Voki is a great interactive tool where students can create an avatar or character that speaks. They have the option to write out a text and have it spoken electronically or record their own voice. This tool is good for relatively short bits of recording – it would not be the best tool to record a lengthy podcast. I have used this in French class to let students record personal introductions and talk about themselves without having to speak in front of the class. Even if they don’t particularly like the speaking part, they enjoy building the characters. You can have your students post their voki links and then as a class assignment, have them listen to each others’ voki and for information about each person. It’s a great way for students to focus on their listening skills and get to know their fellow classmates.
Audio pal was really easy to use: you can write a text and have it spoken for you or record your own message. I recorded myself and the program e-mails you a link that takes you to a page with an embed code. However, it is somewhat complicated to use that embed code unless you already know how to do it. I am fairly tech savvy and I couldn’t figure out how to add the embed code to my learning management system or my blog.
Online voice recorder is literally a recorder through the web. When you are finished recording, you click on the save button and it downloads an mp3 file that you can use any way you want. You don’t need to create an account or know how to use html code. The only problem that I encountered was that it recorded at a very low volume and I needed to go into the site’s “audio tools” to increase the volume. Below is my recording with the volume maximized.
Update: WordPress does not allow uploading of audio or video files. So, I have uploaded the file to my google drive and added a link below.
That’s a great idea to have them record something and then play it instead of having them stand up in front of the class. This not only gives them the freedom to explore the audio world, it could help ease some anxiety of public speaking.
Great utilization of the tools, I like your Voki character.
I like how your Voki avatar followed the mouse as you moved it around…that was a cute feature. I also think that having students record their class introductions is a wonderful way for them to focus on technology and not the fact that they are “talking” to the class.
I think it is neat that you have used Voki before in your French class before using it in your blog. Voki is great for introductions due to the short recording time and the fun avatars that can be used. Online Voice Recorder is a simple and effective tool for longer recordings and you utilized it well to talk about what we learned this week. Great job!
I really wished schools would start using audio recordings for presentations. I was a student that was always anxious about public speaking and sometimes I would’ve done better if I did not need to necessarily do a public presentation in front of the whole classroom. I really like the idea of students recording and presenting that to the class!
I don’t remember having an issue with the volume using Online Voice Recorder. What kind of microphone are you using? How far away from it were you speaking?
Also, I’m curious what podcast you listened to. Was it any good?
I did a separate post on my blog for the podcast. I listened to book club for masochists about librarians who read all genres even if they don’t like them. The episode was about adaptations of books and comics into other forms of media. It was really interesting.
It was the only recording tool that sounded quiet. If I use it again, I will do it with my headphone/microphone to see if that does a better job.
That makes sense to separate the posts. I’ll take a look at it now.
I love the idea of using Voki for introductions. That’s a great way to break the ice!