Thanks to Judy Hauser of Tech Scout for sharing SoundSnap with me. It’s an audio library with thousands of sound effects and audio files that can be used free of charge in podcasts and video. (You can check the FAQs page of the site for the fine print.)

Our school uses Audacity, a free podcast editing software. It works fine, but unlike higher-end software like GarageBand, it does not have built-in sound effects. Can’t wait to share this resource with my colleagues and podcasting students!

Image: AtomicLearning

Check out these free AtomicLearning tutorials on Web 2.0 tools like blogs, wikis, podcasts, social networking, Twitter, tags, and more! They were created for AtomicLearning by Vicki Davis, whose Flat Classroom Project garnered worldwide attention, including a mention in Thomas Friedman’s The World is Flat. 

AtomicLearning’s tutorials are video clips.  Each clip covers a single discreet skill.  So instead of navigating through one long movie, you can choose just the one or two minutes you need.  Great to share with students who are working on independent projects to to give yourself a quick refresher.  AtomicLearning offers a subscription for access to their large catalog of tutorials, which include tutorials on Microsoft, KidPix, and more.

Rumor has it that these tutorials are only available for the month of November.

Thanks to Jo Kirkbride of MAME for bringing this to our state association’s attention!

In her blog for School Library Journal, Diane R. Chen writes:

“The human face of technology is the librarian in an elementary school.”

She points out that when technology doesn’t act in a fool-proof way, kids turn to librarians first.  Kinda makes you feel good to hear it, doesn’t it?