Most of us educators are of a generation which still remembers the radio. Lying awake on a Sunday night to catch the Top 40 countdown, or making sure you were at the radio just in time for your favourite drama series or comedy.
A few years back, when Apple brought out the first iPod, 'podcasting' became briefly popular as a way to broadcast audio content. Hundreds of people recorded pointless nonsense and posted it on servers for others to download and listen to. Hidden away amongst the rubbish were a few gems, no doubt, but the novelty soon wore off it would seem.
These days radio is perhaps not that familiar a medium for our learners and even podcasts are something which they just don't 'do'. I recently suggested that my students downloaded and listened to the BBC World radio programme 'Click'. Firstly they argued with me about even having a podcast client on their iPhones and iPads (I know it's there because I use it all the time!) and then when I played them a podcast in class their eyes glazed over and they started to moan about the lack of visuals. What I did realise is how little of the audio they are likely processing when watching video, and left me wondering how much of my explanations in class just go over their heads.
So the challenge is: how to use audio recordings / podcasts in a useful and successful way within classes.
One solution seems to be Audioboo. Listen up all ye language teachers, here is a great tool for you (and the rest of us). Audioboo provides a way for us to record audio and share it with students. It is also a way for our students to record themselves and share and publish them online, easily and quickly.
So here is how to get started:
They have a mobile app which you can use on your phone so that makes it easier to record on the move. Or students could record with other apps and sent the files for you to upload.
Now you can set up 'boards' for various topics. For example a Year 7 board or a board for a specific project.
You have various options for sharing your boo.
Use the EMBED feature to embed a player right into Moodle! It will look something like this...
A few years back, when Apple brought out the first iPod, 'podcasting' became briefly popular as a way to broadcast audio content. Hundreds of people recorded pointless nonsense and posted it on servers for others to download and listen to. Hidden away amongst the rubbish were a few gems, no doubt, but the novelty soon wore off it would seem.
These days radio is perhaps not that familiar a medium for our learners and even podcasts are something which they just don't 'do'. I recently suggested that my students downloaded and listened to the BBC World radio programme 'Click'. Firstly they argued with me about even having a podcast client on their iPhones and iPads (I know it's there because I use it all the time!) and then when I played them a podcast in class their eyes glazed over and they started to moan about the lack of visuals. What I did realise is how little of the audio they are likely processing when watching video, and left me wondering how much of my explanations in class just go over their heads.
So the challenge is: how to use audio recordings / podcasts in a useful and successful way within classes.
One solution seems to be Audioboo. Listen up all ye language teachers, here is a great tool for you (and the rest of us). Audioboo provides a way for us to record audio and share it with students. It is also a way for our students to record themselves and share and publish them online, easily and quickly.
So here is how to get started:
- Go to audioboo.fm
- Now register (it is really quick, easy and free but you can only record 3 mins at a time).
- Hit the "Record/ upload boo" button at the top right-hand corner and hey presto, you're in business.
They have a mobile app which you can use on your phone so that makes it easier to record on the move. Or students could record with other apps and sent the files for you to upload.
Now you can set up 'boards' for various topics. For example a Year 7 board or a board for a specific project.
You have various options for sharing your boo.
Use the EMBED feature to embed a player right into Moodle! It will look something like this...
- You will need to insert a LABEL into your Moodle course and then change to the HTML editor.
- Simply copy and paste the embed codes into the HTML code space.
- Give it a few minutes to sort itself out, it doesn't appear immediately.
You can also share the link to your Audioboo account or even let students subscribe to your channel with RSS feeds. You can listen to your Audioboos in iTunes. Or how about printing the QR code and letting students paste that into their books and then at home they can scan the code with their smart phones and listen to your instructions online... brilliant!
Ideas for using the tool
- Use it to explain a task to students in your own voice.
- I am thinking that this would be brilliant for language teachers to embed the proper pronunciation of words and phrases into their courses.
- One teacher I know of sums up the week's work (including interviewing his students) with an Audioboo which is shared with the class and other teachers as a method of CPD.
- Get your students to create an audio project instead of a written one.
- Ask students to read their poetry.
- Make a radio play.
- Teachers with paid accounts are recording whole lessons and many conference talks are available as Audioboos it would seem.
Let me have your ideas for your subject in the comment.
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