Audacity®
What is it?
Audacity® is free, open source audio recording and editing software.
Is it Available for Windows, Mac, and Mobile?
Audacity® is available for Windows and Mac and, at this moment, there is no mobile application available.
How do you obtain Audacity® ?
Download the program from the download section on the Audacity® website. No registration fee is required. Just be sure to download from the official Audacity® website because other versions may contain viruses.
What are the benefits?
Audacity® has a simple, easy-to-use interface. Everyone from the novice to the more advanced user can create high-quality recordings. Once Audacity® is downloaded to a computer, an internet connection is no longer necessary.
What are the drawbacks?
Plug-ins are needed for more advanced recording techniques. For example, an MP3 encoder is needed to save a recording as an MP3 file.
How can Audacity® be used in education?
Audacity® can be used to help engage students and promote social learning. Below is a list of some of the ways Audacity® can be used in the adult education classroom.
- Create an audio welcome in online courses
- Give audio feedback to students
- Teachers can easily create podcasts
- Students can create podcasts
- Record interviews
- Create an audio journal
- Record dialogue for foreign language instruction
Lesson
Reading Out Loud with Audacity: A Lesson that Promotes Self-assessment
This lesson example describes how students can use Audacity to record themselves reading and then use the recording for follow-up self-assessment. This lesson was written for younger students, but adult learners can also benefit from this activity.
Audacity® Editing and Recording Software, Version 2.2.0
Lesson
Reading Out Loud with Audacity: A Lesson that Promotes Self-assessment
This lesson example describes how students can use Audacity to record themselves reading and then use the recording for follow-up self-assessment. This lesson was written for younger students, but adult learners can also benefit from this activity.
Resources
A Complete and Total Guide for Beginners (video)
UC Berkeley Audacity Tutorial (website)
The Audacity logo on this site is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, version 3.0.
Audacity® software is copyright© 1999-2018 Audacity Team.
The name Audacity® is a registered trademark of Dominic Mazzoni.