Effective Use of Audio

Audio is not only effective for presenting sounds and music, but allows students more comfortable listening to absorb more content.

Audio Files

Users may require Quicktime Player, Flash or Windows Media Player depending on the format of the audio. Many sites use .mp3 (MP3) or .wav files which can be played in most audio plug-ins.

Sound Junction Music Tutorials - A series of mini-tutorials on music theory which plays audio while showing chords. Includes examples of how the same structure is used in different regions and genres.

A Quick Guide to Old Spanish Pronunciation - Old Spanish sounds and words in audio format.

Poetry Archive - An online archive of poetry read out loud, sometimes by the original author.

Sights and Sounds of the Metropolitan Opera - This timeline of the New York Metropolitan Opera includes short snippets of notable singers including Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills and Renée Flemming. Flash also required.

Library of Congress Omaha Indian Music - Digitized recordings of music from an authentic pow-wow.

CARLA Virtual Audio and Video Archives (VAVA) - Authentic dialogue from native speakers of various languages.

Music Theory Net - Flash based tutorials with audio covering a wide range of topics. Licensed by Creative Commons for non-commercial use (attribution required).

Classical MIDI Collection - Older tunes can be legally digitized in MIDI format based on sheet music or be linked to. Permission to download and use someone else's MIDI files must be obtained.

Streaming

These files are played live or "streamed" from a server. Users may required Real Player, Quicktime Player or Windows Media Player depending on the format of the audio. Streaming reduces download times and protects the files from illegal downloading.

History and Politics Out Loud - Online recordings of speeches and other material, including the Watergate tapes. Also includes written transcripts.

WPSU Live - Click on "Listen Live" to listen to live broadcast stream from WPSU. Some programs may be archived.

Penn State Online Lectures - Penn State faculty can arrange for their lectures to be taped and placed for online listening.

Podcasting

A podcast allows users to subscribe to a series of posted audio files in the MP3 format. Users may need a podcast player such as iPodder (Win/Mac/Linux) or iTunes 4.9 (Win/Mac) to process the audio file. Other podcasts may work with just a plain media player such as Quicktime or Windows Media Player.

Here are some outlets which provide podcasts.

News Organizations

• ABC News
• National Public Radio (NPR) Podcasts

Recorded Lectures

• 12 Byzantine Rulers - 12 online lectures on Byzantine history
• Science @ Nasa - Click "Listen" beneath story to hear audio
• Education Podcast Network

Podcast Directories

• iTunes - Open iTunes and click Music Store, then select Podcast from the Choose Genre menu.
• Podcasting News

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Last Update: Tuesday, 12-Jun-2007 15:08:01 EDT

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