Category: Music

Internet Jukebox

Trevor’s Take: Songza
By: Trevor Acy

Since writing the post on the sleek online radio Pandora, Clif and I have decided to start a review series of online music applications. Next on the chopping block is the internet jukebox Songza. Again, I will provide my opinion on how the site operates and a quick tutorial of how to get your account up and running.

Songza is a free, flash based, internet jukebox. You decide exactly what songs you want to listen to and then stream the songs from other sites where they are embedded using a minimalist flash player. No costs, no ads, just the music you want to hear. At first you might be a bit discouraged that this is the only pseudo-FAQ that Songza has to offer. However, you will soon realize that it is so simple that it doesn’t really need one. Like many of the items featured on this site, Songza only does one thing, but does it extraordinarily well.

After creating an account (just your basic set-up with e-mail, password, etc) you will see the incredibly simple front page. Using the one outstanding feature, the large centrally located search bar, enter an artist or song and click search. Songza’s cute little loading square will flip around for just a moment and then an extensive list of songs will appear down the left hand side. One thing that I really like about Songza is this right here. You are not given one choice for the song you are trying to find; you are given a whole bunch. Aside from the album version, some may be live versions, acoustics sets, or remixes. In fact, I have already discovered a multitude of covers of songs I have searched for that I may otherwise never have been aware existed. So while you have to actively search out individual songs (that’s why it is a jukebox and not a radio) you still may find new songs.

Menu Options

The interface is one of the easiest imaginable to navigate. After searching for a song and selecting one from the list, clicking on the title will pop up a little compass inspired menu with four options: Play, Share, Rate, and Add to Playlist. Subsequently selecting one of these does exactly what you think they would do. The Share option allows you to link to the song, embed it on a site, send to Twitter, or email to a friend. Rating is used for rating the quality of the recording more so than if whether or not you like the song, like with Pandora. The better the quality rating, the higher that specific song appears in search lists. Rating effectively reduces the amount of time you spend trudging through versions that are of poor quality.

The Playlist is where you will find my only complaint with Songza. Right now, and please correct me if I’m wrong, but I can find no way of creating additional playlists. So while you can save every song you find, they are all lumped together under a single playlist. The small saving grace of this is that you can quickly and easily change the order or your playlist. So you can group your music as you would want to hear it in succession. Aside from sharing individual songs with friends, you can also navigate to someone’s Songza profile page and access their full playlist from there. You can check out my profile and playlist here.

One of the really nifty things about Songza is while a song is playing you have the ability to Watch the Video when it is available, Buy the Song via Google Products or Amazon, or check out the Discography. It should be said that the video sometimes seems like a randomly picked Youtube video, which isn’t always the artist’s actual music video. Viewer beware.

I’ve only just begun playing with Songza and haven’t delved too deeply into sharing and embedding songs. What I see so far I really like (aside from the Playlist issue which I am hoping I am incorrect about). So if recommendation music sites like Rhapsody and Pandora don’t line up with your tastes well enough or you’re just looking to hear “that song” right now, give Songza a try.

Be sure to leave a link to your Songza profile if you comment so we can all share the music. One Love.

Newsletter on Educational Technology

Throughout the years many of the preservice and in-service teachers in my classes, workshops, and presentations have requested that I start an email newsletter. They indicate that in addition to this blog they would like to receive occasional emails sharing rich resources related to technology integration. I’m excited to announce that I have answered these requests.

Clif’s Newsletter on Educational Technology focuses on the effective integration of technology with teaching and learning. Subscribers of this free service will receive occasional emails providing valuable resources and information about lesson plans, activities, technologies, research, etc., related to educational technology.

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The Not-So-Evil Box of Music

PANDORA RADIO

Trevor Acy

Music is one of my things, just ask anyone that knows me. I own more CDs than most people and almost always have music playing, whether I’m relaxing, working, reading, or studying. Even with all the music I own, I sometimes get bored of the same songs and artists over and over again. Thankfully, a few months ago I StumbledUpon the Music Genome Project at Pandora Radio.

Pandora has since become one of my most frequented websites. What Pandora does is allow you, with as few (or as many) clicks of your mouse as you like, to create radio stations tailored to only music you like. Also, you can create multiple stations for all the different types of music you listen to. For instance I have a radio station for my Rock side, one for my more mellow side, and then a few specific radio stations for when I’m studying. It’s all very simple to set up and can be as quick and easy as you wish or you can really dive into this thing and create the perfect music environment for yourself.

