Playlist.com alternatives?

[Tammy Maginity]

I have teachers that have used playlist.com in the past to get quick music for learning topics but we had to block it because of the adds (not good). An example of what she would do is: they are learning about rain forests. She would type that into playlist and get rain forest sounds.

Anyone have a better alternative that she can use on the fly?

[Ben Rimes]

Wait, so the school blocked the site because of the advertisements? They don't have an advertisement blocking solution?

That's beside the point. What's really at heart here is searching any advertisement based site for media "on the fly" (especially one that allows video or image ads) really shouldn't be used with the students. It's much more suitable for the teacher to use to find the resource, and then download it/purchase/do whatever has to be done so the kids can use it later. Hopefully you have someone in your building that can help teachers better plan ahead for finding rich media on sites that don't contain advertisements.

Not that what I've said up until now has been very helpful, so here's a better solution: Use the Smithsonian Folkways archive of non-profit music and sounds from the Smithsonian. You can preview the music there or purchase individual tracks if you like.

[Andrew Birt]

Are you able to access youtube or teachertube?

[Ben Rimes]

I wouldn't recommend YouTube or TeacherTube if she's going to continue using it on the fly. YouTube for the content, and TeacherTube for the advertisements (it's gotten bad lately).

[Ron Houtman]

Tammy, interesting that a site was blocked because of advertisements. Using that logic, Google, Bing, Yahoo, and pretty much any other search engine results would need to be blocked as well. Sounds to me that there is another unspoken reason... but I digress.

Here's a few suggestions for you on sounds and music:
Try looking at the Creative Commons Content Directory for Audio files first. If you don't find what you are looking for there, you can also try Sound Jay. Finally, try this blog post - most are free for non-commercial use, or can be used in a fair use situation.

Good luck with your IT staff. I have one question that you might throw out at your next meeting with your administrators: Is the role of IT to enable or block teaching and learning? You have to say it the right way to be effective... but non the less, it's a good question to ask when we start talking about the reason for schools to exist, that is - so our kids can flourish, learn, be creative and be prepared for their future - not ours.

[Tammy Maginity]

We are actually quite liberal with our "blocking" Just in this one case there were some really severe ads coming thru and making it past the ad blocker. We have youtube and all those types of sites open and we train our staff about appropriate use. This one case was just a little different.

[Ben Rimes]

I agree, the image ads were just downright dirty at times whren I visited the site, so blocking was appropriate.

[Tammy Maginity]

Yes, we have an advertisement blocking solution and yes I realize the other things said here. Good points. For some reason, Playlist.com ads were coming thru. I did find another site dizzler.com that seems to work with our ad blocker. Also, the types of ads that were coming thru were not the "normal" ads that I see at a google or bing.

Of course the best solution is for a teacher to "plan ahead" and download items. I have been working with her on that. But there are times when you are in a lesson or a discussion and the need comes up where using a site like this needs to be on the fly. She does not show it up on the screen for the class to see. Actually, that is what technology should be about, a tool that can help in learning and we all know that sometimes the learning can head into directions that the teacher did not see. So having a tool that can be used on the fly is an asset for the learning process. Not just in music but any type of information. Maybe it is an image, or a video or speech/sound clip. Teachers of course need to trained on how to use these types of resources appropriately and safely in the learning environment.

Thanks for the link to the Smithsonian and creative commons. I think they will be great resources.

[Ron Houtman]

I apologize that I assumed too much based on the description. I too have run into some pretty invasive Flash-based, pop-under ads that are pretty impossible to get around - even with my AdBlock Plus plug-in, and my HOSTS list enabled. Those sneaky code-monkeys keep zigging every time we zag. Best of luck with helping your students and teachers.