Audacity: Third of 6 Web 2.0 Tools

 Audacity is a tool I would like to use to record and edit audio files. I would share these podcasts on the internet and use the iTunes site to select and subscribe to download from a selection of free podcasts in a variety of genres. Not all students appreciate the opportunity to perform their own work in front of the class. This tool will allow an alternate to a face to face oral presentation style for some and an interesting connection to the iPods and MP3 players that most students own. Richardson writes, “These kids are really motivated to write and think and prepare these podcasts because they know they are going to be published, that others will hear them”. (para. 2) In my attempt to engage in more online professional development I would like to explore podcasts for teachers. Berger (2010) lists a number of podcast directories as well as instructions to search using the word podcast as a search term. I will demonstrate the use of podcasting by creating a podcast and a playlist of my favourites. I wonder if our teacher of English Language Learners (ELL) would be interested in posting the recorded books her Book Club produced last year with a link to the podcasts on the library blog. Because I have only once created a Voicethread podcast myself I remain a novice podcaster even though I have worked with a number of classes to use the Audacity program.