This guide is an introduction to how audio can be utilized for student assignments and projects. Through the use of audio, students can further develop language skills or discover new ways to interpret and present an argument. Purposefully, this guide for audio remains broad in scope as it is intended to cover various ways in which audio can be incorporated into your classroom. Below you will find a few example projects to help guide you as you think about the use and types of audio projects. You will find suggestions for resources, tutorials, assessment, and learning goals in the rest of the guide.
Audio Projects Could Include….
- Small or Large podcasting Assignments
- Day in History Projects
- Foley Projects
- Spoken word poetry, prose, etc
- Conduct an interview with a classmate about a particular topic
- Explain the process and findings from a science experiment
- Make an argument for or against a particular stance
- Record journal entries about their personal reflections on particular topics
- React and respond to various forms of media using tools such as VoiceThread
- Record their personal goals for the class and verbalize a plan to obtain those goals
- Conduct an interview with someone in the field
Why Audio Projects?
Assigning an Audio project can give the learner creative freedom and the ability to more personalize their coursework – giving them more emotional investment in their course! Learners will not have to learn not only effective communication in audio projects that utilize speaking, but will also get an opportunity to practice their audio creation and editing skills. Discussions within the class can be generated over the format, and use of audio projects to effectively communicate and educate across platforms and social channels.
New weight is being given to the need for creativity and new assignments whose focus is ways and means of communicating within the STEM fields. Elise Gowen, Earth and Mineral Sciences Librarian at The Pennsylvania State University writes “The significance of science communication skills has taken on new prominence in recent years. Educators increasingly acknowledge that it is important for academic institutions to produce graduates who can communicate the value of their research.”
Student Learning Goals
Project Goals (Dependent upon the assignment or project)
- Demonstrate skills in research and collaboration
- Utilize audio to present an argument in a different manner or engage with classroom materials
- Expose students to the elements of audio tools and their capabilities to facilitate learning and research
- Help students to develop a greater understanding of the importance of listening as active learning
Project Timeframe
Please keep in mind that depending on the requirements for editing and length of audio, these projects can take many weeks. From research, to script creation, recording, and editing, the more intensive the project, the longer it should take. A weekly assignment should be expected to have little flair and editing with a range of audio qualities. While larger mid semester, or final projects can be expected to have higher audio quality, more crafted scripts, and more edited audio/Foley sounds. Please plan with your students accordingly for the appropriate timeframe.
If you’re unsure how much time you should be allowing your students to create their audio projects, please contact Educational Technology to discuss the detail and expectations for your project.
On Campus Resources
Educational Technology staff is available for consultation on project planning, design, and to teach workshops or tutorials on various software. They can be contacted by email (EducationalTechnology@wooster.edu) or can be booked for consultations through Bookings.
- Educational Technology’s Digital Media Assistants are available at the Digital Media Bar(DMB) for students to get assistance with software and design. They can be reached during hours at the DMB or through their own Bookings.
The Digital Studio is a workspace in Andrews Library for students to record and edit their audio and video projects. Resources include the Sound Studio to record audio and the One Button Studio (OBS) to record video. Students can create and edit digital projects on desktop computers in the Editing suite. The Sound Studio and OBS can be reserved on 25Live.
The Writing Center can be a great resource for creating the script for project.
Software
To know what editing software is available to students The Knowledge Base has articles on the software available to them, design tips, and more!
Students can also check out Technology@Wooster to see if there are upcoming software workshops, or other resources for their projects!
Pedagogical and Course Implementation Sources:
- Script templates Excel format, Word table format
- Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education has a great guide on Audio Projects and Resources for the Higher Ed Classroom
- The New York Times has a great article on podcasting with Students (with a step, by step!)
- Bucknell University gives a great overview of using digital media projects in the classroom – including audio
- Digital Storytelling to doesn’t have to be limited to Audio and can be evaluated and used similarly to audio projects.
- CoW’s very own Project in a Box on Digital Storytelling
- “Tips from the Experts” by Elise Gowen, Earth and Mineral Science Librarian at The Pennsylvania State University, discusses the need for storytelling assignments in science
- Helen C. Barrett of the REFLECT Initiative “Researching and Evaluating Digital Storytelling as a Deep Learning Tool”
On Campus
Educational Technology holds Workshops for various software and Pedagogy, check the events schedule for more information on the next workshop. Alternatively, they can be booked for classroom specific workshops so you can get a more tailored tutorial for your class!
Each piece of software has their own Tutorial base
Adobe has a large library of tutorials to help get you started on any of their creative cloud products which can include Photoshop, Premiere, Audition, etc.
Audacity is a commonly used open-source Audio Editor
For more information on other editors and multimedia software see the Knowledge Base from Technology@Wooster.
Members of the College of Wooster campus also have access to LinkedIn Learning, which will have a multitude of tutorials and courses for students, staff and faculty alike on a wide range of topics and software.
Media Sources:
Audacity® Creative Commons Information about Copyright, Fair Use, Public Domain, and Creative Commons Free Music Archive: Music for Video Freeplay Music Internet Archive Intelligence2 Podcast
Sound effects: BBC Sound Effects and Zapsplat free music & sound effects Audacity Practice Project Files
As with any project, establishing clear expectations for quality and effort, early in the introduction of the project, will make assessing the final product easier as both instructor and creator.
If you have any questions on how to assess your students’ Audio Project, please contact Educational Technology for a consultation.
Assessment Examples
Resource about Single Point Rubrics from the Cult of Pedagogy Blog
Helen C. Barrett of the REFLECT Initiative “Researching and Evaluating Digital Storytelling as a Deep Learning Tool” can be utilized and adapted for the Audio Project of your choice