There are so many choices that it was actually hard for me to pick one. I did not realize that their are over 3,000 tools that are a part of Web 2.0. Some of them like Amazon I use all the time; that is where I buy all my school books from to save money. I was also surprised when I saw Picasa and Picnik on the list. I just discovered them a few semesters back in a class I was taking and I love using them too...they are free! And there really is nothing better than that.
The tool I did finally choose to discover was Pandora. I am a big music lover and would be totally lost without my iPod. Pandora is an online radio station you get for free. YES! MORE FREE STUFF! The only thing I do not like about this tool is the ads and commercials that come up. I rather dislike commercials, especially ones I can't see. When I am listening to the radio in my car and a commerical comes on I change it everytime until I find a station playing a song. Thankfully it never takes that long to find something, but with Pandora you can't really skip over the commmercials. That is a bit of a problem. Other than that I really like this tool. It is useful because you can create your own channels, whether it be country (my favorite) or rock and roll or Christmas music, Pandora will play only what you want. You can even create a channel for your favorite artist(s).
The only way I see this tool being applicable in a school or library is if a teacher wants to play music for the class while working on an assignement, or if they are having a celebration of some sort. It could be really useful in a music class to have students listen to different artist and composers. Otherwise, I just don't think there are any practical uses in a class or library (those are supposed to be quiet). http://news.cnet.com/8301-13546_109-10236913-29.html?tag=mncol this link is to the page about Pandora
www.pandora.com this link os to the Pandora website itself if any has not checked it out yet.
I love using Pandora, I discovered it recently as well. A few years ago, it was almost impossible to find free music. It's amazing what advances have been made.
ReplyDeletePandora is an awesome thing to use! Matter of fact I was using it yesterday while I was cleaning. Lol. But like Kala stated, it is so hard now a days to find free music, but Pandora lets us do it. Even though it has a few ads here and there, it's still worth it!!
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is so worth it! And I use Pandora or iTunes when I clean too. Makes it a much more fun when there is music in the background.
DeleteI feel like Pandora can have a practical use in class for one, it can play music of a specific genre, so maybe if you're reading Spanish literature in a class, play some Latino music softly in the background to set the mood, or find a classical station to play while students are studying or working on assignments to keep a calm atmosphere. I love music, and I feel that it can really help to create a certain mood to an environment. Like if it's clean up time, play some jazz or boogie to get the kids up and going! Or quiet time again, play some classical instrumental music. Then of course you can always use it as a reward; if the class behaves you'll let them listen to their favorite station for ten minutes while they do busy work, or something like that. The only danger there is being familiar with artists and/or songs of the time to make sure nothing dirty or inappropriate will pop up. The commercials do get annoying, but so far nothing inappropriate has shown up, so it's not a problem for the class. Now that I've left you a wall of text haha, I hope you find uses for pandora in the classroom as well as using it to study or clean yourself! Like I do :')
ReplyDeleteI have not heard of a few of the tools that you mentioned, like Picasa and Picnik, so I'll have fun discovering those I'm sure~! It was nice to read your insight about Pandora seeing that you just discovered it : ) I've been using it since I started college in 2009 and it's been a life saver as I spent many a night in the library until 12am, and the music on Pandora kept me going!