How to Create Soundboards Without Flash

I just finished an annual expressive writing unit with my 7th graders where they studied old time radio plays to learn about the importance of description, details, and imagery in dialogue. After listening to several examples, students are put into groups and then collaborate to write their own authentic radio play. To add to this authenticity, students also integrate sounds effects to help enhance the imagery of their plays.

In the past, I've struggled with how to handle these sound effects. There are plenty of sites with free wav and mp3 files, but the actual method for playing these can be difficult to coordinate with a live performance. But this year, I had an idea. What if it was possible to create soundboards for each group?

Soundboards are (usually flash) web applications with buttons that link to brief sound clips. They are typically the weapon of choice for juvenile prank phone calls, but I decided they would also be great tools for our radio play performances. My first instinct was to coerce my super-tech brother into creating a customizable flash file for each group. This would have gotten the job done, but with far more effort on my part than necessary. Fortunately, I then had a much easier idea – PowerPoint.

I personally despise PowerPoint as a presentation tool, but it turns out the program makes a great soundboard. The performances were a success and the sound effects flowed seamlessly. This tool can be integrated into any kind of performance, oral reading, or skit – even schools where students run morning announcements could find use in this simple method of adding sounds to a project.

Here are directions for creating a soundboard in either OpenOffice or PowerPoint. Feel free to use my template – download it here.

1. Open a new file.


2. If you're not using my template, use the shape tool to create “buttons” that students will click to trigger the sound.


3. Right click on the shape and choose “action settings” in PowerPoint or “Interaction” in OpenOffice.


4. Browse for the file that you wish to add to the soundboard.


5. When all of your sounds have been added to the soundboard, view the slideshow and your buttons should now be able to be clicked to play the correct sound.

The Interaction menu in OpenOffice Impress

Action Settings in PowerPoint

A Few Hints

• Create a small wav file with a few seconds of silence (Audacity can do this quickly and easily) and add to the soundboard as a “stop sound” button. This way students can control how long a clip is played.


• Wav files can be embedded in the file. This makes it easy to manage the soundboard, but it can also make the file very large. MP3 files do not embed but create relative links within the presentation. This means the actual file is small, but must remain in the relative location to the sound files. (If all of this is confusing, you may just want to stick with using wav files. Free software like Format Factory can convert mp3 to wav for your soundboard.


• There are tons of websites for free sound effects, but I've had the most luck with Wavcentral, Soundjay, Soundzabound, and Freeplaymusic. When in doubt, google works wonders.

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Create a Podcast Studio in the Classroom for under $200

A few years ago, I created and ran a short range radio station at my middle school. In the most basic of senses, it was just a series of podcasts that were programmed to play on an empty FM radio channel. The experience taught me a few valuable lessons:

1. The power of audio is extremely powerful when used correctly. It is captivating and engaging.


2. Students take producing audio very seriously. After the initial “do I really sound like that?!” comments, they buckle down and focus on important aspects of oral reading such as inflection, meter, and pronunciation.


3. The broadcast over the radio was not nearly as popular as the mp3 uploads for each show. Students preferred listening to each other on the computer or through an iPod or MP3 player.

It is because of the last lesson that I don’t run the radio anymore, but I have certainly taken the wealth of experience I gained from the radio station and use it regularily in my classroom. Considering their educational value, student interest, and relative ease of creation, it’s amazing that podcasts are not part of every classroom. The reason for this is most likely because teachers get caught in the details of the equipment before they ever have a chance to publish their first podcast. Sometimes technology is its own worst enemy.

So today’s post has a simple purpose – remove the technology from the equation so that podcasting can be used in the classroom. For under 200 bucks, you can create a podcasting studio that is equipped to handle multiple students recording conversations, plays, oral readings, book reviews, etc.

Assumptions:

• That you have a computer or laptop


• You have some general understanding of Audacity (If you don’t, here’s a tutorial)


• You know what to do with the podcast after it is created

What you need:

Everything on this list can be found at Musician’s Friend. By ordering it together, you will be eligible for free shipping. This setup will accommodate three students recording at the same time (it is better to have a microphone for each student so you can control their individual volume levels).

1. Behringer Eurorack UB1202 Mixer $79.99
   This connects to the computer through USB and will allow for each microphone (or channel as it’s called in the “biz”) to be controlled separately.
   
