Since I switched from the Macintosh to Windows in 1996, the biggest problems I have had are with "all things sound". (Yes, I know most people struggle with file management, but I guess being concrete-sequential helps me with that. )
Through my "multimedia" graduate classes at Lesley University, the applications for Windows that I used were
difficult and had many time-consuming steps to accomplish a task. Teachers don't need technology that takes up too much time. Audacity is the best tool I have seen so far.
I have owned several digital music players. The first one was so old, it connected to my computer via the serial port. That was awful. I quickly moved to a Rio and used that for a long time until I bought an
iPod shuffle. My husband didn't like the
iPod shuffle and so I bought him a
iPod Nano and several months ago I moved forward to a 5G video
iPod which I adore (except for the weight). I have used
iPodder and
iTunes for my audio content management.
My friend Tony Vincent has a great
Web page about using
iPods and it is a big help. Bard Williams book,
Educator's Podcast Guide does wonders to get started with
podcasting and to locate
podcasts of interest to educators.
But, what if you have another MP3 player and want to put content on it? I have been investigating several Web sites that have content (music,
audiobooks, and curriculum content) for classrooms that are free or low cost.
Storynory (which you can subscribe to via
iTunes if you are an
iPod owner) also has a Web site where you can download stories for young children. I found The
Gingerbread Man folktale today and as my "Gingerbread Page" is gaining in popularity, I thought I would put it on a MP3 player that I am reviewing.
Classic fairy and folktales are part of most early childhood curriculum and are difficult for many teachers as they were not read to them by their parents when they, themselves, were young.
The New York Times posted an article,
For Toddlers, Toy of Choice is Tech Device, which I read with great interest as it reinforces an article I wrote for
LMC called Tech for
Tinies! I spent a long time researching devices for young children and was amazed at the number of choices that were available that resembled laptop computers and cell phones. Because of article space, I didn't include music players but there were so many it made me dizzy. I am glad to be a "tech" person as it must be hard for grandparents to cope with these techno-toys on birthday or holiday lists.
Audio content for students is important with so many students struggling with a language barrier. Certainly, listening skills are important to comprehension in any topic. Colleges and universities are offering lectures and presentations in audio and video for students to review.
I'd be interested in what teachers listen to on their digital content players....
