JAMES MICHIE – Page 40 – Husband, Educator, Writer, Runner…

iPad + Garageband FTW!

I recently shared on Google+ how I had been using iPads and Garageband to help my Year 8 class to improve the quality of their writing. This is a reworked version of that post. Thanks to John Johnston and Helen Morgan (amongst others) for sharing their thoughts.

The learning…

I’ve been using iPads with my Year 8 class to record narrative writing that they have created. I had the students draft a piece of writing based on Down the Rabbit Hole by Lewis Caroll, which they recorded using the iPads. I wanted the students to see how punctuation effected the way the read because after reading the first drafts, I was none too pleased with the standard of their writing.

I uploaded the recordings to the VLE and asked the class to peer assess each others work. Using those comments and some live assessment in Google Docs from me, they created improved narratives with more accurate punctuation and improved vocabulary.

They then recorded their final drafts which we burned to discs. While the drafting/redrafting process is not unusual in the English classroom, recording and evaluating their written work in this way added a new dimension to the learning process. It ensured that every single student’s work was shared without the embarrassment that some students feel standing in front of the class. By putting the audio on the VLE, every student received feedback, which due to time constraints would not happen in a traditional classroom setting. What’s more, I could further differentiate my support by listening and focussing feedback where it was most needed.

To complete the unit I wanted them to present their work effectively. They created a CD cover using drawn or found images, with their narrative writing printed up on the reverse. Giving them a physical artefact to take away that represented their effort and progress was highly motivational and also contributed to the quality of the finished work.

It was a great project to end the year with and the use of the iPads and Garageband made a huge difference to the quality of the students’ work.

Here are two example recordings (personally, I think that the background noise adds to the ambience):

And here is an example cover (front and back):

I used SurveyMonkey to get the class to reflect on their use of the iPads and Garageband. Here’s a selection of comments:

“I found it useful because it helps you find your own mistakes”
“I found this useful because I could do y punctuation from listening to it because I would know when to put , and . as I know when I paused and stopped at the end of a sentence”
“It helped me to see where I need to put commas”

The technology…

The whole process was fabulously straightforward and the sound quality was excellent.

Here are a few tips if you wish to use iPad and Garageband in the same way. Garageband is super easy to use but the default settings can scupper a recording instantly. Before the students hit record make sure that they select the ‘puzzle piece’ in the top left and set the duration to automatic. Not doing so will result in the recording being cut short. Secondly, select the spanner in the top right and turn off the metronome. The iPad will record all sound so it captures the sound of the metronome in the recording.

With those settings sorted you are ready to record. The UI is beautiful and reacts to what you are doing generating relevant buttons, e.g.: when recording a stop button appears and also an undo button to easily take backwards steps. My students found it very easy to use and they (like I was) were really impressed with the sound quality.

What if I don’t have access to iPads and/or Garageband?

I’ve been working with audio/podcasting for over three years now. It is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated mediums in education. Most schools plug for video… it’s usually seen as the obvious choice but there are many activities for which I believe audio to be the best option. Capturing group discussions, for example, is far easier with an audio recorder than a video camera. I do this with my A2 students and then upload the recording to the VLE for them to refer back to and/or download. As it’s an MP3 it is a small file, there is rarely a need to edit, and I find that the students concentrate on what is being said rather than admiring themselves on camera.

I am surprised at the lack of take up when it comes to the use of audio/podcasting in schools because the technology itself is ubiquitous. You don’t need to invest in iPads or Apple Mac computers. Audacity (a free, cross-platform, sound editor) will do the same job as Garageband and most laptops (including notebooks) come with a built in Mic. However, cheap USB Mics are easy to get hold of. This one has done the job for me in the past. Furthermore, nearly all mobile devices have an audio capture function which is easy to manage (audio formats are far more malleable) whereas video recorded on mobile devices can be difficult to use due to variations in format/codec. As John stated: “It can be an instant win pedagogically and motivationally.”

