When I previously wrote a post about Free Audio Books for English and Literature, I mentioned using a recording of ‘Deadly Unna’. This was an audio book that our amazing librarian (also my dear friend) purchased on CD a few years ago. Di wrote a comment asking where she could get a copy and all my searches so far have turned up nada… zip… in terms of its availability for purchase. My advice would be that if you can’t find a recording of the book you’re studying, don’t forget to check libraries in your surrounding area as well, as they often have audiobook titles that your school won’t have. Then, if you really don’t have something, you and your class can create one!
In the case of Deadly Unna, you may not be willing to commit to recording four hours worth of novel all by yourself, but with 20 or 30 students in your class, reading 10 – 20 minutes each (at the start of a lesson say), the task just got a whole lot less daunting. Their recordings can then be burned to DVD and made available through the library for future students to access. You could do the same for any year level or you could have older year levels, create recordings for other year levels.
For those of you who have attended our podcasting workshops, I am sure you can see how you could use Garageband to do your recordings (a program that comes standard with all Macs) and your students could even create their own illustrations to accompany the recording.
This task would also be a great way to assess reading and speaking skills and the recording could form part of the students portfolio that would help track the students progress over the course of the year.
Be sure to comment on this post if you try this in your class and let us know how it goes!
Written by Callie Whelan.Melbourne Beyond Chalk Facilitator
11:37 pm
Megan sent through a question, about whether recording an audio copy of a novel is a breach of copyright, so I wanted to clarify this. Standards and rules for copyright can differ between countries , so it may be best to double check with your education department. In Victoria, the guidelines say that:
“A school cannot record an audiobook if there is an audiobook of the title available commercially. However, if there is no audiobook of the title available within 30 days at the normal price for such an audiobook, a school may record its own version. If there is an audiobook product available for purchase, a school may only record one chapter or ten percent of the book. (This recording is covered by the educational licence arrangements – specifically, the statutory licence under Part VB of the Copyright Act. The statutory licence arrangements are managed centrally by the Department on behalf of all Victorian Government Schools.)”
go to: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/management/governance/copyright/faq.htm