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Create a new audio file: voice recording using Audacity
1. Open Audacity
2. Create a new Audacity file if a new file window doesnt open
Add voice (record with a microphone)
1. Attach a peripheral device if desired ( a microphone), or use the built-in microphone
2. Go to the control panels (Audio/Sound) to check that it is the active recording device. Or leave as is, to use the built-in microphone (it will not sound as good). Note: your school laptop may not have an inbuilt microphone. If you cannot get sound to record as per the directions below, helpdesk the IT Dept and ask for help.
3. Click the Red record button in the toolbar to commence recording
4. Click the Blue Pause button to pause
5. Click the Yellow square button to stop.
Saving files in Audacity
Use File > Save Project As if you wish to save the Audacity file to continue working on it. Other applications wont be able to read this format. It is a work-in-progress format
Use File > Export as Mp3 to save the final recording in an Mp3 format - for uploading to iTunes or your blog. Name the file appropriately and save it to your home folder - be sure to organise your audio files where you can retrieve them
Use File > Export as WAV for applications that require WAV file formatted audio files
Edit the audio file (if necessary)
1. Drag in from the far left margin of the track until you see a greyed-out area the cursor will convert to a pointer finger - slide to the exact edit point
2. Do the same with the right side of the track
3. Go to Edit > Cut
Add music/effects to your file
Go to my previous Audacity post to read up on how to add a music track to the background, add an effect or make more complex edits
Export the audio file as an MP3 file
1. Go to File menu > Export > select type eg MP3 and the destination folder
2. Be sure to give your file an appropriate title that can be identified in your post
3. You may need to install the Lame MP3 encoder to Audacity first - its an “optional extra”. Follow the instructions at Lame Installation to download and install Lame.
Upload the audio file to a blog post
1. In your Wordpress blog, go to the Write menu > Write post
2. Give your post a title and add any written information or media
3. Click on the ‘Add Media’ button above the format pane. The simple Browser Uploader link is the quickest way to add media
4. Browse to locate your audio file
5. Click upload
6. Add relevant information: description etc
7. The link appears in your post and will automatically play when you click on it
Here is an example of a simple audio file created using Audacity that I have uploaded to this post:
Upload the audio file to a website
Go to my previous Audacity post and scroll down to
Uploading to a website (podcasting)
to read how to upload to a website
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Closing the Gap
In his article,
“Closing the Gap Between Education and Technology”, Chris Riedel refers to Mark Benno’s (Apple guru) claim that our students think in entirely new ways about technology and this is reflected in how they creatively use everyday technology.
Riedel urges teachers to see the value and learning potential of technologies that students use all of the time, and refers to a situation Benno encountered recently involving the use of an MP3 player:
“MP3 players, for example, do not mean by default that the student is listening to music. Recounting a recent experience in an airport, Benno reminisced about asking a college student sporting an iPod and a set of white earphones, “what are you listening to?”
Her reply: “Which ear?”
The young woman he was referring to had two MP3 players and was listening to a chemistry lecture in one ear and music in the other. “It helps me get in the zone,” she told Benno, who shared his amazement at the revelation. Kids use technology in ways many of us would never think of, he said.”
Riedel’s article is well worth a read as it highlights the growing rift between the way teachers currently teach students and the way students teach and learn themselves outside of school.
Traditionally, schools have held a privileged position as the prime point of access for education - places where students go to learn what they need to know to get ahead in the world. Riedel’s article makes me question how long this will remain the case. Benno claims that students don’t ask questions about how to use technology but ask which technologies they might access to solve problems.
They seem to learn the ‘how’ as they solve the problem - they are multi-tasking technological wizards.
Gen Y and the new Gen Zers are much more focused on what they can DO with information and HOW they can do it NOW, than ever before. And they wish to share this process, preferably with their peers.
Problem-based learning opportunities. Collaborative teamwork. Proactive learning. Communal interaction. Process-focused solutions. Visual, social, interactive technology. These point to new literacies, where focus is on what students can DO with information rather than the content itself.
There is a huge cultural shift happening and if we aren’t mindful and proactive, schools will lose their relevance in the very near future.
Profound cultural change implies pedagogical change: a fundamental shift from traditional teaching and learning roles, a re-evaluation of what a 21st century ‘classroom’ encompasses or even looks like and a restructuring of teacher-learner relationships.
Crossing Borders
In attempting to walk-the-talk, I have collaboratively set up an experimental Web 2.0 ‘ning’ social network for TIGS Photography students with a colleague, Kerry Short, from Wanganui Park Secondary College in Victoria - a school chosen for its similar background - a strong community of students who are passionate about photography.
Blended Learning
We have created this network to complement what we both do in the classroom: which is largely develop student-centred programs where students take the initiative in working through a quite rigorous program of scaffolded projects, largely undertaken at their own pace.
