Activity 7: Audio Lesson

   Podcasting is a way to post audio content on a web page. Visitors to the page can listen to the audio while online from an embedded player or they can download the audio file for later listening in the audio player of their choice. Podcasting has become very popular for recording and sharing a wide variety of educational content. 

As podcasting applications become more user-friendly it is possible to teach students of all grade levels to use audio tools. 

In early years podcasting can be used for students developing reading and pronunciation skills in a way that they can correct their own error and not be required to "perform" in front of a class. In later years, students can use digital audio to develop speaking fluency or presentation skills. 

People are often unaware of verbal tics or distracting vocal patterns until they hear themselves speak in a recording. Once they hear themselves they can self-correct. 

Podcasting can be accomplished in many ways and we will explore a few of them in this course. 

First. download the latest version of Audacity as appropriate for the operating system on your computer and open the application. The application will automatically find your microphone and speakers so you don't have to do much other setting up. 

In order to convert Audacity files to MP3 files that will work with online applications, you will need to download and install a helper application called LAME Encoder. When you open the LAME encoder it will install itself in your Audacity program. This only needs to be done once. 


Use Audacity to create a digital recording and a web-based service such as SoundCloud, Vocaroo, or Internet Archive to upload and store your audio files online. 

• SoundCloud is a very popular social media service based on shared podcasting. 
•  PodBean is a longstanding service for uploading and distributing podcasts. 
• Anchor is another podcasting service that lets you create and share a complete podcasting solution. 
• Synth Podcasting platform Built for Education

Activity
Create a lesson for a subject from the Manitoba Curriculum where sound is an integral element of the learning. Many subject areas study sound or use sound to study concepts. The Manitoba Literacy with ICT Across the Curriculum lists many possible uses for podcasting. Use Mindmeister to plan your lesson and reference the appropriate elements from the Teaching with ICT Continuum

Create a page on your weblog for your podcast lesson. Your lesson should include a set of directions for your students and an embedded example podcast episode 3-5 minutes long.