Upskilling in my own knowledge of e-tools that will support audio reflective practice

I thought that this would be easy because I feel that I am quite Web 2.0 savvy. However, this has been a lot more difficult than I thought. I have had such a problem with Voicethread and have now sent emails out to colleagues and to the Helpline.
When I upload from my computer there is a X in the corner of the block and no image.
When I try it at school I can get the picture, then I record and when I play back there is no sound,. When I type a message there is no sound. I have listened to the tutorials and followed their instructions - but I am not having any luck.
However I have discovered another great option for audio reflection of learning - narrating powerpoint presentations. I stumbled cross this accidentally while looking at a site which will help me to download videos that the children have made.

Here are the notes on how to narrate your powerpoint:
THIS OPTION IS FOR MAC COMPUTERS

Recording a Voice Narration
When you record a narration, you must run through the presentation and record on each slide. If you need
to, you can pause and resume recording. Please note that in order to record a voice narration, your
computer needs to have a sound card, microphone, and speakers. Follow these steps to record a voice
narration:

1. Make sure your PowerPoint presentation is saved.
2. On the Outline tab or Slides tab in normal view, select the slide icon or thumbnail that you want
to start the recording on.
3. On the Slide Show menu, click Record Narration.
4. Click Set Microphone Level, follow the directions to set your microphone level, and then click
OK.
5. Do one of the following:
A. Embed the narration by clicking OK on the Record Narration dialog box.
B. Link the narration. To do this, on the Record Narration dialog box:
a. Check the checkbox next Link narrations in.
b. Click Browse.
c. Click a folder in the list, and then click Select.
d. Click OK.
6. If in step 2 you selected the first slide to begin the recording on, go to step 7. If you selected a
different slide to begin the recording on, the Record Narration dialog box appears. Do one of
the following:
A. To start the narration on the first slide in the presentation, click First Slide.
B. To start the narration on the currently selected slide, click Current Slide.
7. In slide show view, begin speaking into the microphone, and click in the slide to advance. Begin
recording for that slide, advance to the next slide, and so on. You can pause and resume the
narration.

Note: 1. When advancing the presentation to the next slide, halt briefly for 5 seconds before starting the narration.
2. To pause and resume the narration right-click on the slide and on the shortcut menu select Pause
Narration or Resume Narration.
8. Repeat step 7 until you've run through the slides, and when you come to the black Exit screen,
click in it.
9. The narration is automatically saved, and a message appears asking if you want to save the
timings for the show as well. Do one of the following:
A. To save the timings, click Save. Your slides appear in slide sorter view, with the slide
timings shown below each one.
B. To cancel the timings, click Don't Save. (You can record the timings separately.)

Note: 1. In your presentation, only one sound can play at a time. So if you have inserted a sound that is to play
automatically, it will get overridden by voice narration.
2. To run the presentation without narration, on the Slide Show menu, click Set Up Show, and then select the
Show without narration check box.

Editing Voice Narrations
It is possible to modify the voice narration you have added to your PowerPoint presentation, turn it on or
off, or simply remove it completely from the presentation.
To remove voice narration from a slide:
1. On the slide, select the sound icon or CD icon, and then press DELETE.
2. Repeat for each slide you want to delete the file from.

To turn narration on or off in a presentation:
1. On the Slide Show menu, click Set Up Show.
2. To turn narration on or off, clear or select the Show without narration check box.

To re-record a voice narration
1. Follow steps 1 through 6 in the Recording a Voice Narration section of this handout.
2. When the slide for which you want to re-record the voice narration appears in slide show
A. To stop re-recording, press ESC.
B. To continue re-recording, click the mouse to advance to the next slide, speak the
narration on the slide, and click to the next slide to continue re-recording. To end the re-
recording before you go through all the slides, press ESC.


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