Keep note onto a Google Doc, so think about working with a student to quickly brainstorm on the Keep app and then transfer their thoughts onto the GDoc for them to continue adding details, punctuation, etc.
Google Slides + 
Online Voice Recorder – save and then add audio to your slides. Really nice to be able to share instructions and explanations on different slides. Ability to have tutorials, step-by-step instructions, interesting facts, things to think about as students are doing research, working on projects or even studying. See what my colleagues Jenn and Greg are doing with these tools.
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