07 Feb Use TinyTap to Create Interactive Lessons and Games With Soundboards

Disclosure: TinyTap is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.com

Over the last four weeks I’ve highlighted different ways to use TinyTap to create educational games for your students. This week I’m going to take a slightly different approach and share ideas for using TinyTap’s soundboard option to make interactive lessons and games.

What is a TinyTap soundboard?

A soundboard in TinyTap lets you add an image to a slide then create interactive hotspots on that image. Those hotspots can be made to play audio files when students tap or click on them. You can also use the hotspots to direct students to more information about the items they’ve tapped or clicked on. And if you want to use the soundboard as the basis for a game, you can do that by making sounds play and animation appear when students tap or click hotspots. We’ll take a look at all three of these options in this post.

How to Create a Basic Soundboard Activity
The first soundboard activity that I’m going to create is a simple one about America’s favorite pastime, baseball. Just like all of the other TinyTap games and activities I’ve made in this series, I started by logging into my free TinyTap account and clicking “create game.” Then I added a title slide and used TinyTap’s creation packs to pick a style and layout for the slide.

After making my title slide I created a second slide that became the basis for my soundboard activity. I used TinyTap’s integrated image search to find an image of a baseball field and added it to my slide.

Once the picture of the baseball field was added to my slide it was then time to start using the soundboard tools. To do that I chose “set activity” then chose “soundboard.” See the GIF below for details on where to find those options.

After choosing the soundboard option I then had to trace each place on the image that I wanted to become a hotspot. In this case that meant tracing home plate, first base, second base, and third base. As soon as I traced a base I was prompted to add audio and text (optional). I did this five times on the image of the baseball field. The first was to record a general overview of the field and the other four were to explain each base on the field. The final step in making my soundboard about baseball was to record instructions for students to follow. These instructions are played as soon as students view the soundboard slide. To record my instructions I just opened the “options” menu in the soundboard editor then clicked on the recording button. The GIF below provides a quick overview of where to find the soundboard recording options.

With my soundboard complete I can now publish it and share it with my students. When they tap on each base on the baseball field they’ll hear a short audio recording about it.

If you’ve read this far, you might have already come up with some ideas for how to use the soundboard activity type in your classroom. If not, here are some other ways that a basic soundboard activity could be used in your classroom.

• Place sheet music on a slide then create hotspots for students to practice reading music.
• Add a map to a slide then add hotspots for students to hear the name of each country, state, or province read aloud.
• Put a set of vocabulary words on a slide then create hotspots for students to tap to hear the pronunciation of each word.

Make Your Soundboard Link to More Resources
One of the really neat things about TinyTap’s soundboard tool is that you can make each hotspot on a slide direct students to more information about the items they tap or click on. In the case of my baseball field soundboard, I made it possible for students to learn more about the rules of baseball by tapping on each base on the field. For example, when a student taps on home plate he or she will be directed to a new slide that provides information about the importance of home plate in the game of baseball.

To create my soundboard activity in which students learn more about each base on the baseball field I once again started by adding an image of a baseball field to a slide. Then I created slides about each base (each one has an image, some text, and a short audio recording). After creating the slides about each base I then went back to the slide that has the image of a baseball field and selected the soundboard option.

With the soundboard activity type enabled I once again traced each base on the field and recorded a little audio. But this time I also selected the option to “jump to page.” When I selected “jump to page” I could then choose which of the slides I wanted students to see when they tapped on a base. A GIF of this process is included below.

As with all of the activity types in TinyTap, there are many ways to use the combination of soundboards and “jump to page” to develop engaging activities for your students. Here are some other ideas for using soundboards to create interactive lessons for your students.

• Create an interactive periodic table of elements.
• Develop an interactive calendar of seasons and or holidays.
• Make an interactive musical game.
• Create a find and seek activity.

Create a Multiple Answers Soundboard Game
The third way that you can use soundboards in TinyTap is to create a multiple answer game. Once again I’ll use the image of a baseball field in my example of creating a multiple answer game with TinyTap’s soundboard option. In this game I’m going to ask the question, “which bases do players touch when they hit a triple?”

To create my multiple answer game I add an image of a baseball field to a slide in my TinyTap game. Then I selected the soundboard activity type and traced each base that I want to have jump out with confetti when tapped. So in this case I traced first, second, and third base. Then I used the options menu for the activity type and recorded myself asking the following question, “which bases do players touch when they hit a triple?” If students tap or click on home plate, nothing happens. If they tap first, second, and third bases then confetti appears to indicate that they got it right.

Throughout this post I’ve used the example of a baseball field because I think sometimes physical education gets overlooked on educational technology blogs. (I’m also staring out at three feet of snow on my lawn and daydreaming about summer). There are other examples of using the multiple answer format for games in TinyTap. Here’s a few ideas to consider:

• A game about forms of transportation.
• Games for identifying plants and animals.
• Games to identify like and unlike shapes.

Sharing TinyTap activities
Soundboard activities, like all TinyTap activities, can be shared in a variety of ways. As is highlighted in the screenshot below, TinyTap activities can be shared to Google Classroom, embedded into web pages and blog posts, or posted anywhere that you would typically share URLs for your students to access (Microsoft Teams, Canvas, Schoology for example).

Get Started!
It’s free and easy to get started making your own soundboard activities on TinyTap. Register for a free account and then click the “create game” button to get started. There are helpful tutorials embedded throughout the process and you can also watch my video tutorial to see the whole process of making a soundboard activity.

