Audacity Podcast

Here is my completed Audacity Podcast. This project was intense and complicated. I did enjoy finding and searching for the music, interviews, and content for this activity. I chose Michael Jackson due to knowing that there was going to be plenty of information out there for me to find. I retrieved all my information from YouTube and then converted them to mp3s using the bender converter. The most tedious part was the editing of the tracks and timing everything just right. I think this was so difficult for me due to my OCD compulsion kicking in.

This activity would be perfect for research activities in the classroom. Research can be done in any subject and at any grade level. It is important to of course recognize that the expectations of younger students need to be lowered than that of high school students. Right now in my collaborative social studies class they are learning about ancient Mesopotamia. It would be great for them to choose a focal point of this time and create a podcast of some sort. Say the student selects King Tut. They could find a segment on King Tut and possibly add some type of music that could go along with it. They could then record something specific that they learned from the information that they were able to find. The only catch would be that YouTube access is blocked at our school but we can ask for permission to unblock certain videos. This activity would be something to incorporate in the students' Tech-Step program that is now being integrated.

Audacity would best match up with NETS Standard Number One: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity. As an educator I would being with modeling this activity by incorporating this with the appropriate subject matter.This would be an ideal way for teachers to show their knowledge of not just the content but the technology tool as well. Audacity is a tool that would help promote student individuality and creativity. The student would be able to identify if their project was being conducted appropriately by just listening to it. It would be imperative for the teacher to provide some type of guide lines or rubric for the student to follow to guide them in meeting the teacher's requirements. This could be easily tied into what is currently taking place in the world with King Tut and his tomb as to during the early Mesopotamia era. It would be interesting for students to grade themselves with the provided rubric /guideline to see if they had met all the required elements. Once they have done this they could then compare their own assessment of themselves to the teachers assessment with the same rubric. It would really be neat if there was a way to locate another 6th grade social studies class in a different state/country and conduct the same activity to share pod casts between the two classes!