A-Z Tools & Technologies: Audioboo
What is it?
Audioboo is a technology that enables users to record, upload and share audio clips. You post your audio files not only to Audioboo but also to other social networks such as Twitter, Facebook. You can also embed a clip in your blog or website.
Intro to Audioboo from Mark Rock on Vimeo.
How does it work?
In order to create your audio clip or upload an audio file via Audioboo you need to go to www.audioboo.fm and set up an account and log in. Once you have created an account and logged in you can ‘follow’ other users or record your own material and share it with others.
Teaching, Learning and Assessment
This tool can be used in various ways to enhance teaching and learning. For instance, tutors can record instructions for classes; for language classes tutors can record authentic material to introduce or demonstrate new language material; it can also be used for recording material to introduce subject related concepts; audio clips can be used for demonstrating pronunciation and intonation patterns; students can record clips in the languages they are studying for practice and assessment; students can also record comments to their presentations or interviews; tutors can record listening material and combine it with reading tasks to test listening comprehension and speaking skills.
How different is Audioboo to other audio technologies that are freely available? How could Audioboo be used for marketing university courses or supporting students?
Agnieszka
Audiboo is a create app/website – I use it to host my Wilson Waffles. Like the post mentions you can follow people and like and share their content directly on the site or they provide an effective embedding function so you place content within your own blogs/webpages. There is however a limit on the length of your podcasts for the free account.
Hi Agnieszka
I like AudioBoo, it’s very similar to SoundCloud (https://soundcloud.com/), and these tools are for audio what YouTube/Vimeo are for video!
Subjects like Languages & Music are obvious candidates for using audio content, and the availability & ease of use of these tools/apps makes them great for use with students at all levels.
Russell Stannard has some great resources/tutorials on using some of these tools for teaching & learning: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/index.html
Phil
As you say, Phil, this looks like an ideal app for practising languages. I could imagine creating recordings for beginners’ to intermediate classes, although beyond that I would be looking to use authentic speech. But it would be interesting to look into how students could use it themselves, although as there are so many options out there (audio and video), I think it would be best to decide on a few to recommend in the Languages department so that we could steer students towards the best / easiest ones.
Hi Alison
I think these tools would indeed be great for audio clips/podcasts for languages, you could record them yourself – or, better still, ask advanced level students to create them as resources for breakthrough/intermediate students – then students could listen to them on-the-go (like Earworms or BBC Talk French etc.).
There are a lot of tools out there that students could use, and part of developing their digital literacy skills would be them evaluating & selecting the appropriate ones for their particular purpose (AudioBoo, SoundCloud, YouTube, Vimeo, Media Library etc.), with maybe a little guidance from the Languages team.
Phil