Our project’s start stemmed from our interest in integrating Audacity (a free digital audio and recording program) in the English classroom. We knew that we would have to create an audio file on Audacity ourselves before we could structure the assignment for imagined students. We decided to use one of our current units as a starting point for the project, since it was helpful to have a concrete literary text in mind. We knew that we wanted the audio project to contain oration of original writing (about The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass and the essential question regarding the role of education in human freedom) layered over, or juxtaposed with natural sounds. We decided to encourage other musical sounds such as drum samples from the internet but to put the emphasis on environmental sounds from a school environment. We also decided that the assignment would be most beneficial as a collaborative group effort.
We recorded sounds at our school sites, such as class discussion about Frederick Douglass, lunch murmur, noise in the hallway during passing period, students rustling paper in class, etc. In terms of narratives, we recorded our take on the essential question, and that of two other classmates (Bianca and Arianna). In summary, we started the audio with the sound of hall murmur and music, Eric and Bianca’s narratives, then our introduction to students at the San Francisco Academy, and then we concluded with more commentary from Eric, Arianna and Thoai before concluding with the same hall murmur and music from the beginning.
In terms of technological usage of Audacity, we used our smart phones to record all clips and then we inserted them as individual “tracks” into Audacity. We mainly used the copying/pasting features, time-selector tool (to move tracks into earlier or later intervals of the larger project), and the “fade in” and “fade out” effects to transition clips. As a result, we mainly emphasized/encouraged students to use the same basic skills and effects for the assignment prompt.
After we exported the file as .mp3 and uploaded it into soundcloud for digital sharing, we created the assignment prompt; in the introduction to the assignment, we stated that the audio project should be done in groups of 3-4 and that the culminating clip should be 2-3 minutes (even though our actual sample was close to five minutes). We explained some of the affordances of the technology, shared a few resources for the aforementioned basic functions, listed the overarching “to-do list” for students, and gave them a heads up on the four dimensions of grading: oration of writing, content of writing, basic command of Audacity, and Text/Audio Integration.
Here is our example model.
Here is the link to my project folder, which has the assignment prompt, the write-ups and rubric.
We are hoping that if actually implemented in a future classroom, students would be able to learn a digital tool, and in the process, enhance their associative logic skills. Since this assignment prompt was inspired by an actual essay prompt we recently created (and distributed in a class), we hope that this type of multimedia assignment could engage students while still achieving the academic aims of a literary essay.
Eric and Thoai,
ReplyDeleteAt first I was a little skeptical about why you would use audacity for this project and specifically why you wanted the students to record natural sounds of the environment. However, once I listened to your example I think I understood what you were going for! This is definitely a demanding project but I can see the potential for how effective it could be.
What I like about your project is the different levels of thought required by the students. The students first have to reflect on the question themselves and then listen to the reflection of their partners. Now, this is where I feel the “weaving” is a stroke of genius because it forces the creator to think about and understand the relationship of how all of the responses fit together. But you don’t stop there! The next level is also critical because the students literally have to place their thoughts about the book and the question within their environment, effectively bringing the question of the book into their own world. Finally, I thought that encouraging the addition of a drumbeat was just a cool, added feature that could appeal to students.
I would suggest that if this project were to be used in a classroom that the assignment prompt be a little less dense and more simple to navigate. Especially because this project is so challenging I think the prompt would be more effective if the directions were very concise and specific (more like how you did the to-do bullet point list). Then again, I’m also working with middle school students right now and maybe high school students appreciate the depth of written explanation more.
Thanks both of you! Awesome project ☺