WEB 2.0
For Language Learning & Teaching
VoiceThread bridges the gap between real-time discussions and standard video lectures or online presentations. This makes VoiceThread the platform for teaching, learning, training, and collaborating, on-demand.

SoundCloud is the world’s leading social sound platform where anyone can create sounds and share them everywhere. Recording and uploading sounds to SoundCloud lets people easily share them privately with their friends or publicly to blogs, sites and social networks. It takes just a click to share sounds to Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook and Foursquare. SoundCloud can be accessed anywhere using the official iPhone and Android apps, as well as hundreds of creation and sharing apps built on the SoundCloud platform.

Hipcast works a little differently than the other podcast software. The main difference is that Hipcast operates in the cloud. That means there is no download or installation necessary. It’s not free but it’s definitely worth the money. Hipcast is a solid service that allows you to record, manage and publish your podcast from anywhere with an internet connection. The fact that it’s contained in the cloud makes for convenient and easy access. The only negative point is its complete lack of editing features.

Audioboo is a website (and an application for Android, iPhone OS and Symbian) which allows users to post and share sound files. Audioboo was developed by UK-based BestBefore and partially funded by Channel 4 and was launched in March 2009. Audioboo allows smartphone users to record and playback digital recordings of up to three minutes in length which can then be posted on the Audioboo website where users have their own pages or channels akin to Twitter or YouTube. These recordings are referred to as 'boos' and photos can be added to the boo from the iPhone library or an Android phone along with a title, geotagging and category tagging. Uploading an Audioboo can be done with an iPhone, a Google Android Phone, directly through the website or via boomail, a service that lets you upload a boo via email.

Audacity is a free, easy-to-use and multilingual audio editor and recorder for Windows, Mac OS X, GNU/Linux and other operating systems. You can use Audacity to record live audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files, cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together and/or change the speed or pitch of a recording.

Vocaroo is a free service that allows users to create audio recordings without the need to install any software. You don't even have to create an account to use Vocaroo. All you need to provide is a microphone. I used the microphone built into my MacBook to make the recording below. To create a recording just go to Vocaroo.com, click record, grant Vocaroo access to your mic, and start talking. After completing your recording, Vocaroo gives you the choice to publish it or to scrap it and try again.

With PodcastPeople.com, you can create audio and video podcasts, customize your own website, write blog posts, track statistics, and even generate a profit. PodcastPeople.com has combined all the steps in creating a podcast so you can get started quickly, easily, and without worrying about the technical details.

Blaving is a new “Social network" which allows you to record instant voice messages and to share them with whoever you wish to do it. Blaving allows you to create your account and profile with your own photo. After that, you may record a 2-minute audio post and publish it on the web and even on your favourite social networks. Each post can include a title, the recording localization, tags and an image identifying that post. You also can upload it from your iPhone, iPod, iPad, Android or BlackBerry devices, and JAVA phones.

LoudBlog is a specialised blogging system designed for use by podcasters to manage their show. The system outputs RSS feeds with enclosures and iTunes Music Store specific tags.

Media.io is a simple tool to convert audio online. It’s fast, easy, and does exactly what it set out to do. From musicians who would like to make their masterpiece available in multiple formats, to those loading tunes to their iPods, Media.io will take care of the online audio conversion.

2010 - present
2010 - present
Podcasting - Sound