In the first session, we spent approximately the first hour finalising our movie and adding audio using Audacity.
Although Audacity is very simple to use and it is also very simple to add audio into a movie on Window's Movie Maker, I did not find it very efficient. It is a program which can be used to record sound or music if you do not already have it on file. When I used the program, the room was very noisy and I had to record our music through a microphone which picked up all other noise in the room.
If the children were trying recording sound in the classroom, it may not be ideal. However, if the children were able to work in groups and use a separate room to record, it was be efficient. For example, if the children were recording their own radio broadcast and they could be trusted to do this in a room on their own, it would be a good tool.
In the remainder of the session, Mandy and I began to think about our collaborative Wikispace. We decided to stay with the theme of 'Staying Healthy' - the same as our movie animation made using plasticine models. To get started, we created separate pages for each of the four sections and then created links to these on the home page.
The following quote is taken from Using Wikis for Online Collaboration by James A. West and Margaret A. West. It gives details about exactly what a blog is and the purpose of blogs:
"Collaborative writing tools, such as wikis, are well suited to supporting meaningful learning in online courses. A wiki can be defined as a "collaborative web space where anyone can add content and anyone can edit content that has already been published." (Richardson, 2006, p. 8). Wikis offer a shared environment where online students can actively participate in the integration and co-creation of knowledge."
For further reading, I would recommend having a look at Wikis for Dummies by Dan Woods and Peter Thoeny for some tips to start off with.
A further post will be made regarding our collaborative Wikispace as we progress further...
The mics were the problem not the software. We were using really cheap £10 mics that do not just take directional sound. If you are going to do a lot of recording with children then I advise to purchase good quality mics to get the best results.
ReplyDeleteYou have two quotes which are very relevant but need to expand on the to your use of wikis then to classroom practice.
Referencing, try and use the correct format as it will help with assignments. SO your quote from Richardson should have reference after the quote. Keep reading and reflecting.