Audioblogging with Cell Phones

Audioblogging

with Cell Phones

By Liz Kolb

16 Learning & Leading with Technology | November 2006

magine asking your students to bring their cell

phones to class. As educators we oen reject

cell phones in the classroom, considering them

destructive and distractive “toys.” As a former

technology coordinator, I used to think cell phones

were harmful for the classroom environment.

I wanted to ban cell phones from my school.

I thought it was too easy for students to use cell

phones to cheat on tests and text message during

class. Over time I have come to realize that cell

phones are part of our students’ everyday existence.

Today students use cell phones to communicate and

collaborate with the world around them. I think

something so integral to our students’ lives outside

of school deserves some consideration for potential

use inside the classroom.

I would like to propose that cell phones can be

learning tools. As educators we can help students

learn how to use their everyday “toy” as a “tool” for

constructing knowledge. With the new audio input

feature of many Weblog sites such as blogger.com

and blogzy.com, students can use their cell phones

to create blogs, collect and store data, and develop

multimedia projects. (Editor’s note: See Resources

on page 19 for these and other URLs.)

An audioblog is similiar to a podcast; it is a voice

message from a phone that immediately posts to a

blog site. Students can post audioblogs anytime from

anywhere. I will explain how to create audioblogs us-

ing cell phones (see How to Audioblog, page 17) and

give some examples of how cell phones and audiob-

logging can be integrated into the classroom.

Audioblogging with Students

Audioblogging with a cell phone creates opportuni-

ties for students to conduct interview activities (in-

side or outside of school). Instead of lugging micro-

phones, tape recorders, tapes, and digital recorders

to interviews, students have an instant recording and

storage device with their cell phones. Because most

students have their cell phones at all times, they can

immediately conduct interviews outside of school.

For example, students in an English literature class

conducting local author studies could just pull out

their cell phones to conduct interviews when they

meet the author. ey can dial in to Gabcast, set

their cell phone down and ask their questions. When

they nish their interview they press a button and

their interview is immediately posted to a blog site.

Also, as many cell phones have camera and even

camcorder features, and sites such as blogger.com

also have the ability to post pictures taken with cell

phones, they could interview, snap a few pictures,

and take some quick movies all with one simple de-

vice. Once the interview is complete, students do not

have to worry about storage problems (such as tapes

going bad or accidentally erasing information) be-

cause the interview is instantly saved online.

Once the interview is posted, students can per-

form various activities with the audioblogs. ey

can download the video les, put them into a video

editor such as iMovie or Movie Maker and edit the

interview clips, insert the pictures from their cell

phones, and insert the movie clips to create a video

journal of their author study. If the students did not

want to use the video editors, they could further

develop their blog around their interview clips.

How to

November 2006 | Learning & Leading with Technology 17

Setting up audioblogging for your blog from start to ﬁnish

takes about 15 minutes. First, set up your own blog using

a site such as blogger.com (although with Gabcast you

can use many different Web-based blog sites). Once the

blog is set up, create an audioblogging cell phone ac-

count with Gabcast. Here’s how:

1. Log on to Gabcast.com.

2. Click on the blue link that says “Sign Up Now.”

3. Follow a quick tutorial asking for a login and pass

word, a primary phone number, and a Screen Name.

4. Once you create your account, you are ready to set

up your own channel. This is where your audioblogs

will post. Click on “My Channels,” then click on

“Create a New Channel.” You will be asked to give

your channel a title and description, and type in a

numeric four-digit password (you will use this number

when you call in to Gabcast to create your audioblog).

5. To post your audioblogs automatically to your blog

site, click on the “Add New Blog” button. Enter the

your blog site ID. Now every audioblog you record

from your cell phone will automatically post to your

blog! Click on “Add.” When you submit, you will

receive a message to click on your My Channels

options.

6. Click on “My Channels.” There, pay attention to the

channel number and password. You will need to

know these when you call Gabcast. Now you are

ready to audioblog!

