How to Create Flash Cards With Audio
Flashcards that pair pictures or text with spoken words help increase vocabulary and independence for beginning readers, children with limited English proficiency and young people with communication disorders. Although there are several commercial programs to download for making computer-based audio flashcards, many children need the portability of traditional physical flashcards. Handheld flashcards are also easier for children to use and adults to make because they require no knowledge of computers. Their portability also makes them appropriate for alternative and augmentative communication systems. Price information is current as of September 2010.
Instructions
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Insert the visual components of your flashcards into a talking picture album. Most albums hold 24 pictures and allow you to record up to 10 seconds of audio per picture. The book format is conducive for child-adult tutoring sessions and has been used successfully in elementary schools both as assistive communication devices and in bilingual programs. Each page has a play button, usually at the bottom. As of 2010, average price per album is about $30.
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Use a voice labeling system available from merchants who carry products for the blind. This type of system includes stickers with scannable ID tags and a pen-shaped scanner/recorder. Stick one of the ID tags on your flashcard, touch the tip of the scanner to the tag and then record the audio portion. To play, touch the tip to the ID tag again. Start-up kits include the scanner and over 100 ID tags, and additional tags can be purchased separately. The number of tags you can use depends on the scanner's internal memory and the length of each audio segment. Scanners with 1 GB of internal memory have a seven-hour audio capacity. Kits range in price from $125 to $280.
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Use talking postcards or greeting cards. On talking postcards, the user presses a button to hear the audio; most talking greeting cards play when opened. Some vendors sell customizable plain white cards that make good flashcards. Alternatively, buy postcard sound chips separately and install them on your own cards. Push-button sound modules cost approximately $3.25, and they typically come in packs of 20. Completely blank talking postcards or greeting cards cost about $6 and typically come in packs of 10.
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Print the visual component of the flashcard on a sticker or piece of paper and adhere it to a portable 10-second voice recorder. These recorders are frequently available from merchants who carry augmentative communication products. The most widely available models include Hug Me, Voice-Over and Mini Me. Due to the expense of the recorders, which run from $7.50 to $9 as of 2010, this option is best when you only need a few flashcards at a time and where durability is a concern. Versions with a transparent pocket or folder, which allow you to slip the flashcard in rather than pasting it on, cost a few dollars more. If you need to make many flashcards, some vendors offer bulk pricing.
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References
- Photo Credit reading child 1 image by DMITRY BOKOV from Fotolia.com