Moreover, both Garageband (built into all Macs) and Audacity are standalone apps which do not require an internet connection. A common complaint from teachers when they look at using technology in the classroom is that the school network or internet is not reliable. In using these apps, or the iPads themselves, there was no reliance on the school network. This gave me and the students confidence that we would complete the task. As Helen noted it’s important to have a “fall back plan”, I briefly considered recording direct into AudioBoo but this could have easily broken down due to a bad network connection or missing plugins such as Java or Flash.

If you think audio could work for you and your students, I recommend that you jump right on in and give it a go. Results can be achieved quickly and in a cost effective way. If you would like further advice on how to use audio in your classroom, please get in touch.

In the wild and extended!

Brett and David (Elastic Threads) have just released nvALT 2.1, the latest version of their Notational Velocity fork. A number of updates have been included. A particularly useful addition is the auto-pairing of matched characters. David has also developed extensions for Chrome and Safari, enabling you to create notes from a snippet of text or a whole page.

If you’ve already been using nvALT 2.0 you can up date from within the app, if not get it here. You can read more about the updates here: nvALT 2.1 in the wild, and here: nvIt – Chrome and Safari extensions for nvALT.

If you want to know why you should be using nvALT, read this: Perfect ‘Simple’ Note Making, and this: Notational Velocity – Freedom To Write!

Google Docs in the Classroom – A Discussion

To help clarify my thoughts while writing my School-based Enquiry, I decided it would be helpful to discuss the use of Google Docs in the classroom with a fellow teacher. Oliver Quinlan has been using Google Docs in much the same way as I have and he kindly agreed to be interviewed over Skype. The interview quickly turned into more of a discussion and we ended up talking for 35 minutes. I have broken up the recording into four parts for manageable listening however should you wish to download and listen to a single file, follow this link.

In the discussion we cover everything from collaboration, assessment, live marking, setting up, Google Apps, Moodle, wikis, forums and Google+.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Google Docs in the Classroom – Part 1: Signing Up
Google Docs in the Classroom – Part 2: Collaboration
Google Docs in the Classroom – Part 3: Assessment
Google Docs in the Classroom – Part 4: What’s Next?
School-based Enquiry: Google Docs & AfL
Collaborative assessment with Google Docs (Oliver Quinlan)
Collaborative tools breed collaborative thinking (Oliver Quinlan)
Personalising writing lessons with the new Google Docs (Oliver Quinlan)
Unobtrusive Collaboration in Google Docs (Tom Barrett)
Marking work in Google Docs (Tom Barrett)

Account Management

With Google+ adding to the myriad of online spaces in which I have a presence I am in the process of eliminating services and accounts that are offering me little return on my investment. So far, this has included:

Last.fm – If I’m honest I signed up because lots of other people were using it but it did little for my web presence and I ended up barely using it.

LiveJournal – I had a LiveJournal account for a long time which I actually never used as a journal but instead had signed up to access a bunch of communities that were sharing new music. I hadn’t logged in for a long time, so felt no pain in deleting that one.

Quora – I signed up for an account because I liked the concept, but I haven’t really used it. I can get the same sort of benefits out of Google search and now Google+.

Amplify – Google+ offers the same functionality and is likely to be better integrated with other Google tools that I regularly use. While the others have been relatively easy to get rid of, there seems to be no obvious way to delete an Amplify account. Quite worrying for someone who cares about his personal data.

[Update: 25.02.12 – This matter is now resolved due to the closure of Amplify.]

Twitpic – After the furore over Twitpic claiming ownership of your photos I cleared out my Twitpic account. I hadn’t used it in a long time any way having begun to use my Posterous blog as my Twitter photo service of choice. This keeps my photos within a space that I retain both ownership and control over.

Picplz – I’m adding this to the list in essence of full disclosure, even though to say that I used Picplz is a bit of a misnomer. In order to try the Android app you had to sign up for an account. I didn’t like the app nor did I ever upload any photos. However, every now and again I would receive an email indicating that someone was following me on Picplz. A short email quickly put an end to that.

