Sunday, November 29, 2009

Web 2.0 Tool: TubeRadio.fm



I researched TubeRadio.fm (http://www.tuberadio.fm/). “TubeRadio is a music player for the Web built that is built around YouTube, so it has the largest music library in the world because you can have anything that is up on YouTube. And YouTube has millions and millions of songs” (TubeRadio, n.d.).
I was quite impressed with this tool. For those who are familiar with Apple’s iTunes (http://www.apple.com/itunes/) it follows a similar layout to that software’s music player. TubeRadio allows the user to search for songs and create playlists from these searches. Since the songs are pulled from YouTube users oftentimes are able to see the associated music video as well as hearing the song. The unique thing is that you can share these playlists with others, sharing via email, FaceBook, and Twitter, to name some.
I am a music teacher who teaches grades K-12. My use of TubeRadio would be focused on my senior high school students. My high school music class is organized in “pop band” format, vocals, keyboards, guitars, bass, and drums. The music styles that are learned in this class are very contemporary, rock, pop, r&b, hip-hop. The students study real-world artists whose songs have recent releases. From a teacher’s point of view, I can easily create a playlist of the songs that the class will be performing in an upcoming concert or chapel, and email this playlist to the students. The students will then have an actual audio reference to practice with.
For student assignments, I’d have students search for live performances of the original artists or if necessary, live performances of others. Watching live performances would give students a visual guide, help them maintain their interest, and decreases developmental time. (Hudson Music, 2009). Another student assignment would be for them to independently find a number of live performances, make a playlist, email it to me, and then I would assign them a performance to learn and perform it in class.
TubeRadio is a great resource that I plan on making use of immediately.

References
TubeRadio. (2009.) Welcome to TubeRadio.fm. Retrieved November 29, 2009 from http://www.tuberadio.fm/tuberadio.asp
Hudson Music. (2009). New media brings new benefits to music education. Hudson Music: Education plus Inspiration. Retrieved November 29, 2009, from http://www.hudsonmusic.com/hudson/tip/articles/new-media-brings-new-benefits-to-music-education/
Image is user created screenshot of TubeRadio.com taken November 29, 2009.

2 comments:

  1. Michael,

    Great ideas. TubeRadio.fm a perfect Web 2.0 for you and your students. Very cool. I love seeing the Web 2.0 selections of my classmates. I'll check it out.

    ~Joan

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  2. Let me know how it goes! I would love to hear how your students respond. Great find.

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