Podcasting for English Language Learners

Kim Douglas is working with a Hungarian student new to our school.  She decided that it would be a good idea to record a read aloud so that the student could hear the story with English inflection and in the voice of his teacher.  She and I met on Monday morning, by Monday afternoon I had the podcast in my Google inbox.  Great job Mrs. Douglas!!

She accomplished this by downloading Audacity, a free piece of software to record her voice on her computer.  Ben recommended that she download it from Sourceforge.  She also downloaded the LAME MP3 encoder, which is a bit of software that works in the background and allowed her to turn her recording into an MP3 file.  She plugged in a mic that she borrowed from Suzy, hit the record button, read the book, uploaded it to Google Drive and shared it with me.

Her young Hungarian friend can access the file if she shares it with him, she can burn it to a CD so he can play it on a CD player, or she can make it into a movie with a simple picture and upload it to YouTube to be accessed from any computer anywhere (thanks Jamie Salturelli for that idea!)

She says she won't win any audio book awards for the recording, but I beg to differ.  Listen for yourself.

(This is a widget from Cincopa, which is a podcast hosting site.)

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(Below is a test recording uploaded to YouTube, if you are at school you will have to type in your credentials to 'allow' it to play in the building.  It won't play on the YouTube Education site.)

Top 10 Tech Time Saving Tips...

Terrific!

Google Drive PLC

Google Drive training in Friday's PLC was the first step in attempting to get everyone "proficient" in the use of Drive and its many features.  As with most PLCs, it probably left many with more questions than answers.



Here are some of the questions that are still lingering:

1. How do we connect our DPS Google to Outlook?  Here is a link to instructions for forwarding Gmail to your Outlook account.  I just did it with my email accounts and it seems to work fine.  YOU WILL STILL NEED TO LOGIN TO YOUR DPS GOOGLE MAIL IN ORDER TO SEE SHARED DOCUMENTS.  This is a good solution so that you don't have to constantly check both.  You will be able to just check your Outlook mail and you will be notified when something lands in your DPS Gmail Inbox.
2. Can I have more time?  We will have a technology training every other month at least.  We will also have a "choice" Friday on the third Friday of the month.  This will be a good opportunity to do more basic trainings so you can continue to familiarize yourself with Google Drive.
3. How can I tell who I shared something with and can I unshare?  You can see who you shared with by clicking on the 'Share' button on the upper right of you document, spreadsheet etc.  You will see a list of who has access.  Simply 'x' out those who you wish to unshare with (see picture on the right. Click to enlarge.) 
   
4. How can I use this with my kids and math?  I don't use Docs with my students yet, so we will have to see if an answer emerges as teachers use this tool more and more.  You can insert math equations using the equation editor within Docs (thanks to Brad Tobin for pointing this out..)  I would also add that we know that writing is a big part of math and perhaps students could collaborate on a response to a math word problem or collaborate on how to best explain their math thinking.
5. Color Coding within spreadsheets, how to do it, refine it?  Could this be another Friday training for those interested?
6. How safe is student data?  There is information about DPS Google security HERE and some general Google Education security info HERE.
7. How do I organize the files within Shared With Me folder?  You should be able to make a copy of the file ONLY if the owner gives you permission to do so.  The file will then appear in My Drive, but it will now be a file only you own.  For example, Colleen Sechrest shared a presentation with me, I make a copy and rename it, the new copy is mine and is not shared with Colleen.  I still have the original that Colleen shared with me in my Shared With Me folder.
8.  Are the formulas in spreadsheet the same as in Excel?  All the functions are HERE,  I think they are the same.  I have only created really simple formulas.  I know there are probably experts in the house that can work with us on questions.  I always consult my wife, who is a formula whiz!
9. Can you create a contact list?  I am unsure what the question here is..  if it is yours, please clarify.
10. How do I put all the kids in folders? Again, I think there are experts in the house that can help us.  There is a lot on the DPS website that may help.  Here are some scripts that could help with keeping track of student work.  I also think it would be time well spent to sit down with a small group and figure this out.
11. How do I increase student engagement with Google Docs so that all students can see responses together to build a more collaborative community of learners?  I think Barb Cramer, Jon Havens and Brad Tobin are good resources in house to help us with this process.

Please contact me if you have any questions.