I signed up for VoiceThread recently and watched my first video.
This was the video I watched & commented on.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Skype
Kevin Dennis & I "Skyed" one another one evening last week. The online video conferencing software was nice, and much easier to use than AOL's Live Chat which I've been using to allow my kids to video chat with their grandparents.
I'm not certain if Skype has recently renovated their home page, but this past visit to their site was much easier to navigate than previous attempts at setting up an account.
My only complaint about my first attempt at "Skyping" was that once I closed the window that contained my conversation with Kevin, the connection did not close as well. I could not see any connection to Skype via my task bar, however I could still talk to Kevin & hear him...and he could still see me. It wasn't until I pulled the USB plug of my webcam from its port that the connection was closed. I thought that was sketchy.
Overall, I could see Skype being used in the classroom as a tool for communicating with either peers from another school or current authorties of relevant topics that we discuss in class. Such video sessions could offer my students a glimpse at the larger world of math in our global community and offer a means to reinforce the importance of learning the topics we discuss every day.
I'm not certain if Skype has recently renovated their home page, but this past visit to their site was much easier to navigate than previous attempts at setting up an account.
My only complaint about my first attempt at "Skyping" was that once I closed the window that contained my conversation with Kevin, the connection did not close as well. I could not see any connection to Skype via my task bar, however I could still talk to Kevin & hear him...and he could still see me. It wasn't until I pulled the USB plug of my webcam from its port that the connection was closed. I thought that was sketchy.
Overall, I could see Skype being used in the classroom as a tool for communicating with either peers from another school or current authorties of relevant topics that we discuss in class. Such video sessions could offer my students a glimpse at the larger world of math in our global community and offer a means to reinforce the importance of learning the topics we discuss every day.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Audacity
I made my audacity file today. It went pretty smoothly. I used to as a way to accurately give repeated instructions to each of my classes during finals. It seems that students still have trouble understanding how sensitive scantron machines are. So, they carelessly write on the answer sheet, which results in points being taken away.
Anyway, the audacity program does offer a simple, and viable option for recording audio tracks and playing back in the classroom.
I used the .wav files because I could not download the LAME file (as I'm not an administrator). I won't have a problem using the .wav file, however I would like the LAME file because I feel that the .avi file is a more universal recording.
I'll look into getting the LAME file...
Here's a link to my Audacity "trial file"
http://www.mariemontschools.org/vahue/OAA%20Audacity%20File.wav
Anyway, the audacity program does offer a simple, and viable option for recording audio tracks and playing back in the classroom.
I used the .wav files because I could not download the LAME file (as I'm not an administrator). I won't have a problem using the .wav file, however I would like the LAME file because I feel that the .avi file is a more universal recording.
I'll look into getting the LAME file...
Here's a link to my Audacity "trial file"
http://www.mariemontschools.org/vahue/OAA%20Audacity%20File.wav
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