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Instructional
Technology Showcase |
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| Emil
und die Detektive - Randy
Schantz, PhD, |
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Part-Time
Faculty, Department of CMLLC |
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As
Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan says, iPods are ubiquitous. How-ever, iPods
were not of my gen-eration. But that was then, and now….
My project was to create podcasts to supplement the reader, Emil
und die Detektive, which students read in German 2010 of the Beginning
German Language Se-quence (BGLS). The purpose of the podcasts was
to make the reading more accessible to students in a format familiar
to them.
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At the outset, Suzanne Hilgendorf, then the coordinator of the BGLS,
and Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan, director of the FLTC, advised me to
focus on the first podcast, i.e., the first chapter, so that I would
learn the whole proc-ess with tricks and pitfalls before proceeding
with the rest of the six to seven planned pod-casts.
The process that I learned was first scripting the text of the novel,
abridging the abridgement. The next was dividing and numbering the
script into short sections of between two to six lines. In the third
step, I ordered images for each section. I then re-corded myself
acting as the characters and the storyteller. Afterwards, I checked
the time, pacing and sound quality. The last step was to cut and
paste the textual sections into a text track.
I used Microsoft Windows MovieMaker. This software was loaded on
my laptop and I could work anywhere and anytime with a set of headphones
and microphone. My technical assistant Vijay Bharadway recommended
the software. Similar to other “movie-making” software,
it allows for two audio tracks, my narrative and also sound effects
of crying, kissing, horses neighing and streetcar bells. It also
allows for a visual track. There is also a textual track, which
can appear as a flash, a pop-up or a ticker tape. The different
tracks are overlaid, so I could click on images in my “content
collection” in the program and drag them down into place.
At the end I clicked on the textual track and pasted the script
into a ticker tape.
Thankfully, my technical assistant was a good teacher and knew
many technical shortcuts. As I was striving toward more “movie”
action, he helped me find images and free sound effects online.
Even then, I did not have enough images. Amanda Donigian, German
and Slavic, made a great recommendation of a podcast series, mygermanclass.com,
which uses low-tech props, such as animal crackers, puppets, and
toys. Instead of filming animal crackers, I drew pictures of socks,
wash basins, and horse trolleys, which I scanned. I also made
two short videos of Pamela Saenz, FLTC, as two different characters
in the novel.
In the end, each five-to-eight-minute podcast represents about
twelve hours of scripting, recording, inserting visuals, and converting
the MovieMaker file into another one.
What do the students think of the podcasts? The podcasts are
enjoyable and helpful, but not active enough. More images! Back
to the drawing board! I have learned from this experience that
I want to learn graphic design, so that I can make even snazzier
images. Furthermore, the students want podcasts of all
the chapters. So I plan to make more podcasts.
I would like to thank here Pauline Ebert for proofreading and
editing; and Muhammad Faisal, Dean “You-just-have-to-know-which-button-to-push”
Western, and the FLTC staff for patience and technical assistance.
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