Last month I posted a screencast showing how to use the free audio recording and editing software Audacity. Recording voice and adding sound effects and music can make for compelling productions. However, many teachers ask me about adding visuals to the audio because visuals can be especially helpful for your audience.
Since Audacity only handles audio, you'll need to use other software to combine the audio with visuals. I've created a screencast to show you how to use Movie Maker to combine your audio from Audacity with slides from PowerPoint. The screencast is for Windows users because I used Windows software. Macintosh users can use iMovie instead of Movie Maker, however, most Mac users prefer GarageBand for easily making an Enhanced Podcast (watch this Learn to Podcast video in iTunes to see how).
In the screencast below I first show a sample end product, which is a video about divisibility by 3. Then I show you how I created the video by combining audio from Audacity and slides from PowerPoint using Movie Maker. I export the video from Movie Maker and then turn to Zamzar.com to convert the .wmv to .mp4.
After viewing the screencast, you might say that there are other ways to combine audio with images. You're right! There's PhotoStory, adding narration within PowerPoint, VoiceThread, and more.
I like the method of using Audacity because it gives me the most control over the sound. I also like starting with the audio first. Particularly in a podcast, sound is usually more important than the visuals. Hopefully because there are not yet visuals, I use more precise language and better pacing in my narration. If I start with the audio, then I can build the visuals around what I have to say instead of building the audio around the visuals.
No matter the method used, educational videos can be made by teachers for their students or by the students themselves. Remember, you can always share your videos and your students' videos through azk12.org's Media Showcase.
Want to download the Divisible by 3 video shown in the screencast? You can find it in azk12.org's Media Showcase. Additionally, here's a direct link to the screencast video in case you want to download it (right-click and choose to save the link to your desktop).
