Trying things out--GoogleEarth, Surveys, and Podcasting

GoogleEarth
I checked out GoogleEarth because I thought that this would be an interesting tool to use for a foreign language class. Being able to zoom in on cities in areas that speak the language, and "visit" cities, monuments, and places of interest that would normally take a hugely expensive field trip is a great feature of this tool. I was looking at both GoogleEarth and the Earth view recently added to Google Maps. I like that students could view both the actual road maps, and the 3D images associated with the area. Right now, one of my classes is learning about places downtown and giving directions. They could use this tool to plot out a path for a vacation day, describe where they are going, and give directions. Using real streets and places, and being able to SEE the places they are going would make the activity something authentic, that they could actually use, and show them a different culture and atmosphere, which you can often see just by looking at a different city.

Surveys
While I have taken a few surveys online before, I have never created one. I used Survey Monkey from the links provided and I found it to be extremely easy to create a survey with. They gave a lot of options on types of questions and how many answers were possible, or how they were organized. My first thought for class was to create a survey for students as a method for feedback after units. I was easily able to create questions asking how comfortable students fell with the material, from "I could teach this to someone else" to "I'm confused and need help." And then, I could make a multiple choice question asking which of the topics in a given chapter students would like to review the most. These would be easily collected and graphed pieces of data that would give me concrete information and feedback from the students. I could also see doing an end-of-term evaluation this way.


Podcasts
I wanted to check this one out, as I actually have audacity on my computer. But, up until now, I have really only used it to record audio that was already playing on my computer. I have never used it to record anything that I have created myself. Having the headset that I use for Skype, the microphone picked up my voice well (after I found the setting to get it to take the proper input). I like the fact that, being digital, you can make multiple attempts without wasting any resources, or having to rewind and tape over things. Trying to put background music into the podcast takes a little bit of tinkering, as you have to make sure you have the two volumes--voice and music--done correctly so the voice is the dominant part. Or, really, depending upon what you are doing, the music may not be necessary. I like that the wiki page creators mentioned things like preparing a script and pacing. Knowing what you are going to say ahead of time helps a lot, and pacing is important for everyone listening. Trish's example of vocabulary podcasting is great. I have had a few students this year say that hearing the vocabulary words would help them a lot and this would be something I could do to provide that for them. Also, I can see doing audio skits with the students, or having them create radio broadcasts in podcast format. I think they would really get into it. So, this tool could be a student activity, or something that I use as a student resource. Maybe, I could even post quick explanations/review of things, so that students who need to go back over something, or were gone that day, could listen.