For the full “How To” check out Pandora’s FAQ page, paying particular attention to section 3 about setting up stations. But I’ll give you the quick run-down here also. After creating an account, which takes only a couple of steps, you’ll be asked about your first station. All you have to do is enter the name of a Band or a Song that you want to build your station around. Then Pandora will do it’s thing and search through it’s music database using the Music Genome Project. You can read about the MGP here, but what it does is basically compares the Band or Song you enter to thousands of other Bands and Songs and picks ones that match your taste. Then just like that, the radio station starts playing.

As songs play you have the option to give them a Thumbs Up or a Thumbs Down. These do about what you would expect, if you don’t like the song then give it a Thumbs Down and the radio will proceed to the next song and take that particular song out of your playlist for good. Thumbs Up means that song is exactly the kind of music you want on that radio station and Pandora should do it’s best to put more songs like that on your station. You can also tag specific Songs or Bands which will expand your station since the Music Genome Project will have a larger sample to compare other music against.

It is extremely simple, very rewarding, and of course completely free. There are tons of other features that you can play around with, like making a mega-station (a randomization of all your stations). And oh yeah, you can share your stations with friends. All of the more advanced features can be found in the same FAQ that I linked to earlier only check under the fourth section titled “Advanced Features.”

httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=avx0qgPxuBg

Teaching and Learning with Squidoo

*DISCLAIMER: I’ve hesitated to share this resource because of the advertising and economics tied to it. I have given it a quick test and think that all of that stuff remains invisible. I’m sharing this resource because, in the right context, I see true potential in its integration with teaching and learning.

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Have you seen Squidoo? I would roughly describe it as a means of mashing up information from a variety of resources into a lens (as in the eye of a giant squid; fancy word for webpage). This is accomplished through customization and pulling together a good number of RSS feeds, favorites, bookmarks, page rankings/voting, etc. Lenses are ranked, money is given to daily winners, etc.* You can actually earn money for charity or for yourself just by using the service.* I have browsed through many of the existing lenses and been impressed by their quality. I am guessing that the whole free market competition model encourages quality effort as those with lenses with the highest use and approval are rewarded. Most of the ones I reviewed were by doctors, therapists, professors, etc. and all seemed well-credentialed. It is likely that you will find some lenses that you can use in your own classroom.

I haven’t completely made up my mind about what I think of Squidoo (I found it very, very late last night) but it has certainly given me some things to consider. Ideas for integrating it with learning and instruction have flooded my mind. In the right context it would be an interesting tool for teachers and learners to use for webquests, research, scavenger hunts, presentations, cooperative learning, online classes, a Web 2.0 activity, etc. Additional ideas and strategies are very end of this post.

There is also a section called Hey Monkey Brain where students can pick, research and debate a topic. Again, in the right context this feature has several positive educational implications.

I joined and threw together my own lens on the topic of educational technology. Take a look…

You can setup your own free account using here.

Integrating Squidoo

I thought it might be helpful to all of us if we brainstormed ways to integrate the use of Squidoo with teaching and learning. Here are some of the ideas (classes, lesson topics, activities) that came to me.

  • Business
  • Economics
  • Research
  • Writing and editing
  • Information design
  • Current events
  • Math/ science/ health news and research
  • Travel planning/ virtual field trip scenarios
  • Marketing
  • Student designed and developed webquests
  • Homework helper
  • Tips for parents
  • Book reviews
  • Debate/ critical thinking/ persuasive writing
  • Newsletters
  • Service learning/ moral education
  • Instructional design/ lesson planning
  • Online/ web-enhanced learning
  • Focus on composers, painters, or sculptors
  • Communicate information and resources to teachers about particular special needsMuch of the above can be modified for use in foreign language classes

Video for Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

(I know that it looks like I’m on this music video kick, but I’m really not. I’ve had these bookmarked for months and have been meaning to post them. For whatever reason I’ve just managed to throw these all up here back-to-back-to-back.)

Someone decided to share their fun interpretation of Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. This video reminds me of the Selfish Jean video because they are both providing the words to accompany the song lyrics. However, they are very different in their presentations.

Are these folks really creative or do they just have too much free time?!?! 🙂