I enjoyed trying several audio websites that allow you to record your voice. The first one I looked at was Voki. It was a lot of fun because it gave the opportunity to choose a character and setting. It also allowed the choice to record your own voice or type what you want your character to say. Students would love being able to play around with this and show their creativity. This is an example I created about a golden retriever –  https://tinyurl.com/275vmlv9. For this example, I chose the automated voice, but typed the facts I wanted to share. Students could research an animal, and then use the website to record their voices saying the facts they learned. 

Another site that was simple to use was Vocaroo. I think students would have an easy time recording themselves using this site. When you are finished recording, it isn’t hard to save and share either. I liked that this site gave the option to download to the computer, embed a link, and share on many social media sites, but my favorite option was the QR code. For this example, I recited the nursery rhyme, “Hey Diddle Diddle”. To use the QR code, you open your camera on any smartphone or device. Once the QR code is visible on the camera, a link will pop up that you can click, and then it will take you to my recording. It made me think how fun it would be to have students write a short story and record it using this site. I imagine having students draw their illustrations on a paper, then students could print the QR code and glue it to their paper. Instead of having the writing on the bottom, the QR code would “read” their story. It would be exciting to have these in the hallway so anyone walking by could listen to students reading their stories.

The third website I looked at was Online Voice Recorder. I think this one would be great for older students who may be able to handle some of the extra features because this site gives the option to edit your recording. You can trim recording, change volume, change pitch, etc. In addition, it was easy to save the recording and listen to it on the computer. Older students could record themselves answering a discussion question, or use this as a type of exit ticket after learning a new concept. The Speakpipe website would also work well for this. Teachers could record podcasts to talk more about different topics or ask a question, and students could answer it or ask their own questions in response. I liked that this site keeps it in an inbox, so it would be even easier for teachers and students to keep track of the questions and answers. 

I have always loved using music in the classroom, and using songs to help students learn various concepts or provide movement breaks. I also frequently play books on the ViewSonic board if a book is unavailable at the library, or they don’t have a copy of the one I need. With our recent experience with COVID, we were forced to learn how to teach kindergarteners online, which was a very new experience to all of us. We used google meet to provide instruction to our students, and had to get creative with our resources. I have never thought much about my use of video and audio until I realized how important it was when teaching students online.

After having the experience online, I found more ways to incorporate audio into student’s learning and still do many of them today. For example, I utilize Seesaw which is an app that allows me to send activities to students to complete independently. I record the directions for students to listen to so they know what they need to do on their own. Many of these activities have students complete video or audio recordings to share what they learned. One example of this is students listen to a story and then put pictures in order from beginning, middle, and end. After they are finished, they record a retelling in their own words and explain what happened at each part of the story. I can use this as a formative assessment to check for understanding, or even as a summative assessment that takes the place of giving them a paper and asking them to write the retelling. For many students, it is easier to have them tell you what they know rather than depend only on what they can write down. Other ways I use audio recording is to have students record themselves counting 1-100, create their own math story problems, make and explain a pattern, and read simple sentences. I have found that any opportunity for students to explain what they have learned or share their thinking is a beneficial way to use an audio tool. Since many classes or schools do not use Seesaw, I am glad to have several websites that I can use in the future as a teacher or librarian.

Podcast Review

I have never listened to podcasts before, so I wanted to see what a children’s podcast would sound like. I listened to the podcast, The Portrait of a Cat, on Storynory. Storynory is based out of London and you can tell by listening to the voices and stories. It was relaxing to listen to, but I do think it would be something that would be better for older children. It uses bigger vocabulary words and may be difficult for younger children to follow along. I like the idea of having the students listen to it and retell the story in their own words. They could identify unfamiliar words, or have a discussion after to clarify any parts they were confused about. I also think students could listen to it and record their own review on the story. There may be much better options for younger grade levels, but I can see the benefit of playing podcasts for students. The next podcast I listened to was the Drunk Librarians episode on Lock Every Door. I have read the story before so I was curious to hear their thoughts about the story. It found it entertaining and funny. I do think if you’re sensitive to language it might not be the right podcast for you. I love the idea of creating a podcast on book reviews! In the future, I want to check out more podcasts, and I think it would be nice to listen to them while cleaning or driving in the car.

References

Jana. (Host). (2022, May 27). A portrait of a cat. Storynory. https://www.storynory.com/a-portrait-of-a-cat/

Librarian A. & Librarian B. (Hosts). (2022). Lock every door. Drunk Librarians. https://drunklibrarianspod.wixsite.com/drunklibpodcast