During the Spring term 2008, I asked students enrolled in my literature course on the poetry of John Milton to read aloud and record Paradise Lost. I asked students to form groups of 2 or 3 students, and each group was assigned a book. The shorter books had 2 readers; the longer had 3. We had enough groups to read through the first ten books (of twelve).

I gave students very little introduction to the technology used for the assignment. I briefly demonstrated the mp3 recorders used by the Literature program. We have purchased several iRiver recorders (T10, T30, T60). These inexpensive devices are advertised primarily as mp3 players, but they also record, and — of special interest to me — record as useable mp3 files. Most other mp3 players, if they record at all, record in other formats such as WAV or AIFF files that must be converted to mp3 files (and who needs extra steps?). I prefer the iRiver T60s. They are dowdy little things with a slightly balky toggle switch, but they are cheap, record well, and are recognized immediately by both Macintosh and Windows-based computers.

I showed students how to use the T60s, gave a setup (player, usb cable, extra batteries) to each group, and asked the students to divide the reading of each book as they deemed appropriate. I also showed them how to use Audacity, a free audio editor that works with Macs and Window machines. I provided minimal instruction in the use of Audacity — about 10 minutes in two different classes sessions, but I gave some.

All of the groups managed to complete the project in a timely fashion (only one student failed to complete work for the project). The resounding comment from students was NOT that the assignment was difficult because of the technology — most found that aspect pretty easy — the difficulty arose from the need to understand the text before it could be effectively read aloud.

I received the finished product in two general forms — either one mp3 file (from 40 to 60 minutes long) which the students had editted and stitched together using Audacity — or many files stored on the T60, renamed 1-35, 36-97, 98-114, etc., corresponding to line numbers. If the latter, I then combined the files into a master file using Audacity.

By the end of the term I was able to place completed (although sometimes rough) recordings of each book on this blog. During the summer of 2008 I used Garageband, a sound editor for the Mac, to tart up the recordings. I did a bit more editing (cutting out “mistake” readings that had been missed earlier), and adding pictures and chapters to make the enhanced podcasts that you can hear now.

How did the project turn out? Well, some of the readings are excellent. They are enjoyable to listen to, and suggest an admirable understanding of the text. Other readings are not quite so good. As in any classroom, there is a range of ability. I take to heart student comments about needing to understand the text before reading aloud. That struggle to understand before communicating, I believe, makes the exercise valuable.

Tom Kinsella

Thomas.Kinsella@stockton.edu