iTunes

Teaching with sound: links from today’s workshop

Most English students use their eyes. A lot. They use their eyes to compose essays on a word processor, conduct research on the internet, and create presentations with PowerPoint or even Prezi. And of course, for sighted students, words on a page need eyes. Novels, essays, poems, paper drafts, and instructor comments almost always appear broken down into letters of the alphabet. This workshop hopes to open the door to another sense that is handy for making and perceiving compositions: hearing. What are the possibilities of sound for writing classrooms? How can instructors, especially those who teach online, engage students differently through a voice as opposed to a written text?

For easy clicking, here are some links to tools and/or resources that will accompany today’s upcoming workshop, “Composing with Sound” featuring Sarah Etlinger.

• Audacity download
• iTunes download
• Soundcloud: a way to share audio compositions with the class; seems to be the YouTube of audio
• The library’s presentation toolkit: links to audio resources

Audio commenting

• Voki: Create talking avatars; embeddable in D2L and can be emailed.
• Vocaroo:  Online voice recording tool; record audio clips (flash is required); share via web link or embed in D2L. Each recording has no set length. Voice messages can be saved to a computer, or they can be kept on the web site where they expire after a few months.
• Fotobabble: Web-based app to add voice to uploaded photos and images; requires no downloads; can embed in D2L

Archives of sounds and music for use in audio compositions

• Freeplay Music: awesome site for background/filler music
• Freesound: for sound effects; no music
• Partners in Rhyme: Royalty free music and sound effects
• Free Music Archive
• Internet Archive’s Community Audio
• FindSounds: search engine for finding sounds.
• List of a bunch of sites where you can download sounds

Praxis

• “Integrating Digital Audio Composition into Humanities Courses” by Jentery Sayers
• Student podcasting assignment by Alex Reid

Random

• Musicovery Moodpad: a graphical interface that allows users to play songs based on mood

Know about more resources? Put them in the comments!

Image by Flickr user Laura Bendall

Audacity, iTunes, and writing

From paper comments to audio essays to podcasts… discover the possibilities of SOUND for teaching, commenting, composing, and more. Join us for the first technology/pedagogy workshop of the spring semester, “Sound(ing) Composition” featuring Sarah Etlinger Friday, Feb. 17 3:30-5:00pm in Curtin 118.

Graduate students and instructors in English or English-related programs are welcome to attend. No previous technical experience assumed. To RSVP, please email sulliv97@uwm.edu by Friday 2/10. You will need your own headphones for this workshop. Earbuds would suffice, but noise-canceling headphones are ideal. Laptops will be provided. If you bring your own laptop, please be sure to download iTunes and Audacity (both free programs) in advance of the workshop. If you miss the event, a review will be right here on this blog.