Audio Tools + Podcast Review
Voki.com
Voki.com is a free audio tool that allows the user to create a character that says whatever the creator wishes. The audio tool is as simple as typing in whatever sentence you want your character to say. I found adding commas help tremendously for slowing down the recording. I imagine this being a fun tool that helps engage students, as well as keeping their attention. Feel free to meet my Voki character “Alan the Koala” by clicking the Koala below.
Vocaroo.com
Vocaroo.com is a quick and easy recorder. Vacaroo.com is as easy as hitting the record button and sharing the link provided once you finish. Click the play button below for another exciting Koala fact!
Audiopal.com
Similar to Voki.com, Audiopal.com allows the user to generate whatever sentence they wish in order to create a computer generated voiceover. Once complete an embedded code is created and emailed to you, this code makes sharing your work easy and without having to download plugins. Unfortunately, WordPress doesn’t seem to like the code, otherwise you could add a cool play button icon instead of a link. Luckily WordPress already has this feature location in the page preferences. Click the play button below for another fun Koala fact!
Koala Facts: www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/10-interesting-facts-about-koalas
Koala Picture: GraphicMamateam(2016).koala1454493_640[photograph].pixabay.com.CCZero.
Podcast Review: The Librarian’s Guide to Teaching
The Podcast I chose to review is from the series entitled, “The Librarian’s Guide to Teaching”, episode 35 “Lesson Planning. I originally chose this episode because I was just hired for my first teaching position. I am hoping that this episode will give me some insight on how to stay organized throughout the semester.
“The Librarian’s Guide to Teaching” is hosted by librarians Jessica and Amanda. The episode starts off with an energetic and overall excitement by the two hosts. The first 8 1/2 minutes of the episode is a little off topic, filled with them talking about their week, COVID, and what’s new within the Librarian scene. I probably would have edited this portion out of my podcast and filled it with a more generic introduction that segues into the main discussion.
The most important thing I took away from the episode is that there isn’t a one size fits all lesson plan. Creating a good lesson plan involves both experience and confidence. Jessica made a really good point, she mentioned that it isn’t necessary to follow a script, what is important is taking the time and making sure you are asking engaging questions that require students participation. Furthermore, Amanda shares her beliefs saying, “The lesson plan purpose [is] to confirm that you are staying on track with what you want to teach and accomplish”.
Overall, “The Librarians’ Guide to Teaching” was very insightful podcast that I would be happy to recommend to both newbies and veterans of the academic world. Listening to Jessica and Amanda share their experiences reassures me that there isn’t anything to be worried about. Building a lesson plan that works for you takes years of experience, experience that only develops by doing and learning first hand.
The Librarians’ Guide to Teaching https://anchor.fm/librariansguidetoteaching
5 Comments
I like the use of the play buttons! Very nice. The first play button worked great. The AudioPal interface on the second one was a little bit confusing for me, but I realized I had to click the play button next to the radio buttons. Thanks for sharing these koala facts!
June 12, 2021
I agree, if I had to choose between Vocaroo and Audiopal I would use the Vocaroo because the interface is much more straight forward.
June 12, 2021
I like that you have a common theme going through all of the tools! Great idea.
June 13, 2021
The koala facts are fun!
It’s possibly just my slow connection speed over here, but I find it curious that your Voki file, which has both visual and audio components, loaded and played almost instantly whereas the audio-only Vocaroo took ages to load. I guess it does pay to test more than one tool!
June 13, 2021
I think that elementary and possibly even middle school students would appreciate their teachers using cute little Voki’s to give instructions or maybe even a variety of other things. Also, they could listen to it as many times as they needed. I don’t know that students would be able to get the hand of it and personally, I would probably stick to the more basic ones for having them respond to a prompt or assignment.
June 14, 2021