2. Musician's Gear 5 Pack Windscreens $9.49
   These windscreens fit over the microphone and will help keep students from “popping” their Ps and breathing heavily while recording. These screens will greatly improve the quality of the recording at very little cost to you.
   
3. Audio-Technica M4000S Microphone 3-Pack $49.99
   Are these the best microphones? Not really – but they’ll get the job done and are ideal for podcasting. I would suggest upgrading to something in the Shure line if you plan to record instruments/music.
   
4. Musician's Gear Lo-Z Microphone Cable $4.49 (x3)
   The length of cable will depend on the physical location of the computer and where you expect students to be sitting during recording. The 15 cables are less than 5 bucks and should be long enough for most situations. Don’t forget to buy three of them!
   
5. Musician's Gear Tripod Desk Mic Stand with Clip $12.99 (x3)
   Mics are suprisingly sensitive and often put up the sounds of hand movements and vibrations when held during recording. The easy solution are these cheap microphone stands. Buy three!
   

There you have it – your very own classroom recording studio. All for the low price of $191.91.

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Using MP3 Players in the Classroom

I received a box in the mail today containing 15 Coby 1GB MP3 players.

They're no iPod, but you know what? I'm okay with that. And in some cases, they may actually be better than an iPod – at least for the purpose I'm looking for them to serve. They only cost $23; far cheaper than, say, an 8GB iPod Touch. Cheap means disposable, which is a good quality to have when being handled daily by middle schoolers. Also, cheap means fewer features. While limiting in potential, it makes using the players more manageable. For example, I purposely ordered an mp3 player without a radio feature. Now when I load material and hand it over to a student, I know that is the only thing he/she will be listening to.

I had an idea exactly 362 days ago – just short of a full year. It has mutated and expanded a bit since then, but now that I have the tools, I'm ready to make my idea a reality.

Here are 3 ways I plan to use my new MP3 players in the classroom:

Audio Books – Not only is there a wealth of free audio books available through sites such as Project Gutenberg and Librivox, but students can also record books as part of a classroom audio library. If students choose to record a title that is within the public domain, it can be hosted online and shared with the world – talk about authentic audience! I currently have two students who spend their lunch period each day recording an audio book version of the famous Jack London book, Call of the Wild.

Lecture/Guided Notes – One problem that I have found with running learning centers in my middle school classroom is that the teacher turns into a living pinball, constantly bouncing between raised hands. I have yet to try it, but I plan on using the mp3 players as a station in my class. I can record a listening passage, or even a selection from whatever novel we may be studying. Included with this recording can be comprehension questions, clarifications, etc. – in short, what I would have to explain and re-explain to that station throughout the day. Students would be able to replay things they may have missed, and it will allow me to focus on other stations in the room that may need closer attention. It's about as close to cloning myself as I will ever get!

Review – Our team has a problem this year with chatty study halls. It's not all of the kids, but a few disruptive ones are all it takes to light the fuse. I mentioned the mp3 players to my Social Studies teacher, and she volunteered to record review questions and answers for her upcoming unit test. We're going to load them onto the mp3 players and hand them out to select kids during study hall. The result should be twofold – they'll be quiet, and may actually learn something in the process!

What am I missing? How else can I get the most bang for the 23 bucks spent on each of these little gadgets?

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Audio Books in the Classroom

Last night @nbteacher sent out a tweet alerting his followers to Lit2Go – an audio book repository created and maintained by the University of Southern Florida. It's a collection of famous poems, short stories, and larger works that have fallen into the public domain and therefore free to use and share without the fear of copyright infringement. Lit2Go took these works and had them recorded as downloadable MP3 audio books.
I find audio books to be much less interesting than real books. It’s just not the same, like having someone retell a movie. Sure, you’d know what the movie was about, but few will dispute that it’s not the same thing as experiencing the feet-sticking-to-the-floor, greasy-popcorn-fingers joy of really being there first-hand.

Regardless, I can't help but think audio books have a place in the classroom. But where?

The mp3 recordings found on Lit2Go can be readily downloaded in printable, PDF format from popular public domain sites like Gutenberg.org. I spent much of the summer browsing this site and found a few good titles, but I wasn't sure what to do with them. Lit2Go gave me an idea.

Wouldn’t it be cool if students created their own repository of audio books similar to what USF has accomplished with Lit2Go. Not only would this transfer a sense of ownership to students, but it would give them real, authentic cause to practice reading fluency.

Good idea?

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