Today's blog entry is another Word Tip for Educators - Inserting Audio Comments in Word Documents.
The ability to input audio comments has numerous capabilities as a teaching tool in today's classrooms. This is a very useful feature that can be engaging for students and can encourage them to spend more time editing their work if used as part of the correction process. Additional ideas for inserting audio comments include recording directions into a worksheet, offering pronunciation of difficult vocabulary, peers recording comments during the peer editing process, teacher responses recorded into student journals and recording oral reading samples. It is possible to embed prompts throughout a document. The possibilities for enhancing written expression are numerous. Be creative!
So how do you access this feature? Follow these directions:
1. On the Menu Bar, go to View>Toolbars> Customize>Commands>Insert.
2. Scroll down on the right side under “Commands” to Voice Comment. Drag Voice Comment to your Toolbar. Now it is readily available.
3. Click on the Voice Comment icon which looks like a tape cassette. A new window will open.
4. Record your comment and then close the window. A megaphone icon will appear. To hear the comment within the document, click on the megaphone.

Please email me if you have any questions about this process.

A new research summary is available online entitled, "Listening to Student Voices--On Technology" and subtitled, "Today's tech-savvy students are stuck in text-dominated schools." It is a fascinating read for anyone involved in educating students in the 21st century. Among the findings:

According to Doug Levin and Sousan Arafeh, authors of “The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap Between Internet Savvy Students and Their Schools,” students make reference to five different metaphors for how they think about and use the Internet for school: as virtual textbook and reference library; as virtual tutor and study shortcut; as virtual study group; as virtual guidance counselor; as virtual locker, backpack, and notebook. These metaphors are not mutually exclusive. They operate in parallel fashion in students’ minds. The most Internet-savvy students are able to shift effortlessly and unconsciously among any or all of them during any one online session (Levin & Arafeh 6-7).

I highly recommend reading this article to better understand students' perceptions about technology use and how students believe their educational experiences can be improved.
We can learn a great deal from our students and model for them how we, too, are lifelong learners, willing to analyze and integrate new information and new methodologies.