Audioboo (Week 7 part 2)

What?

Audioboo a simple way of recording audio while on the move and adding as much useful data to it as possible, such as photos, tags and location. The recording will link to Audioboo website itself, facebook, twitter, youtube as well as itunes. Users can add image and location of where they record their 'boo'. Recently, users can download the Audioboo application for smartphone either it is Iphone, Android or Nokia. Most of the students have smartphone, so they can just record and send it to others using their own phone!

How to use it?

Step 1: Go to the http://audioboo.fm/



Step 2: Get yourself an account. You need to fill in e-mail address, user name and password
Step 3: Check your email to verify your Audioboo account
Step 4: Click 'make a recording/upload file'
Step 5: For full tutorial on how to use Audioboo, you may click at Russell Stannard's Website


Suggested activities:

1. Pair work in a classroom. Students work in pair to talk about their opinion about learning English. Later, the teacher select a recording and play it to the class. Otherwise, teacher can ask students to e-mail the recording.

2. As a homework. Teacher asks students to record using Audioboo and e-mail it to the teacher. The topic is based on their own interest such as sport, hobby and so on. Teacher may reply the e-mail as a form of personal feedback.

I like it because:

1. Students get a real-life communication. They can interact with the others using feedback/comments on the podcast. It motivate them to write as it creates an authentic audience for the learners.

2. The website is free. There is no administration fee. So, it is practical for students to use it anytime they want either at school or home.

3. It creates personalization in learning. Students may record the voice based on their own interest. It encourages them to use the target language because they enjoy doing it!

I don't like it because:

1. There is no privacy as it can be view by anyone. Students may feel ashamed if they make a wrong using of language. Thus, it demotivates them to learn more.

2. Limited time to record. Learners have 3 minutes to record. If they want more, they need to pay for it.

3. Students need to have an access to the technology equipment such as internet connection and microphone

The example of Audioboo made by myself:

Wordle (Week 7 part 1)

What?

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends. The tool is suitable for young learners at the age of 8-11 years old. The images can stimulate students' awareness of the topic.


How to do it?

Step 1: Go to Wordle website and you will see as below
Step 2: click at 'create' button on top of the page and paste your own choice of text
Step 3: click submit and choose the style, layout, font and the color that you want your visual to be.

* If you need more information about Wordle, you can visit Russell Stannard's website

step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Suggested activities:

1. The tool is suitable to be used as a pre-reading activity. For example, teacher gives students a paper consist of wordle words in it. As we know that, the bigger word means it is a key ideas of text. So, students need to guess the main ideas of the text before they read it.

2. Besides, teacher can use it for speaking purposes. The tool encourages students to talk during the discussion. It creates a communicative task for learners by giving up their opinion of the upcoming text.


I like it because:

1. It is free and everyone can assess to the tool
2. It motivates students to think creatively during their own learning
3. The tool suitable for any text and languages
4. It creates communicative task for students

I don't like it because:

1. It is not suitable for colour blind. They might find it useless to use in class
2. Students need to have a better internet connection to use the tool


Reference site:

Wordle on Youtube!

LyricsTraining (Week 1)

What?

Learning a new language is not easy and the traditional courses that make you memorize vocabulary and grammar are too boring. LyricsTraining is a website that makes learning a new language easy by listening to music and lyrics. It is an easy and fun method to learn and improve your foreign languages skills through the music videos and lyrics of your favorite songs. You can use it to learn English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Dutch.


How to use it?

Step 1: Go to Lyricstraining Webpage and you will find the page as shown above
Step 2: Choose a song based on your interest. Then, choose your level such as beginner, intermediate and expert
Step 3: You need to complete the blank lyrics to continue playing the music (The music will stop playing to give time for you to write)
Step 4: To listen again to the last line, press backspace key. If you get stuck, you can click the 'give up!' button and see the word.
Step 5: If you could not understand a word, you may press the tab key to jump to the next. Once finished filling all the blanks, you can check your score.

*If you need a clear instruction on how to use Lyricstraining, you can visit Russell Stannard Website.