Mobypicture and yfrog – Two other photo service that I used a couple of times when I began using Twitter was Mobypicture. Again, a short email saw the account closed.

If you have an account but don’t know how to close it, you should check out Account Killer. I came across the site via Doug Belshaw. Accounts and services are listed and then colour coded to indicate the ease with which you can delete them. Amplify is black listed as there seems to be no way to shut it down. Quora is grey as it involves sending an email requesting the account to be closed. Last.fm on the other hand is white listed as you can close the account yourself from the account settings page.

While I’m on this topic, there are two new tools that I have been using that I will be keeping as part of my (continually evolving) workflow.

Firstly, ifttt (if this then that) is an awesome way to push around and manage the various streams of information that you have coming in or are creating yourself. I currently use it to push a whole bunch of stuff out to Twitter including my Google Reader shared items, blog posts and Delicious bookmarks.

Secondly, Storify is a fantastic way to curate information and is super intuitive to use. Here are two ways that I’ve used it so far:

I would be interested to know how others are managing their incoming/outgoing information; work flows; and online presence.

Image courtesy of M i x y.

Google+: A Space In-Between

What Google+ is and will become, remains largely speculative. There’s a lot of missing features and functions that need to be addressed. And for some of us, there are a number of arising questions, such as: What does it mean to add another stream of information to my busy life? In it’s early iteration though, I am enjoying the liminal space that Google+ is currently inhabiting.

As I have discussed on Google+, the platform sits somewhere between ‘social network’ and ‘blog’. It is this that I have found so gratifying during my early use of it.

Twitter has become fundamental in helping me to develop as an educator; engaging me with other educators, ideas and tools that I may not have come across so easily. However, my one grievance with the platform has been the 140 character limitation. I understand, that this very feature of Twitter is the fundamental principal on which the platform was built. Nevertheless, I feel inhibited by it, particularly in those moments where you are involved in a detailed discussion and need to express yourself more fully.

This blog on the other hand, clearly offers me greater freedom to write, reflect and explore topics in greater detail generating discussion in the comments. However, I am quite the perfectionist and it has become the pattern that blog posts tend to gestate and evolve over time so the opportunities for these more meaningful discussions become dispersed. Additionally, I have not mastered the art of the short blog post. It is something I struggle with; yet I know that long tomes are not always conducive to driving readers towards your blog.

My approach to my blog and the limitations I feel are self-created: I have (IMO) spent a little too much time, cultivating the image of the blog, increasing its importance and value in my mind… therefore I find it difficult to square away the idea that I could publish concise, punchy blog posts.

Google+ on the other hand does not have the limitations of Twitter or a Blog. Firstly, there is no character limit. As such I can write more than a tweet. This does not mean that I have found myself writing massively long posts. Due to the social nature of the platform, I do not feel compelled to do so. What’s more, the ensuing discussion becomes more detailed and involving, and as such, arguably, more meaningful. Something, which many blogger crave to achieve.

Secondly, as it is new and not yet fully formed, it also free of many limitations usually found within social networks. Unlike Twitter, Google+ has no set rules, be they self-imposed or community created.

Thirdly, Google+ is not as formalised as a blog can be. Writing feels very natural; sharing thoughts and ideas with links and images, free from constraints.

My response to Google+ is highly idiosyncratic but nevertheless I believe there is something valuable about the in-between space that the platform currently inhabits. Hovering between blog and social network, Google+ is something else entirely. While it remains undefined it will I believe continue to hold an appeal for me… a space for connecting, writing and sharing ideas. Whether, this continues to be the case as the platform grows and evolves, I will just have to wait and see.

What I would like, is to feel the same way about writing here on my blog. The question I’m left pondering then, is this: How do I quell the perfectionist inside and establish the same liminality on my blog?

Image courtesy of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.