Disclosure: TinyTap is currently an advertiser on FreeTech4Teachers.comOver the last four weeks I’ve highlighted different ways to use TinyTap to create educational games for your students. This week I’m going to take a slightly different approach and share ideas for using TinyTap’s soundboard option to make interactive lessons and games. What is a TinyTap soundboard?A soundboard in TinyTap lets you add an image to a slide then create interactive hotspots on that image. Those hotspots can be made to play audio files when students tap or click on them. You can also use the hotspots to direct students to more information about the items they’ve tapped or clicked on. And if you want to use the soundboard as the basis for a game, you can do that by making sounds play and animation appear when students tap or click hotspots. We’ll take a look at all three of these options in this post. How to Create a Basic Soundboard ActivityThe first soundboard activity that I’m going to create is a simple one about America’s favorite pastime, baseball. Just like all of the other TinyTap games and activities I’ve made in this series, I started by logging into my free TinyTap account and clicking “create game.” Then I added a title slide and used TinyTap’s creation packs to pick a style and layout for the slide. After making my title slide I created a second slide that became the basis for my soundboard activity. I used TinyTap’s integrated image search to find an image of a baseball field and added it to my slide.Once the picture of the baseball field was added to my slide it was then time to start using the soundboard tools. To do that I chose “set activity” then chose “soundboard.” See the GIF below for details on where to find those options.After choosing the soundboard option I then had to trace each place on the image that I wanted to become a hotspot. In this case that meant tracing home plate, first base, second base, and third base. As soon as I traced a base I was prompted to add audio and text (optional). I did this five times on the image of the baseball field. The first was to record a general overview of the field and the other four were to explain each base on the field. The final step in making my soundboard about baseball was to record instructions for students to follow. These instructions are played as soon as students view the soundboard slide. To record my instructions I just opened the “options” menu in the soundboard editor then clicked on the recording button. The GIF below provides a quick overview of where to find the soundboard recording options.With my soundboard complete I can now publish it and share it with my students. When they tap on each base on the baseball field they’ll hear a short audio recording about it. If you’ve read this far, you might have already come up with some ideas for how to use the soundboard activity type in your classroom. If not, here are some other ways that a basic soundboard activity could be used in your classroom. Place sheet music on a slide then create hotspots for students to practice reading music. Add a map to a slide then add hotspots for students to hear the name of each country, state, or province read aloud. Put a set of vocabulary words on a slide then create hotspots for students to tap to hear the pronunciation of each word. Make Your Soundboard Link to More ResourcesOne of the really neat things about TinyTap’s soundboard tool is that you can make each hotspot on a slide direct students to more information about the items they tap or click on. In the case of my baseball field soundboard, I made it possible for students to learn more about the rules of baseball by tapping on each base on the field. For example, when a student taps on home plate he or she will be directed to a new slide that provides information about the importance of home plate in the game of baseball. To create my soundboard activity in which students learn more about each base on the baseball field I once again started by adding an image of a baseball field to a slide. Then I created slides about each base (each one has an image, some text, and a short audio recording). After creating the slides about each base I then went back to the slide that has the image of a baseball field and selected the soundboard option. With the soundboard activity type enabled I once again traced each base on the field and recorded a little audio. But this time I also selected the option to “jump to page.” When I selected “jump to page” I could then choose which of the slides I wanted students to see when they tapped on a base. A GIF of this process is included below.As with all of the activity types in TinyTap, there are many ways to use the combination of soundboards and “jump to page” to develop engaging activities for your students. Here are some other ideas for using soundboards to create interactive lessons for your students.Create an interactive periodic table of elements. Develop an interactive calendar of seasons and or holidays. Make an interactive musical game.Create a find and seek activity. Create a Multiple Answers Soundboard GameThe third way that you can use soundboards in TinyTap is to create a multiple answer game. Once again I’ll use the image of a baseball field in my example of creating a multiple answer game with TinyTap’s soundboard option. In this game I’m going to ask the question, “which bases do players touch when they hit a triple?” To create my multiple answer game I add an image of a baseball field to a slide in my TinyTap game. Then I selected the soundboard activity type and traced each base that I want to have jump out with confetti when tapped. So in this case I traced first, second, and third base. Then I used the options menu for the activity type and recorded myself asking the following question, “which bases do players touch when they hit a triple?” If students tap or click on home plate, nothing happens. If they tap first, second, and third bases then confetti appears to indicate that they got it right.Throughout this post I’ve used the example of a baseball field because I think sometimes physical education gets overlooked on educational technology blogs. (I’m also staring out at three feet of snow on my lawn and daydreaming about summer). There are other examples of using the multiple answer format for games in TinyTap. Here’s a few ideas to consider:A game about forms of transportation.Games for identifying plants and animals.Games to identify like and unlike shapes.Sharing TinyTap activitiesSoundboard activities, like all TinyTap activities, can be shared in a variety of ways. As is highlighted in the screenshot below, TinyTap activities can be shared to Google Classroom, embedded into web pages and blog posts, or posted anywhere that you would typically share URLs for your students to access (Microsoft Teams, Canvas, Schoology for example). Get Started!It’s free and easy to get started making your own soundboard activities on TinyTap. Register for a free account and then click the “create game” button to get started. There are helpful tutorials embedded throughout the process and you can also watch my video tutorial to see the whole process of making a soundboard activity. Learn More About TinyTapAs I mentioned at the start of this post, I’ve highlighted a bunch of TinyTap features over the last four weeks. If you missed those posts, take a look at the list below:Create an Educational Puzzle Game With TinyTapBuild Talk or Type Educational Games on TinyTapHow to Create Your Own Educational Games With TinyTap – Getting StartedMaking Your Educational Games Look Good With TinyTapAre you a tech coach or media specialist looking for some new ideas to share with your colleagues? If so, 50 Tech Tuesday Tips is an eBook you need. You can get it right here.educational game builders, Educational Game Creation, Educational Games, free educational games, Free Technology For Teachers, how to, tinytapRead More