The example of Lyricstraining:

Bruno Mars - The Lazy Song, Music Video, Song Lyrics and Karaoke

Suggested activities:

1. Lyricstraining is very useful in a spelling activity. Teacher can form a group of students and they need to spell out the words correctly in order to complete the song. The fastest group that able to finish it will be declared as the winner.

2. Lyricstraining can be used as a homework. Teacher provides a list of song and students can choose which song they prefer to do it at home. It encourages the students to do their own learning outside classroom. Thus, it is an autonomous learning!

3. Teacher can check students' pronunciation in a target language. They can do it in a karaoke mode by singing a song with a correct pronunciation.

I like it because:

1. It is a multitasking activity. It requires students to use two important skills in learning a language which is listening and writing skills.
2. Besides, it encourage autonomous learning.
3. It is fun method of learning a target language as it is totally different with traditional type of learning language which is memorization of words.
4. Do not need to register or sign up to use it
5. You can still check the your score even-though you are not register
6. There are other languages that students can try to master such as French, Spanish, German, Italian and Dutch.


I don't like it because:

1. Inappropriate use of language through the lyrics as it comes from various kind of songs
2. There are some video clips that not suitable to be watched by the students
3. The lyrics of certain song may be difficult for the students to guess. It can demotivate them to continue the activity.

Related Link

Lyrictraining on YouTube

Dvolver (Week1)

Hello and welcome to my blog. For my first entry, I will explore a tool that can help students learning language through Dvolver.

What?

Dvolver is a website where you can make a cartoon comic strip type movie online using pre-made graphics. It is a combination of moviemaker and animations. The dialogue in a movie will appear in a form of bubbles. Students can explore the process of making the movie as an activity in a classroom or as a homework. The tool is suitable to be used by the primary or secondary school students range age between 8-17 years old with different levels such as beginner, intermediate and advanced.

Dvolver Moviemaker page

How to do it?

Step 1: Go to www.dvolver.com and click on the Moviemaker balloon
Step 2: Select a background and sky and click Next
Step 3: Select a plot and click Next
Step 4: Select characters and click Next
Step 5: Type in what you want your characters to say. Click Next
Step 6: Select music and choose between adding another scene (and repeat above instructions) or finishing movie
Step 7: Select the movie title design and give the movie a title and director’s name
Step 8: Press Preview and Send and complete the emailing details to send your movie to someone.

*If you need a clear instruction on how to use Dvolver, you can visit to Russell Stannard website.

Suggested activities:

1. Teacher can ask students to make a comic strip on their own. It depends to the students to choose a suitable topic for the movie such as their experience at school or their plan for summer holiday. It can motivate students to learn the language more as it is something that they enjoy doing it.

2. Teacher can ask students to make a summary of a text that they had read into a mini movie using Dvolver. It is important as teacher can check students' understanding of a text. Students' understanding of text can be interpreted into a dialogue between characters.

3. Teacher pair up students and let them explore the website. In order to form a grammatical sentence, the collaboration between students can help them to improve their understanding of a language in a fun and interactive way.

The example of Dvolver




I like it because:

1. It enhances students' creativity in directing the movie.
2. Brings variety of activities in learning a language.
3. Encourage autonomous learning by the students.
4. It is free and do not need to create an account or sign up
5. The 'product' of learning can be sent to others via e-mail or post it on blog.
6. Students take fully charge on making a movie such as in choosing a background music, settings and the characters

I don't like it because:

1. Students may use an appropriate language while using it.
2. Once students published the movie, it cannot be edited. Students need to make a new one if they do not satisfied with the first attempt.
3. Time consuming for teachers and students if it is being done as a classroom activity
4. Certain character may not suitable for students such as Hottie which is a bit sexy.
5. There are only three scenes available for the movie and the text entry is limited to write.
6. Lack of ICT facilites especially in rural area such as internet connection

Related Link

• Dvolver on YouTube

• The following link may help you with troubleshooting that you encounter CLICK HERE