Example Podcast using stop animation in Garageband. This podcast was used as an example for a K-5th grade podcasting camp this summer.

How to use Technology to Read for Me “When my teachers create papers and hand them out to the class, I sometimes have a hard time reading all that text. In the past, I had to have another person read the text aloud to me to “get it.� Now there is a solution at school, which helps me be more independent. I know, the computer voice does sound a little bit like a computer. But, I got used to it pretty quickly. I love that I can read documents more independently now.� Here’s an example: The computer can read printed text in an electronic format like WORD or EXCEL. Using Universal Reader, I can pick the voice that the computer uses to read a document “live� to me in the classroom or computer lab. Any document can also be converted to a sound recording of the computer reading the words. Using Premiere text-to-audio converter, a document can be converted to an MP3 sound file that I can play at home on my ipod or on my computer on the default sound player. The computer usually has a sound player installed and it comes up automatically. To get the mp3 file home, I would need a thumb drive. To install the sound file on my iPod, I would need the iPod cord or docking station. The cords usually come in the box with the iPod. “This is a great solution for me in most cases. I love if for History, Science, and English classes. Math is another story. It works best in math for longer word problems that are written in sentences and paragraphs. It doesn’t read numbers and formulas very well. My teacher still has to help me decipher those sometimes. Occasionally, the computer does read words differently than they are written. For example Did I read it? Yes I read it. But I can ask if I’m confused by that. The context usually helps me figure it out. I can also repeat it as many times as I want to.�

Welcome to the industrious teacher’s first audio podcast. In this episode, I’ll take you through the steps I’ve gone through to make this podcast. I’ll tell you what equipment and software I’m using and why I chose to do it this way. It’s a little bit daunting to start using technology in a classroom that has been going OK for years. But today’s students are learning and interacting in the world in such an innovative and engaging manner, that I felt podcasting was worth the investigation. I have a techie side to me, but mainly I dabble. I started the idea of creating podcasting myself with research. I went into iTunes and searched under education and “podcasts on podcasting� and listened to several days worth of those. Upon advice of many of the podcasters I listened to I chose Libsyn to host my RSS feed. I also couldn’t figure out yahoo, the hosting company of my current static webpage. I didn’t want a .Mac account because it limited my bandwidth for the $99 per year. That just didn’t’ sound like something I wanted to deal with if I ever had to worry about my podcast getting a lot of subscribers. I’m self-financing this project as a tool to help me learn about podcasting, so limiting my cost is paramount to me. I’m typing my show notes in Microsoft Word for Mac, because I need a spell checker on constantly. I’ll copy and paste them if I figure out how, into the podcast. I’m using Garage Band 3 to create my podcast with my iBook G4 built-in mic. Libsyn allows me to edit my webpage there, but I’m not sure I’m up to it right now. I did change the font color and added the libsyn player. I’ll tinker with that as I go. I posted a short purpose that is text only just to see how it worked.