I haven’t spent too much time thinking about possibilities for audio tools. Especially after a year of hybrid/remote instruction, I’ve become very familiar with google meet and other video based tools. I think audio is an interesting alternative. It would allow for students to focus primarily on my words and not rely on any visual. It would be easier in some ways for me because I wouldn’t be so mindful of camera angles and my outfit.

I’ve used audio in the past for my students to create podcasts, read aloud a rough draft, and give book talks. I think any of the tools I explored would work for this. As a librarian, I could see myself recording directions for the day’s activity, giving book talks, or creating a book podcast for the school community.

The first tool I tried out was Voki. I customized the avatar and everything, and then I hit a paywall. I could see students liking this option because they could customize their own character and not have to share their face. I spent a little too much time creating my character before realizing that it wasn’t free.

Vocaroo was the easiest. The website is very basic, but in a good way. There’s no noise on the screen, and it’s clear what you need to do in order to use it. I would definitely use this tool with students because it is so simple. Now, of course, when I try to embed the mp3 file according to the directions, it says that the file type is not permitted for security reasons. So, here’s a link: https://voca.ro/1ljVvW3WJnBW My microphone quality is not the best; I’m on an old laptop. If I were to use this in the library, I would make sure to use something that sounds better.

I enjoyed the text to speech feature of Audiopal. It was also easy to figure out, but the design of it was a little too busy. I do think some kids would be more comfortable having an automated voice read their work, even if that does lose some of the value of an audio tool.

Clyp seemed to be a bit more complicated than anything I would use. I didn’t have any file to upload, and the service seemed more professional. If I was recording a podcast or something similar, I might consider this tool.

Speakpipe was also streamlined and efficient to use. For my purposes, I don’t think it’s much better or different from Voacaroo. Overall, I think if I were to use a simple audio tool, Vocaroo would be my number one choice.