Free and easy-to-use audio and video tools

I've been working on a university assignment with one of my classmates, which is about designing a coursebook. Ours is going to focus on developing young learners speaking skills, so the issue that emerged right in the beginning is how it is possible to assess speaking skills and give feedback for around 30 learners.This is where technology can come handy, so I looked for different apps that could solve our problem. I'm going to show you one video and three audio tools that I think a language teacher can make a good use of, with links to straightforward training videos created by Russell Stannard from www.teachertrainingvideos.com.

Vocaroo- online voice recorder

Pros:

• no need for registration
• you can copy and share the link,e-mail it, embed it to your blog, or download the recording
• link it to Twitter and Facebook
• allows to record up to 5 minutes, which is just enough time for young learners to record their tasks
• free

Cons:

• it uses Flash player (doesn't work on Ipad)
• cannot link it to Itunes (learners cannot subscribe to each others podcasts)
• as there's no registration it gives no option to save your recordings on the website or other audio files you'd like to upload

Training video for Vocaroo

 

Audioboom- podcasting tool

Pros:

•  it allows you to record up to 10-minute videos
• you can embed the video to your blog or e-mail it
•  you can upload other audio files
• it works on Iphone as well
• learners can subscribe to each others podcasts
• you can link it to Itunes to share your podcasts
• you can link it to Twitter and Facebook
• free

Cons:

• you need to register, although it has the advantage of saving your recordings
• you cannot share the link
• you cannot download it
• it uses Flash player (doesn't work on Ipad)

Training video for Audioboom

SoundCoud- audio recorder

You want to use this tool if you want to give written feedback at a certain point of the recording.

Pros:

• what differentiates it from the other tools is that you can add comments to the recording, in other words the teacher can leave feedback, at any part of the recording by stopping the recording and typing your notes, the learners can even respond to your notes
• you can give feedbck using the learner's recording instead of creating a separate voice recrding
• you can record up to 3 hours
• you can share the link, embed the recording or download
• you can upload other audio files from your computer
• you can save all your recording and re-visit them on your account
• works on IPhone, Ipad and smart phones as well
• free

Cons:

• you need to register
• it might be a bit confusing for younger learners to do the recording; it is a better tool for the teacher who can upload the learners recording from the computer, give feedback and send it back to the learners

Training video for SoundCloud
 

MailVU- video message tool

Pros:

•  can be used without registration
•  you can record up to 16-minute videos
• if you do register for a free account:

•  you can save your videos
• share the link

• you can email it
• works with Iphone and smart phones 

Cons:

•  you cannot embed or upload videos only with the business account

Training video for MailVU
 

What can you use them for?

• they are all great tools for learners to do oral practise outside the classroom
• ask the learners to record themselves, talk about a certain topic that you worked with in the class
• ask them to make interviews with each-other as a homework
• they can also record each other in the class, one Iphone\ smart phone is enough in a group
• if you prefer to give them feedback verbally it is easily done via the tools, also quicker and can be more detailed than a written feedback
• once they've done their recordings you can choose the best and present them to the whole class to learn from them

Glogster, the interactive poster platform

Glogster can be a great interactive presentation tool in the classroom. You can design your whole poster from scratch or you can choose from many templates with different design. Once you register you can add text, graphics, image, wall, audio and video. For graphics, and image you can add yours or choose from Glogster's options. Although you can add as many text as would like to, because of its nature it works best with listening,speaking and pronunciation tasks. If you have the option to use SartBoard, student using their hands would have even more fun. Therefore this interactive platform supports the visual, kinesthetic and auditory learning styles.

For starters Russell Stannard's training video for is a very good start. Here is the link from his website www.teachertrainigvideos.com: Glogster training video

Creating posters is fun but can be very time-consuming. However, the website has it own library called 'Glogpedia', where people can share contents. There are 'glogs' created in many kinds of topics, e.g.: social studies, maths, music, languages, fitness etc. There's a subtopic even for English language learners. The glogs are so eye-catching, that even before introducing the topic students will be hooked.

It is also a good tool for the student to collaborate on a certain topic. Needless to say, students have to be computer literate to do that, so I wouldn't use it with students younger than 8. It if you pay for the basic 'Elementary' licence you can add 30 students to your account to be able to create posters. This way you can monitor and also comment on their work. Using a 'glog' as a tool for a lesson plan students will learn presentation skills in an indirect way. After the lesson they can be asked to do their mini presentation with Glogster or on a piece of paper. Using Glogster they also improve their research and IT skills; how to look for trusted information on the web, where to look for pictures and videos, how to embed videos and pictures to your poster.

As the posters are internet-based time has to be spent on technical preparation and it is always worth to try out the poster in advance of the class. Also you should always have a backup plan if technology would let you down. This can be done mostly by printing the poster and downloading the audio, audio-visual tasks on your laptop.

This is my first Glog. I ceated it for students of age 8, not complete beginners. I would use this Glog as a supplement after a 60 minute-class of introducing the topic of the seaside. I designed this poster to use it in two 30-minute classes. At the end of the class students would make their own mini presentations about what they've learnt during the two classes. They could also record their presentation with e.g. Vocaroo, which allows students to make a recording not longer than 5 minute. With the same tool you can give feedback to them and\or reuse, recycle the recordings for another task in the future.