German Classes say Willkommen to Audacity at the OHS Library Media Center!
Sprechen Sie deutsch? OHS German students do!
Librarian Ms. Mullen and German Teacher Frau Meissner have teamed up to provide Audacity voice recording and Moodle course management training to all of the German classes at OHS this Fall.
Audacity is a audio editor and recorder available on all OHS computers. It is a simple two-channel sound recording program that German classes are using to record live audio. Audacity is open source software and so is also available free for students, and anyone interested, to download it to their home computer.
Frau Meissner is delighted to be using Audacity to record her students as they learn to speak German. “The learning standards for foreign language require reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. With Audacity students get to practice speaking, listen to themselves, and try again if they are dissatisfied with their initial attempts. Audacity allows me to listen to my students, as often as I need, and grade their speaking skills.” Instead of testing their speaking skills during a brief, one-to-one meeting in class, students upload their voice recordings to the German classroom online Moodle space which is available from campus computers as well as from home computers.
In addition, Audacity is one of the approved audio recording programs that the Advanced Placement (AP) Foreign Language Test uses in order to evaluate speaking skills. Practicing voice recording with Audacity in Frau Meissner’s classes allows students to develop fluency with voice recording technology and thus reduces some portion of AP foreign language test anxiety.
Scott Powers, Technology Director for the Olympia School District is encouraged to see students and teachers taking advantage of the Moodle course management software to upload their class work, especially the Audacity recordings. “Moodle is a very secure platform for transferring files between students and teachers. It is much better than using e-mail, floppy disks, or even jump drives, which can all transfer viruses or malware to our school computers. Because Moodle falls within the shell of our security, files are automatically scanned for viruses and malware before the server allows them to be saved. This saves troubleshooting time for both students and technology staff. Frau Meissner is able to adjust her Moodle file space size to accommodate larger audio files so that students can record at home. A large file being sent by e-mail triggers a computer virus red flag, but Moodle’s automatic scanning allows larger files to be safely uploaded.” Once files are uploaded to Moodle teachers and students can access their classroom resources from any computer linked to the internet.
Frau Meissner’s German students have smoothly adapted to the new technology. “It’s different and hands on,” said Brian Behrens, a German 3 student. Ms. Mullen’s instructions have provided students with tech support increasing their confidence. According to German 3 student David James, “Once you figure it out, Audacity is easy to use. It’s easy to change things around and if you mess up you can delete it.”
Ms. Mullen welcomes classes in the OHS Library in order to use Audacity to record and edit their files, and save them to Moodle. Ms. Mullen points out, “The application of new technologies to classroom curriculum is a necessary 21st Century skill for today’s students. I’m excited that we have the opportunity to use Audacity and Moodle here at OHS and that our German classes are taking advantage of it.” Guten Tag!
