Sound bytes
Many word processors and software such as PowerPoint have sound facilities, enabling you to make your own simple sound games and talking books or provide verbal instructions for children. So how do you do it? First, you need some sounds.
Recording directly on to a computer is quite straight forward, the only additional kit needed is a microphone. You can buy these for around Pounds 5.
Before you start recording you may need to set up your computer to record from a microphone. Double click on the speaker icon in the task tray (bottom right corner of your screen) and click Options- Properties- Recording, click OK and then select microphone. Or, from the control panel double click on Sounds and Multimedia, select the audio tab, click the volume button in the sound recording section and then select the microphone option.
All computers come with basic sound recording software. On a PC click Start- Programs- Accessories- Entertainment- Sound recorder. Attach your microphone to your computer (there is usually a microphone icon next to it), turn it on and then click the record button on the sound recording software. When you have finished click stop, play it back to check and then save it somewhere obvious, perhaps in a new folder.
Using the sound recording facilities on a computer is a great way to capture voices but not so good for sound effects. For these it is probably best to use the internet. It is possible to do a 'Google search' for sounds by using key words including .wav (the file extension for sound files) but try www.findsounds.com as an alternative. Start by browsing this extensive library, but if you can't find what you are looking for then it is easy to conduct your own search from this website. Once you have identified a sound place your mouse pointer on top of the sound, click the right mouse button and click Save Target As to save the sound file.
Next month we shall explore how to use sound files to create your own ICT activities for children.
