March 2020 – Salo

Record audio with an iOS device

This tutorial is a quick overview of getting a good-quality recording using an iOS device. This method would be appropriate for an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. The theories can also be translated to an Android device. The basic steps are.

Record audio with the Voice Memos app or a similar app.
Upload the file to cloud storage, like Microsoft OneDrive (which you have access to with your Heritage account), Google Drive, Dropbox, or something similar.
From that point you can access the file and download it so you can post it on your class in myHeritage.

Recording basics with Audacity

Hello folks! This video is meant as a brief introduction to recording audio with Audacity. We record an audio clip and do some minor tweaking to the sound quality before exporting it for publication.

The audio you hear in this tutorial was recorded with the build-in mic from a USB webcam. Super simple. To record into Audacity, other microphone options could include the build-in microphone in a laptop, the in-line microphone on simple wired earbuds, or even a large USB microphone.

Getting started with Microsoft OneDrive

First off, what is OneDrive?

OneDrive is a cloud based program, hosted by Microsoft. It is apart of our Office 365 subscription and is therefore easily able to integrate into our workflows.

How to Upload Your Files onto OneDrive for Work at Home

With the current state of health in the world, we all must proceed forward in a manner that allows us to access tools and files and produce work from home. OneDrive is going to be a key component in allowing us to do so. Whether accessing OneDrive from your browser or from an app downloaded on your device, you now have the freedom to transfer and access work files simply over OneDrive. This will grant you access to these files from virtually anywhere and thus alleviate the necessity for coming in to work. This article will cover the two ways of doing that, through the app and/or through your web browser.

How to Access OneDrive in the Cloud

Because OneDrive is cloud-based, files and folders stored there can be accessed from almost any device with a modern web browser. All modern web browsers including Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari, and many more can be used to login to and access files stored in OneDrive.

To access OneDrive navigate to http://office.heritagecs.edu and login with your Heritage email address and password. After logging in click on the OneDrive icon in the Good morning section.

(click the image to see a larger version)

Create new files and folders

To create a folder, click the + New button in the border located at the top of the page. Then click Folder.
Once you create and name your folder/s you can then upload files onto them from your computer.
To do this, simply drag and drop a file from your computer onto the main area in the browser. The file will be uploading into that folder.

(click the images to see a larger version)

Share a files and folders

To share a folder, hover your mouse over it and a translucent circular button will appear to the left, click it and a blue check mark will appear inside.
From there, direct your attention back up to the border where you previously selected “+ New” you will see a “Share” option in its place. the Sharing menu will pop open.
Select “anyone with the link can edit” and write down the name of the staff and/or faculty member that you would like to share the contents of that folder with.
You can send an email directly to the person you’d like to share with by entering their email address and clicking Send.
Or, you can click the Copy Link button and paste the link into an email, or use it elsewhere.

How to Use the OneDrive App

An alternate way to access the uses of OneDrive is to download the OneDrive app onto your computer. For Windows10 users, it should be on your computer already. If not, you can find the download link for OneDrive by locating the “Get the OneDrive Apps” link by logging in to OneDrive using your browser. Again, the link to OneDrive is http://office.heritagecs.edu

Once on your computer, open the app and it will ask you for your email. Search for it in the start menu if needed.
Use your corporate Heritage email address and proceed to login.
From there, OneDrive will go over the process for you and explain how to use the app. Make note of the location of the OneDrive folder, and some new icons for the status of files.
OneDrive will sync any files and folders you add into the OneDrive folder on your computer to the cloud. These files and folders will be accessible across all devices because including the app on your phone and in the browser.
If you wish to share files simply folder the instructions above on sharing files and folders. Alternatively, simply right-click on a file and choose ‘Share’. This will give you a dialog similar to the online version of the sharing menu.

Using myHeritage for Online Lessons

Log on to your course page on myHeritage. This is the same place you take attendance and enter grades. Along the left side is a column reading Dashboard, Syllabus, Files, Assignments, Lessons, Discussions, Tests, Calendar, Gradebook, etc. (See #1 in photo below.)

Create A Lesson

(all photos are from Marianne’s Intro to Children’s Ministry class)

Click on the Lesson tab. You will see this (click image for large version):

(click image to enlarge)

Click on the Add a Lesson tab. (See #2 in the photo above.)

