Creating a podcast or sound clip for that important presentation is easy using something called Audacity or so I learnt last week. Previously I had always struggled to edit audio in video editing software such as Camtasia but never again. Audacity is a powerful tool and is freeware to boot! Just watch the download, it seems simple, but you need an extra file to make it work with MP3 files.
I discovered Audacity while creating an audio-book for my daughter. Stories written and recorded by my mother, with music and sound effects added by me. Audacity records well both using a microphone and internally while sampling YouTube sound effect files. There are some good noise reduction tools as well and some other simple effects of which i have only just began to scratch the surface. It is simple and intuitive to use. There is also a healthy body of ‘how to’ videos on YouTube and a variety of websites all offering support and help.
So yes this must read like a sales pitch for Audacity and so it is; it is awesome for the occasional user like myself and has opened my mind to the idea of the podcast as part of my teaching portfolio. I have previously done a few podcasts to sit alongside PowerPoint slides, but the idea of the podcast covering key topics is centre stage in my mind at the moment, so what this space!
Professor Sandcastle 