Sometimes we get so wrapped up in the latest gadgetry that we overlook the power of the very simple things. Let me present to you the "Voice Memos" app found on virtually any iDevice with a screen. Some of you might remember "the old days" when we thought, "Gee, it would be nice to have a tape recorder, except the last time I wanted it, it was down at the other end in the building in the library, and when I got it, and finally found the blank cassette tape in the bottom of that one drawer, I found out the tape recorder didn't even work! Argh!"
Enter "Voice Memos." Whip the iDevice out of your pocket or your drawer, zoom along to the app, press record, and you're off! No mussing about with blank tapes (oops.... I was sure that one was blank....), no looking for a place for students to work that is near an outlet, and no traipsing to the other end of the school to round it up. Some considerations for this app:
- oral quizzes, reports for students to record instead of writing them down. (IEP accommodations!)
- Be in two places at once! Record your instructions and then send the students off to go listen to them and work in an alternate location.
- Documenting oral reading. (DRA anyone?)
- Recording and evaluating musical performances.
- Documenting peer or teacher feedback. Set it up to record, and listen back to that group providing their peer feedback at some point later.
Here is a neat thing I did with this app. I recorded students playing recorder pieces while I accompanied them on the guitar. I then brought those clips home, imported them into Cubase (a music editing/recording program), synced them to a click track, programmed some drums, recorded a bass guitar part and a couple of guitars, and shared the track with the kids on our class website as an mp3. Parents, family and friends could all hear them "Rocking out with the band" from anywhere in the world. Yay!
No comments:
Post a Comment