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I'm a big fan of remix and mashup culture. I love the idea of taking one thing and adding new meaning by combining it with another; or of using tech tools in unexpected ways to build a new hybrid creation—practices like this have a role to play in digital literacy. I think remixes and mashups can be particularly engaging tools for teaching and learning, so I was delighted when I discovered the work of , the creator of , a project that remixes science lectures and content into music videos, made using the often over-used and much-blighted audio tool .

So, a big hat tip to Boswell, for being the inspiration for this playlist. Taking an artifact from popular culture and using it to make academic content more appealing—he's an educator after my own heart. He's also the creator of those wonderful "" videos for PBS Digital Studios that have everyone so tickled. I poked around to see if I could find more people using Auto-Tune in educational projects; you'll see my findings below. I hope it makes you laugh, and not cringe too much—but most of all, I hope it makes you think about how you can engage your students by putting a pop culture spin on core content.

Video Playlist: Auto-Tune the Schools with Pop Culture!

Watch the first video below, or watch the whole playlist on .

1. (05:53)

   The good folks at produced this video in 2009 -- this is for those of you scratching your heads. (Warning, some not-school-safe videos at that last link.)

2. (03:54)

   The above-mentioned John D. Boswell made this one as a thank you to teachers, from a keynote speech by at the conference.

3. (07:08)

   This fantastic clip from has host with Andy Hildebrand (inventor of Auto-Tune) exploring the science behind how Auto-Tune actually works -- using Neil's own off-pitch singing!

4. (01:22)

   I think the title says it all. This one was made by , internet remix superstars and creators of the brilliant series (along with viral hits like and the ).

5. (03:41)

   From to , hit a home run when they commissioned Boswell to make this series of . Who will be next?

6. (03:18)

   Saturday Night Live's profanity-filled "I'm On a Boat" music video was a hilarious (if inappropriate for school!) parody on Auto-Tune and the rap video genre, and featured T-Pain, the artist who popularized Auto-Tune as an overt vocal effect. This one's a little tamer.

7. (02:33)

   This video uses , an app (developed for The Gregory Brothers, in fact!) that turns any speech into song, to talk about 21st-century skills. Created by two teachers on a whim.

8. (03:29)

   "The world is a dynamic mass of jiggling things!" In this video, Boswell remixes Morgan Freeman, Stephen Hawking, and Michio Kaku, among others, to explore quantum physics.

9. (01:20)

   In honor of a certain recent holiday of silliness: students pull a great April Fool's Day prank on a professor by switching his normal microphone with an Auto-Tune-enabled one.

10. (02:47)

    At this point in the playlist you may not be shocked to know that there's a whole YouTube channel dedicated to Auto-Tuning Apple product announcements, . Jobs' famous Stanford commencement speech, however, is my favorite.

11. (03:47)

    I had to end once again on John D. Boswell -- this time on the familiar opening animation and all the speakers in the lineup from . Is there nothing this man can't remix into sheer inspiration??

More Tools for Teaching with Pop Culture

Whether you think Auto-Tune is the coolest thing ever invented or that it , there's no denying that it can be a fun tool for students to play with. And it's just one example from the treasure trove of great ideas and tools you can use when you start thinking about how to make content exciting for kids by bringing in bits of pop culture. If you're thinking of doing remixes with your kids, I've collected a bunch of good resources for fair use over on my Best Education Parodies of 2012 film festival, so I'll skip that angle and just focus on a few additional fun links here.

• (Resource-Sharing Community for Teachers)
• "," by Liana Heitin, EdWeek
• "," by Marc D. Hauser, EdWeek
• (for and , from )
• from Discovery Educators Network
• "," by GettingSmart Staff, GettingSmart
• "," by Tristin Hopper, How Stuff Works
• "," teaching module by Tim Wheedon
• "," by David D. Burstein, Fast Company