Our education.ning site.com site is called ‘Crossing Borders’ and it purposefully challenges stereotypical ideas about teaching and learning. Crossing Borders has multiple functions that contribute to strong educational outcomes and pedagogies: it includes a communal photographic gallery; home pages for students, classes and groups; teacher blogs; community events; information sites for students to access class information at home; tutorial videos made and posted by teachers; and the ability for all members to comment and talk to each other in a safe, transparent and managed learning environment. One of our initiatives is to invite a number of ex-students from both schools (who are now practicing as professional photographers in Australia and overseas). Several are already maintaining a presence on the site and have assumed the role of mentors for our students. This has generated lots of interest from our community of students in a short space of time.
How is it going after four weeks? Currently students are on the site in the evenings and weekends, they have posted photos, talked a bit about themselves, formed new friends, shared comments about each other’s works, posted discussion boards, participated in a community ‘event’, talked to students and teachers from the sister school, shared thoughts with mentors and have grasped the opportunity to interact and share their work and ideas faster than we ever imagined! Students are working well beyond the classroom walls, have accessed tutorials and sites that we posted but not covered in class yet!
Its an exciting project and I’ll keep you posted on its progress.<b></b>
Di Goodman (Epoff)
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Learning Technologies 2008 Conference
Friday 7th November
Toward a Learning Utility
Mark Keough’s workshop:
He asks us to drop the e from eLearning!
“The future is never designed from the past”, where technology is concerned.
He offers us a model for growth rather than control, that shifts emphasis from institutions to communities. It is a Learning Relationship Management model. See his blog for details:
Things to contemplate for the future:
1. Mikeseyfang: intellectual property
2. rss: the value of this
3. iPhone and iTunes and the direction this technology is taking us!
4. Self publishing as a lifestyle: through blogs, wikis, social networking sites etc
5. Identity and authentication: who are we?
Thought provoking stuff!
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Learning Technologies 2008 Conference, Sunshine Coast TAFE
Friday 7th November 2008
Ritesh Chugh’s workshop
A few facts came out of this workshop that suggested that blogs are increasing in use:
1. Weblogs are online diaries and a means of facilitating discussion through ongong commentary.
2. The blogosphere doubles in size every 6 months
3. One new blog is created every second
4. 27% of internet users say they read blogs
Other than these snippets of information, it was hard to follow this session…..
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A grey drizzly sky greeted me today when I stepped onto the tarmac at Maroochydore airport. I’m up here to attend the three day Learning Technologies 2008 Conference. Since my arrival at Mooloolabah TAFE for this afternoon’s workshops, drizzle has turned to heavy rain! Nonetheless I am excited about today’s workshops and the conference.
I’m anticipating a big learning curve this afternoon as the workshops I’m attending are:
Using Audio, Web and Video Conferencing for Teaching and Learning with Carol Daunt Skyring
and
Blended Distributed Delivery with Kerry Russo and Mark Walshe
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Themes
Once you have your blog up and running, you may wish to find a theme that is more ‘you’, or suits the purpose of your blog.
For my blogging workshop participants, these sites have a host of WordPress themes that you can download free:
You can do a search on Google and find more
Email me any that you would like to try and I will get Andrew to upload them. Once that happens, you can select the theme from the Design Menu when you open your blog
Check that any theme you find is compatible with WordPress 2.6 by going to the following WordPress link. Search alphabetically for your theme. If its not there, find another! This site is also a good way to find a theme but its a slow way of doing it.
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Some tutorials for you to try
This post will help the participants in my beginners Blogging workshops. Try these tutorials when you are having a play with your blog.
There are a number of good free WordPress tutorial sites on the net. Note: we use WordPress 2.6 version. If you search for tutorials on the net, make sure they are for version 2.6
Open your favourite web browser, check you are connected to the internet and try these:
The following tutorials are screencasts: audio visual tutorials.
The following screencasts are from the Likoma Design website
The following site has some comprehensive information about the features of WordPress. It will take you some time to read through it, however its a good way to learn all about your blog and what the various buttons and menus can do. It doesnt contain tutorials but does provide a concrete background to blogging
The author describes it as a beginners site:
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To add a podcast (post an mp3 file on your blog), go to the Write menu and click ‘Write Post’
Give your entry a title. Add any written information and format as desired.
Click the ‘Add Media’ button above the post format pane
Browse to locate the mp3 file you wish to post. Give the file a title and a description, then click ‘upload’.
Click save, and publish if you are ready to view the podcast
Here is an example of what it will look and play like on your post/page
How to use the digital audio player/recorder
To save the post and go back to Dashboard, click Save
To save the post and keep working, click Save and continue editing
To publish, click Publish
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To change the Title of your Blog
1. Log-in
2. Click on the Settings Menu
3. Change Title to suit
4. Click the Save Changes button at the end of the page
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A blog is a personal space.
A blog has an author.
A blog is like a journal - you can throw your ideas around and focus on your interests. Hopefully, someone will read the blog and comment on your entries - providing feedback for the author.
A blog has been likened to Random Operating Memory (RAM) , or working memory.
A wiki is a collective space.
No one has special status as an author on a wiki.
A wiki tends to be more objective - a place to store, share and disseminate information, like a database. Also, it can be edited by any user.
A wiki has been likened to long term memory.
