Audacity

Description of the Tool

Audacity is a free downloadable audio recorder and editor. With Audacity you can cut, copy and mix sounds together. You can change the speed and pitch of a sound or add different filters for better clarity or to add cool effects. It also allows you to record audio and convert audio to different formats. In this paper, we will cover some basics and a few ways you can edit a sound file.

How to Use This Tool

I would first like to go over a few essentials of Audacity before we start editing sound files. When you open up the program, you will notice that there are several dropdown options at the top: File, Edit, View, Transport, Tracks, Generate, Effect, Analyze and Help.

And you should also notice your sound playback options and record button. You can use the record button if you would like to record a new sound, but for this paper, we are going to use an existing sound file. In order to do that we have to click the 'File' dropdown menu and select 'Open'. That will make a widow pop open where you can select a sound file on your computer.

Once a sound file is opened, we are going to cut out the parts we don't want. This is a great tool if you want to use just a portion of the sound file that you have. You do this by highlighting a part of the music that you don't want by clicking and dragging the cursor over the sound wave. This grey area has been selected.

To remove the selected part of the sound file, you can hit the ‘delete’ on your keyboard or select the scissors button. Other options allow you to copy your selection and paste your selection.

Tip: Theses buttons allow you to zoom in and zoom out, zoom in on a certain selection and zoom out to view the whole sound file. Zoom buttons can help you navigate the sound file to make quicker and more precise selections.

Once you have your sound file cut and put together the way you want it, now you can add some sound effects. One effect that might be useful is the 'Change Speed' effect. If a person talks slow and monotone, speeding the recording up can really improve the sound file for presentations. Changing the speed is also useful if you need to make presentations a certain length. To do this you need to select the 'Effect' dropdown menu and then 'Change Speed':

A window should open where you can move the slider OR input the new speed in the boxes:

Hit 'OK' if you accept changing the speed and 'Cancel' if you don't.

There are all kinds of other effects that you can play with to improve the sound or make the sound fun for entertaining activities. You can always hit the undo button or start over with a new file.

When you finish editing your audio file you will need to export it so you can use it. Click the 'File' dropdown menu and select 'Export'. A new window should pop up where you can name your file and set the format. You will need to save your file in the WAV format unless you download the extra add-ons that allow you to export into other formats.

How Can This Tool be Used by the Trainer/Teacher?

Teachers and trainers can use Audacity in several ways. One way they can use it is to record important podcasts, interviews or other audio that contain significant information for their professional development. Another way they might use it is for recording notes or journal entries so they can remember important things later.

How Can This Tool be Used by the Trainer/Teacher to Support Student Learning?

Audacity is a great tool to support all kinds of learning, here are some examples of how it can be used:

Creating class podcasts.
Teaching proper pronunciation and teaching new languages.
Keeping a recorded student progress log.
Recording instructions or audio clips for a video or presentation.
Creative class storytelling recordings, read-along audio or just storytelling time.
Teaching music.

How Can This Tool be Used by Students?

Students can use Audacity to practice creative arts by using different effects and creating mixes. It can come in handy with all sorts of class projects that use sound. They may also benefit from it in their own personal uses like cutting a song where they want it for ringtones and such.