Audio recording and editing

Several teachers are using Chromebooks for in-class audio recording. This can look like traditional voice recording, like voiceovers for multimedia or individual podcasts, but some classrooms are using audio tools to record group conversations for lit circles, foreign language discussions and other kinds of formative assessment tasks. In the past, teachers could only meaningfully hear and assess one group at a time, but with audio recording, both teacher and student participants can archive and retrieve group conversations, brainstorming sessions, and other informal communication. Here are some tools to do it on a Chromebook:

Vocaroo is a web-based tool that uses the device microphone OR a plug-in mic to record audio. It has a single click to record and stop, and then allows you to share a link to the recording in a variety of ways, OR download the recording as an mp3 file to be saved in the student's Google Drive account. Teachers could have students submit the file itself or a link to the file through Google Classroom or School Loop. There's no ability to edit your file -- you are just recording what the microphone hears.


Voice Recorder is the Chrome app of the same simple feature. Students can add this app to their Chrome browser and use it for simple recordings. The only additional feature is the ability to trim the size of recordings.

For more advanced audio edits, TwistedWave is another online audio tool that provides many more features for audio editing, like trimming, effects, etc. It's also available as a Chrome app. You can record directly into the app or upload a file to make edits to it. Free accounts are limited to 5 minutes in length.


Using a USB microphone can greatly improve the quality of the recording and the reduction in ambient noise. The library has a set of 6 omni-directional snowball mics that can pick up the conversation of a group or can focus the audio of an individual speaker. There are many applications of audio recording in the classroom -- have fun with the experimentation!