EDLD 5363 Week 2-Audacity and Creative Commons

Audacity

I downloaded Audacity with no problems. The download process was very easy and straightforward. Just follow the instructions on your screen.

Audacity would have been so nice to have last week when I was recording my voice for the digital story. I keep getting a clicking noise on each slide when I’d record the narration. Using audacity, I may have been able to get rid of it, instead of just leaving it there (which really bothered me).

Downloading the file LAME to go with Audacity took me a little while longer. For some reason I just couldn’t get it to work. I finally found a video on YouTube that explained the process and with a few tweaks to those instructions, I got it downloaded also.

I learned a lot watching the tutorials on YouTube about audacity and going through the manual that was part of our readings this week. I can now remove the words from songs, remove background noises from recordings, and adjust the voice in a recording to make it sound more “normal”.

This program is going to come in handy next year when we are doing our talent show and need to “fix” the songs for our singing contestants. It will also be a great tool to use to allow students to practice their oral reading skills and for recording text to go with digital stories the students make. They are going to love using this.

Creative Commons

I had not thought much about copyrighting my work until I started working on my masters with Lamar. Teachers often come up with great ideas and are afraid to publish them for fear of someone “stealing” their idea. Creative Commons is great tool for teachers, so they can share their ideas and receive credit for it if someone else uses it.

Creativecommons.org does a great job of explaining the importance of copyrighting through videos and text. It explains their three “layers” of licenses, so that the user can choose what is best for their work. It provides a simple form to fill out and then the site gives you a code to add to your work.

This site will be used often as I continue through my master’s program and teaching career to ensure that my work is protected. I will also be looking for the Creative Commons logo on sites I visit to make sure I am not infringing on anyone else’s rights.