LET THEIR VOICES BE HEARD!
Janet Corder
Why Should You Use Video and Audio in the Classroom?
Video and Audio in the classroom provide every student the opportunity to share their thoughts, reflect on their learning, practice their speaking skills, retell a story, and answer questions posed by the teacher. Many times, students will be hesitant to speak out in class, but through the use of various video and audio tools, most students will say things to a computer that they would not say out loud in class.
Video and Audio Tools Can:
- Significantly improve student engagement;
- Provide teachers with quality feedback for formative assessment;
- Provide students the opportunities for authentic feedback;
- Improve communications skills;
- Improve reading scores;
- Allow for asynchronous discussion;
- Promote open discussion among students;
- Allow students to practice foreign language skills.
Good Info:
13 Tools to Record Audio on Chromebooks and Other Devices by Kasey Bell (Shake Up Learning)
Create a TikTok-style experience with Google Slides by Matt Miller
The Importance of Asking Questions to Promote Higher-Order Competencies from Edutopia
25 Ways to Use Audio in Google Slides Projects by Kasey Bell (Shake Up Learning)
Vocaroo
Try using Vocaroo for greeting cards or ornaments.
Blabberize
Blabberize - Upload a picture and create a mouth on the photo. Record your voice to make your character speak.
Blabberize also has an app where you can make your pictures talk on your IOS devices!
Blabberize now has an EDU version that will allow you to have students under your account and there will not be advertisements. Check out the pricing here.
Adobe Express (Formerly Adobe Spark)
Adobe Express Video lets users record their voice, import pictures, and write text to create a short video. Videos can be shared publicly or privately. Also available as an app.
Examples:
- Sea Turtles
- Synaptic Transition
- My CMS Video
- Arachnids
- Making Ammonia
- I Survived the Attack of September 11 Book Report
- Foreign Language
Flipgrid
Flipgrid is a video response tool that is used to create discussions among all students within your classroom. Teachers post a topic or question via text or video and the students respond to the prompt. Flipgrid also gives students the ability to comment on their classmates' responses.
Key Features:
- All of your videos are located in one location.
- You can Freeze a Topic to continue sharing the videos but prevent new recordings.
- Student comments can be turned on or off.
- ASL Comic Books
- Simple Machines
- Examples of Light Energy
- Non-Fiction Text Features
- Flipgrid for Assessments
- Summer!
Ideas/Tutorials/Blog Posts:
- Have students draw pictures of characters in a book or story then create a talking picture of their character in ChatterPix. Upload the ChatterPix file to Flipgrid.
- Use the filters in Snapchat to create a video to upload into Flipgrid.
- Explain a science experiment.
- Tell how to solve a math equation step-by-step.
- Have teachers create a video introducing themselves and their class to new students.
- Have students welcome new students to their school.
- Exit Tickets
- Book Talks
- Padlet of Flipgrid ideas
- 20 Ways to Use Flipgrid in Music Education
- Using @Flipgrid in Online #APCalculus to Allow Students to Verbalize Their Thinking Process
- Searchable Help Center
- Flipgrid Blog
- Flipgrid on Twitter
- Flipgrid on Facebook
- Flipgrid YouTube Channel
Flipgrid also has a Shorts Video Camera that allows you to create short, stand-alone videos. Check out this blog post for info!
Animoto for Education
Animoto for Education allows you to create videos from your photos, videos, and audio files. Your students will find many creative ways to use this program! Make sure you go to Animoto education because teachers don’t have to pay to use Animoto! If you work with students under the age of 13, make sure you read the Animoto Education Terms.
(WEB or APP)
Examples:
WriteReader
The free version allows:
- 60 books
- Audio recording
- Book link sharing
- Image selection and safe search (1.8 M images)
- Template books and library
- Feedback and notifications
The Quick Start Guide under the Support menu will help you create your account and get your students creating books! Six Ways That Teachers are Using WriteReader blog post can be found at tinyurl.com/writereader.