7. Dial the toll-free Gabcast number (1.800.749.0632).

Follow the verbal instructions, and then you will be

given time to dictate your audioblog entry.

8. When you ﬁnish, you are given the choice of imme

diately posting this audioblog, listening to the ﬁle,

or creating another audioblog.

9. Once you post the audioblog, you can immediately

access the ﬁle by logging on to your blog, where the

audioblog should appear as an audio ﬁle.

10. Your post will also show up in Gabcast under My

Channels, where other people can subscribe to

your channels and you can delete audioblogs.

Once the interview clips are posted,

students can add text or pictures to

the blog to enhance the meaning of

the clips. Another option would be to

download the clips and use them in a

presentation about the author.

e local author study is just one

example of how cell phones can be

used in the classroom through au-

dioblogging. In social studies, stu-

dents oen conduct interviews with

veterans of wars, civil rights leaders,

and local community leaders. Audiob-

logging is an easy way for the students

to conduct these interviews, store

them, and later construct a meaning-

ful project with the interviews.

In an elementary science classroom,

students can collect sounds from a

trip to the zoo or just a trip outside.

ey can also create their own sounds

for a project. Beyond interviewing

and gathering sounds and voices out-

side of the classroom, students can

also integrate audioblogging inside

the classroom. For example, students

can interview each other, they can

create radio broadcasts or their own

“books on tape” with sound eects,

recite poetry, explain how they ra-

tionalize a dicult

mathematical problem,

brainstorm ideas, work on

verbal language presentation

and communication skills, complete

class reections, or journal scientic

research.

Concerns with Audioblogging

Privacy Issues. Of course, there is

some concern with using blogging

coupled with audioblogging in the

classroom. One worry is privacy and

protecting students. Blogger.com is

not a password-protected blog site;

as a result, anyone can read the blogs

or audioblogs that are posted by the

students. Also, audioblogs stored on

Gabcast are open to the public unless

users upgrade to the premium service

($12 per month) for password protec-

tion. One solution to this problem is

to use blogzy.com, a password-pro-

tected site that also allows for cell

phone audioblogs. Another option is

to make sure that identities of specic

students are not identied in audiob-

logs by focusing on interviews or

research information and not on per-

sonal student journals.

consider fair use and copyright is-

sues when students are posting to the

Internet. Make sure they understand

that they cannot use any copyrighted

material (such as popular music) in

their audioblogs without permission

of the author or artist. I have found

Cyberbee to be a helpful interactive

way to talk with students about copy-

right and the Internet. It is imperative

to teach students how to ask for per-

mission not only to use copyrighted

material on their blogs, but also to ask

permission to publish names, voices,

or images of anyone who participates

in the audioblogs they create.

Cost Issues. Although not all audiob-

logging sites have toll-free numbers

associated with them, Gabcast does,

and does not charge any fees to use

their services. Because you do not

have to connect to the Internet to use

Gabcast, it works just like a regular

call on a cell phone. us you do not

have to pay to post on the Internet

with this particular form of mobile

blogging. Although Gabcast’s free

account only allows up to 200 MB

of recording (about 60 minutes) per

channel, users can set up multiple

channels to get more recording time.

My phone and the phone plans of my

students have never been charged

an additional cost as long as we are

calling within our plan. For example,

my plan has a certain number of any-

where minutes and thus falls within

the “free” category. I have always of-

18 Learning & Leading with Technology | November 2006

It is important to

consider fair use

and copyright

issues when students

are posting to

the Internet.

fered my own phone to any of my

students who did not have one (or one

whose cell service would charge for

the call), but it is rare for students to

use mine, as they usually preferred to

use their own. Because Gabcast is toll

free, students can also use a land line

to record their audioblogs.

