Tuesday Tech Tip: Recording Audio and Video in COLE 3.0/Schoology

Using audio and video to help students understand or explain concepts or give feedback is something that is being utilized with increasing frequency as technology becomes more widely accessible in our classrooms or even outside of the school building.  In addition, the inclusion of speaking & listening skills in the CAS for English Language Arts means that we should be providing multiple opportunities for students to practice these skills, both in face-to-face and digital learning environments.  If you wanted to record your own audio or video (or wanted students to have that ability), you can use COLE 3.0/Schoology to do so.

COLE 3.0./Schoology has its own built-in tool for recording directly into the system, and it's available for almost anything you want to create.  For example, when creating an update, you'll see a microphone icon, which lets you either record audio or video into your update.

You'll see that icon in a variety of activities, including assignments, test/quiz directions, test/quiz questions, and discussion boards.  This means that you could record an audio or video version of your directions or questions for students who need audio in addition to written instructions or directions (and it's a great tool for students who are just learning to read).

Students can also record directly into the system, either in response to discussion board topic or as part of an assignment or quiz.  They will see the same icon when that option is available, and they can either choose audio or video.  Giving students a choice in how they respond best is a great way to differentiate how kids can show what they know.

Finally, teachers can also give audio feedback to students who submit an assignment digitally into COLE 3.0/Schoology.  In the assignment dropbox area, you'll see a way to add audio or video comments as a feedback method.  Clicking on the microphone icon will work in the same way as it does for other items in the system: you can choose video or audio.

Keep in mind that audio responses are limited to 11 minutes and video responses are limited to 10 minutes.  If you find that those times are not sufficient, you may want to explore another web-based option that you can embed into your Schoology items or create something on the computer and upload the file (.mp4 is best for video, .mp3 for audio).  As long as the files are smaller than 512MB, you can upload them into COLE 3.0/Schoology.