(click image to enlarge)

Give the lesson a title and set the date and time it will be available (generally the time your class would normally start). If you click “after the previous lesson is completed”, that will override any date and time you make the lesson available. I usually leave it unchecked.
Add one lesson for each class you have left in your semester. You will see them appear as a list, as you can see in the first photo.
To give your lesson content, click on one of the lessons you have just created. It will open up to two tabs, as seen below:

(click image to enlarge)

My lesson already has content. Yours will be blank. The “view” tab (#5) is how the lesson will look to your students. The “design” tab (#4) is where you will add the content. Click it. Photo is on the next page. I don’t have time for fancy formatting!

(click image to enlarge)

Again, my lesson already has some content. But you will see the line at the bottom, #6.

A heading is just that. A text box will open up and you can type directly in it, and on the view tab, you’ll have a nice, bold heading.

Content is like what you see at the top of my lesson to the left. Again, a text box will open up. You can type in it directly to give the students directions, information, whatever. I think you can even add photos to that content. The text is fully formattable. (You can underline, highlight, use italics, bold, etc.)

Discussions allow you to post a topic and have students interact with that topic and with each other. I’ll talk more about that below.

Files are your Powerpoint slides (I always save them to PDF and upload the PDF) and your audio or video files. I’ll talk about that more below.

Link allows you post a link to a website or YouTube video. More below.

Lesson Content Types

Discussions

Discussions are helpful ways to get students to interact with the material and each other in lieu of face-to-face interaction. Add a discussion and this box will open up. Give your discussion a catchy title, and then in the topic box create something for students to talk about. You can also drag and drop files or photos for students to interact with.

Beside Published, click yes.
Beside available, click the date of your class.
Beside Comments closed, click no.

Peer rating means that students can evaluate their peers’ comments. I don’t find it helpful, but to each his or her own.

Post first means that students must first reply themselves to the topic posted before they can see their peers’ posts. This is helpful to ensure originality of ideas.

Max comments and max replies are helpful if you have a student who posts dozens of times. As if. I usually leave these blank.

Allow students to add to the discussion: I usually click no. Probably because I’m a control freak. Mostly because I don’t know what it means. It’s never hindered my discussions online.

Require students to participate in the discussion. It is important that you click “yes” for this. It is the only way we can track participation for attendance.

Files

This is what you will use to upload lecture notes (Powerpoint) and audio or video recordings.

I always save my Powerpoint slides as a PDF and upload the PDF.

Drag and drop the files you want to upload.

Hide file from students: No. What would be the point?

Show embedded preview player: Yes. This allows the students easy access to the files.

Require students to view or download? Yes. Again, it is how we will measure lesson completion for attendance records.

Links

If you add a link, this box will open. You can give the link a title, and then copy and paste the URL (website). The students will see the title as a hyperlink.

Again, if you use a link, require the students to click it for attendance purposes.

Conclusion

Ok, that’s your lesson. Now go back to the very first photo, and have a look at #3. If you click on that, you will see a graph that looks like this:

(click image to enlarge)

Each lesson will have a status bar showing how much of the lesson has been completed (if you’ve required all the elements to be done). If the student has completed the whole lesson, you can then mark that student as “present” in the attendance tab. If a student has not completed the lesson (or hasn’t completed enough of the lesson), you can mark that student as absent. You may notice that myHeritage now has a “notes” section beside each student’s name on the attendance roster. If a student is finished part but not all of the lesson, you could mark that student present and make a note of how much of the lesson was complete. If the student then has another lesson that is only partly completed, you could make that note and mark the student as absent the second time.

Posting audio or video content to a course in myHeritage

Login to myHeritage and navigate to your course (either under Academics -> Academic Term -> Courses or by going to My Profile -> Faculty) by clicking on the course name. The course Syllabus page will appear.
Choose Lessons from the menu on the left.
Choose a Lesson (if there are no Lessons in the course, click the Add a Lesson button on the right).
From the Lesson view there are two tabs, View and Design. Choose the Design tab.
From the Design tab you have the ability to Add a section. Click the small link that says File to add a media file.
Drag and drop the media file into the upload area that appears or click the area to choose a file.
Once the file has completed uploading, click the Save

Please see the How To Embed Audio, Video, And Other Kinds of Files In A Lesson article on the Populi Knowledgebase for similar instructions and further details.

Note: To view the newly uploaded file like a student would see it, go back to the View tab (from Design). When you are uploading the file you also have options to Hide the file or use the media player built in to myHeritage (strongly recommended). Also, there is a file size limit of 4GB per file.