Today, the class learned how to create a podcast using the Audacity software. We first had to download and install it, which, for me was another issue that took tremendous amount of time – my computer really does need to be upgraded. It kept freezing up and the internet was so incredibly slow that the exercise felt like pulling teeth.
I learnt that Audacity is a free audio/voice recording and editing software
that allows you to record live audio. You can cut, copy, paste parts of a
recording together and even add special effects and reduce background noise.
And when you are satisfied with your production it allows you to save it in
almost any format.
The focus of the lesson was on creating a podcast using this
Audacity software. Once the software was properly installed on everyone’s
computer, the class was given step-by-step instructions on how to create a
podcast. Prior to this session, I knew a
podcast to be simply a live audio recording, but Mrs. Roberts went on to
describe it as a digital audio file that is usually a part of a series of audio
files that are made available on the internet for download by subscribers.
At first, manipulating audacity was a tad bit of a challenge, but
again, with patient guidance from the instructor and a bit of self-discovery it
became a cinch.
What was great was that it became clear that this software would
prove an invaluable asset (as would everything I have learnt in this EDET class) in the classroom, especially when teaching a foreign
language. It would enable teachers to create audio files to use in oral classes
for practice and even for listening comprehension exercises in the target
language. This would make life so much simpler for me as a French teacher. Why was I never told of this before???????
C’est Magnifique!!!
~Myra Lake-Hughes
~Myra Lake-Hughes
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