I was very excited for this week’s lesson on audio tools and podcasts. I am a huge fan of podcasts in my spare time and I clock at least 20 hours a week on them just for fun! I have also been a part of using podcasts in the classroom. Not only do we teach a unit on Sara Koenig’s Serial in my school’s twelfth grade English class, we do all assessments during that unit using student-created podcasts! Now, I wish I had known about some of these tools when assisting with that unit, because we had more than our share of technical issues that I just didn’t know enough about audio tools to solve. The tools I’ve explored this week would have helped immensely.

The first tool I took a look at this week was Google Slides. It had never occurred to me before to make an animation using Google Slides, but I am in love with the idea! I didn’t end up using it this week due to being swamped in my personal life (hence the timing of this post) but I would love to take some time to check out the method described here. It could make for a fun video to use during distance learning, perhaps explaining an assignment.

The second tool I looked at was Online Voice Recorder. This one for sure seems like it would have been nice to use in class for our Serial unit! Before, we asked the students to simply use the voice recording software that came on their phones, but students often had never used it, couldn’t edit it, and had massive trouble uploading it to Google Classroom from their phones so we could listen. Online Voice Recorder has its own simple audio-editing tools which would make it simple for students to cut out the parts of their recordings they want rather than start over if they make a mistake. Using their computers would also lessen the tech-headache for some that is transferring a file from phone to computer (I know, Google Classroom can also be accessed from your phone, but a lot of my students apparently don’t!).

Finally, I took a look at SpeakPipe. SpeakPipe is very similar to Online Voice Recorder, without the audio-editing tools. Its simplicity would be ideal for a self-contained class, and the way it provides a link rather than a download (since the recording is saved to SpeakPipe’s servers) is very convenient. It does inherently have the issue that if you make a mistake you have to start over, though.

Lastly, I checked out some educational podcasts this week. My normal for-fun podcasts are gaming, fiction, or writing advice, so I took a look at Vicki Davis’s 10 Minute Teacher Podcast. The convenience of the format is absolutely ideal for listening on a lunch break or while cooking breakfast. It covers such a huge range of topics among education that I’m sure everybody can find a topic they want to hear about. My one hesitation is that due to the short format, the advice seems more motivational and inspirational rather than truly constructive, but it’s certainly important for educators to hear something motivational about their jobs for a change!

Davis, V. (Executive Producer). (2017-present). 10 minute teacher podcast [Audio podcast]. Cool Cat Teacher LLC. https://10minuteteacher.libsyn.com/