Of course there could be some

phone plans that are highly restric-

tive wherein it costs to make even

one call or image post. One solution

is for teachers to write mini technol-

ogy grants to purchase a couple of

classroom cell phones with appropri-

ate plans. For example, teachers can

purchase a Cingular plan for two cell

phones for $59.99 a month that would

cover all calls (and then some). e

students could also get involved in se-

lecting and researching which phone

plan is best for what they will be do-

ing with the phones. e cell phones

could eventually replace expensive

equipment such as digital cameras

or even camcorders, although some

quality will be sacriced with current

technology. Every student does not

have to have a cell phone to use them

constructively within the classroom.

If students do have their own cell

phones, they may be unaware of the

specics of their phone plans. Al-

though audioblogging is primarly

free for anyone with a cell phone, it is

also an excellent opportunity to talk

with students about responsible use

of their phones. Let them know that

sometimes there is a cost to all the text

messaging, photos, e-mails, and calls

they make (even when their plan says

“unlimited”). Make them responsible

for researching their own phone plans

and being responsible for staying

within the limits of their plan. I am

always shocked at how many students

are unaware of the regulations in their

current cell phone plans. It is yet an-

other way to create mindful users of

technology.

One nal option is to use a free

online phone service such as Skype.

Skype allows anyone to call anywhere

for free at any time. erefore if stu-

dents or teachers do not have access

to a cell phone or free long distance

minutes, they can use Skype to create

an audioblog post.

Dr. Maureen Yoder

Director of Online Learning

Let’s wake up the world.

www.lesley.edu/info/lead

Lesley’s Technology in Education online

Master’s program gives you a quality

education and fits your lifestyle.

With Lesley University’s online learning,

classes are small, so you will receive

a great deal of individual attention.

The curriculum for our online degree

programs focuses on incorporating

your existing experiences with interest-

ing challenges, new knowledge, and

relevant resources.

Master’s programs are also available

in multiple locations nationwide.

Visit www.lesley.edu/info/lead or

call 888.LESLEY.U.

Control Issues. Many teachers nd it

dicult to give control over to stu-

dents by allowing them to bring cell

phones to class. It is dicult to trust

that students will use their tools appro-

priately while in the classroom. One

solution is to give students boundaries

November 2006 | Learning & Leading with Technology 19

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with their phones (only bring them

when they are being used for an as-

signment and not to have them on

unless using them for an assignment).

Teachers can set up a social contract

with the students about cell phone eti-

quette for the classroom before allow-

ing students to bring them to class. In

addition, teachers should let parents

and school administrators know what

the students are going to be doing

with the cell phones for class. Beyond

the phones, there are control concerns

with allowing students to post to a

Web resource for class. ere is the

possibility that students could abuse

this privilege by posting inappropriate

information or media on their blog

sites. A solution is for the teacher to

create the blog and set the password,

so that the teacher has administrative

access at all times. Blogger and many

other blog sites can send the admin-

istrator an e-mail every time there is

a new comment or post on a site, so

teachers can continually check the

material posted.

Despite these concerns, the poten-

tial benets of using audioblogging

are numerous. ey are free resources

with great potential for the class-

room. ey are active and engaging;

Students can use these technologies

to dynamically construct their own

knowledge. ey are easy to access

tools because many of our second-

ary students already own cell phones.

Also, by integrating the cell phones

and the blogs into the classroom we

are able to connect with the technolo-

gies that our students are using daily

in their social lives, and channel that

use into meaningful learning. Stu-

dents can then transform cell phones

from being just a social toy to a learn-

ing tool in their everyday lives.

Resources

Blogger: http://www.blogger.com

Blogzy: http://www.blogzy.com

Cyberbee Copyright: http://www.cyberbee.

com/copyrt.html

Gabcast: http://www.gabcast.com

Gcast: http://www.gcast.com

Skype: http://www.skype.com

Liz Kolb is currently a

doctoral student in learning

technologies at the Univerity

of Michigan in Ann Arbor and

an adjunct assistant professor

at Madonna University in

Livonia. She is a former high

school social studies teacher and technology

coordinator.

20 Learning & Leading with Technology | November 2006