Examples:
- Harley
- Walt Disney
Affirming Individuality and Identity Through Picture Books and Storytelling - several books by high school students telling their immigrant stories
Padlet
Padlet is a virtual wall/bulletin board that allows students to create a sticky note to express their thoughts on a common topic. Padlet allows us to post text, links, images, and a wide variety of files including video. You can also record audio and video files inside of Padlet. Padlet is a website and an app.
Note: Check the Padlet pricing structure for the Pro version, which includes unlimited Walls. The free account allows new users to have up to 3 walls. If you already have Walls in your account, you may add 3 more Walls for free.
Quizizz
Screencastify
- Directions for finding and adding Chrome Extensions can be found here.
- 3 Screencastify Features You Probably Didn't Know About by Jake Miller
Loom is a similar Chrome Extension. Educators can apply for a free Loom account by clicking here and completing the application process.
Voice Typing in Google Docs and Office 365
Using the Voice Typing option in Google Docs and Microsoft Word in Office 365 allows students to quickly record their thoughts. This can be particularly helpful for your younger students.
Google Docs:
- Open a new Google Doc.
- From the Menu Bar, select Tools > Voice typing.
- Click on the drop-down menu above the microphone icon and choose your language, if desired.
- Click the microphone icon and begin recording.
- Select the X in the top right corner of the microphone box to close.
Office 365:
- Open a new Microsoft Word document.
- From the Menu Bar, select the Dictate icon.
- Click on the gear icon to select a different language and other options.
- Begin recording.
- Select the red circle in the top left corner of the microphone box to close.
Seesaw
Students capture learning with photos and videos of their work, or by adding digital creations. Everything gets organized in one place and is accessible to teachers from any device.
Examples:
Apple Clips
Easily create vertical and horizontal videos with Apple Clips. Make sure you check out the new AR Spaces!
Examples:
The Hunger GamesHow to Add Narration to Canva Presentations
APPS
Green Screen by DoInk
Examples:
The Masked Reader - students guess who the Reader is (a great example of teachers using green screen).
Shadow PuppetEDU
To create an ABC Book:
- Each student is assigned a letter of the alphabet to illustrate. They must write the letter and draw a picture of something that begins with that letter.
- After students have completed their illustrations, the teacher takes a picture of each drawing.
- The teacher then has each student record the name of their letter and what begins with that letter. Example: "A is for alligator".
- You will want to create a beginning and ending slide for your book, such as a class picture or a sign that says Mrs. Smith's Class Alphabet Book.
- When the book has been recorded, you have several sharing options to choose from within the ShadowPuppetEDU app.
Click on the "ideas" icon within the Shadow PuppetEDU app for integration ideas. Here are a few of our favorites:
- Sequencing - Tell about a process or event by using transition words (e.g., schedule for the day, a timeline of historical events, etc).
- Summarizing - Take a picture of the book cover. Students record a summary of the book.
- Reading fluency - Students record themselves reading the text.
- Creative storytelling - Students work together to develop a story, take photos, and record a narrative.
- Self-published authors - Students write, illustrate, and record original stories, poems, or ABC books.
- Readers theater - Students draw pictures to match their assigned part of the story. Order the pictures and have students record their lines.
- About Me presentations - Makes for a fun beginning of the year activity.
- Show and tell - Students share interesting things related to the curriculum being studied.
- How-to tutorials - Create step-by-step directions for how to achieve the desired outcome (e.g., how to make cookies).
- Community & culture - Create slideshows of community workers or leaders, holidays around the world, or cultures and customs.
- Math word problems - Students create word problems such as, "In this photo, there are 3 red blocks and 2 green blocks. The total number of blocks is 5 because 3 plus 2 equals 5."
Examples:
More Apps
Chatterpix Kids - Make your photos, friends, pets or drawings talk. Take a photo, draw a line to make a mouth and record your voice and then share with your friends and family.
Examples:
PhotoSpeak - Create a 3D talking avatar from your images.
Examples:
Fotobabble - Create talking photos and videos with this fun app.
TouchCast Studio - An amazing video recording app that allows you to superimpose pictures, websites, Twitter feeds, and more.