What is more fun than listening to music? Listening to and sharing music with friends. This was the key premise for creating music and audio sharing site SoundCloud. In creating the popular platform for sharing audio, founders Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss have also created a sensational teaching tool that can bring a new level of engagement to your class.
SoundCloud lets users upload and share their audio files, but more importantly brings a social element by adding commenting and likes to the audio stream. Try out the below Player to see just how simple and powerful SoundCloud is.
Who Uses It?
SoundCloud is being used by a huge variety of people, for a number of different purposes. Because SoundCloud is not limited to just music, any type of audio can be uploaded and shared on the site. This means it is being used by comedians to share jokes, poets to share verse and of course musicians to share music.
The deep social media integration in SoundCloud also lets artists share their work via a number of social channels. Friends and fans can then comment and like the work or further share it with friends.
How Does It Work?
You can get started with SoundCloud in a few quick and easy steps
- Create an account – From the SoundCloud homepage you can quickly create an account, or sign in with Facebook. All you need is an email address.
- Upload your audio track – With SoundCloud you can either upload an audio file (a number of standard formats are supported – MP3, ACC, etc.) or record directly from the uploader. In most cases it is easier to pre-record the audio file and upload, but direct record is handy if you are in a rush.
- Sharing – Once uploaded, you can send your audio directly to an email address, or select people from your network to share with.
- Feedback and stats – Now that your audio is out there, you can access a dashboard to tell you who has listened, downloaded and commented you track.
SoundCloud As A Teaching Tool
Because of the diverse ways we use audio in the classroom, there are a number of very different applications for SoundCloud as a teaching tool.
- Learning foreign language – Students can record speaking and receive comments from teachers and class members on their performance
- Reading – Younger students can record their reading practise and listen back to hear their voice
- Poetry – Students can be asked to comment on certain aspects of a reading within the audio stream
- Music – Music students can share and promote their work with friends and family via the SoundCloud network
- Public speaking – SoundCloud lets students perform public speaking with a virtual audience
- Radio broadcast – Have students present news or radio broadcasts for other class members to comment and contribute to
- Storytelling – Older students can record short stories for younger students to listen to
Are you using audio in your class? What tools do you find most useful?