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Brainstorming & Assessment Using Audio Podcasts with Audacity
The first audio-only podcast I produced was an impromptu recording of a one-on-one brainstorming session with a 3rd grade student about an art and poetry project we were working on. The second podcast was a recording of a 6th Grade Art Class Critique at the end of a watercolor painting unit.

//To hear the audio podcasts, click on the playe to the right and select the podcast you want to listen to. //

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**//Using Podcasts to Assess Learning//**
=Sudent Artwork Critique (Audio Only)= (6th Grade Art Students)

This podcast was used as an assessment tool and features a recording of students critiquing each other's artwork. Before the group critique, students spent time looking at their artwork on display in the school hallways and writing down their thoughts using a "PQP" (Positive, Question & Polish) Critique process. They had to choose two paintings and make a "Positive" comment about the artwork; write a "Question" they would ask the student artist about the artwork; and give a suggestion on what that student could have improved to "polish" or really make their artwork shine. Students sat on the hallway floor facing the artwork with the snowball microphone situated on the floor in the center of the group while attached to my laptop.

**//Using Podcasts to Brainstorm Ideas//** =**Art & Poetry Painting Project (Audio Only)**= (3rd Grade Art Students)



This Art and Poetry podcast features a 3rd grade student brainstorming ideas for creating a series of murals depicting different stanzas of the Poem "Christmas Dog" by Shel Silverstein. I met with the student during her lunch period and recorded her reciting the poem which students had been illustrating in my art class. I used the snowball mic set upon a table and Audacity software on my laptop as she read the poem aloud. We read the poem, line by line, and together we recorded our thinking process as we brainstormed ideas for illustrating each stanza.

It was much easier recording and producing the audio podcasts than the video podcasts. I was very impressed with the quality of the audio recorded with the snowball microphone. It definitely helped having the student alone in a quiet classroom to record her voice, however the recording of an entire class in the school hallway came out much better than I expected. We did have to position the mic a lttle closer to those students with very soft voices. Using Audacity to record and edit the audio was a simple, yet time consuming process. The Student Artwork Critique podcast involved a pretty lengthy 9:00 minute critique which was edited down to about 3:00 minutes. The Art and Poetry Brainstorming podcast, was a much more complex project which involved a lot of editing including mixing music and adding an "intro/open" and "closing." The final product was great, but I found that the class critique was a much more beneficial and effective assessment tool which the students were very anxioud to hear afterwards. I felt they also provided some of ther best comments when we were recording them.
 * Reflection on Producing the Audio Podcasts**

Standard V ** – I // ntegrating Technology into the Curriculum and Instruction Design, implement and assess learning experiences that incorporate use of technology in the curriculum-related instructional activity to support understanding, inquiry, problem-solving communication or collaboration. //
 * Maryland Teacher Technology Standards

Standard 3.0** – //Technology for Learning and Collaboration: Use a variety of technologies for learning and collaboration A. Learning // //1. Select and use technology tools to enhance learning. a) Use technology tools, including software and hardware, from a range of teacher-selected options to learn new content or reinforce skills// //B. Encourage Collaboration 1. Select and use technology tools to encourage collaboration//.
 * Maryland Technology Literacy Standards for Students Addressed: Grade 6

A. Communication 1. Select and use technology for communication
 * Standard 4.0 -- Technology for Communication and Expression:** //Use technology to communicate inforamtion and express ideas using various media formats.

D. Expression 1. Select and use technology to express ideas. a) Select and use the appropriate multimedia and publishing tools to express original ideas with print, drawings, digital images, video, sounds and/or personal recordings.//