USING TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

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HEARING VOICES IN ONLINE LANGUAGE LEARNING
Becoming a Webhead Seminar January 25th, 2007
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Are you using the Internet like a book?
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The Internet is more than a book.

• The Internet is not just a passive resource. As
  someone
• commented after one of my voice online workshops,
  
• That was amazing! I thought the Internet was
  just
• something for getting information.
• NOT SO! This view of the Internet ignores the
  great
• many opportunities for
• interaction with others via computer mediated
• communication (CMC) tools,
• 2) and to help create the content of the web

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The read/write web (Tim Berners-Lee) So
therefore also the listen/speak web
Picture by dwstucke
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Movies or stage plays?
(Are you making movies or just filming stage
plays?)
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pre-technology teaching

• Sage on the stage (drone on the throne)
• Teacher centred

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post-technology teaching
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In Practice

• We DONT all teach the same way
• We DONT all teach in pre-technology ways

post Internet arrival
pre Internet

lecturers move back and forth along continuum
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Paradigm Shift
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WHO BENEFITS FROM VOICE?

• English as Second or Other Language Learners
  (ESOL)
• Low level literacy
• Those with little recent formal learning
  experience
• Those with poor keyboard skills
• Those who prefer an auditory style of learning

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• For these types of learners it definitely results
  in richer participation and increased levels of
  satisfaction

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Issues (1)

• Saves times for students, but NOT for teachers
• Allows for individual monitoring/feedback/encourag
  ement in ways not hitherto possible esp using
  Voice Boards
• Horizon Wimba
• Vaestro
• Chinswing

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ISSUES (2)

• Structured exercises alleviate the problem of
  lack of visible audience (some students find it
  hard to talk to a void)

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ISSUES (3)

• Public v Private Space
• Students feel strange posting in public spaces
• Many students do not have private access to
  computers
• Reduces anxiety of talking in front of an audience

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Voice Tools - Synchronous and Asynchronous

• Whether using synch or asynch, good practice
  accommodates voice interactions that include the
  student as a contributor in the dialogue a
  participative model (not broadcast)
• This is particularly important when contemplating
  uses for podcasting make sure students get some
  airtime!

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Range of Tools
THE RANGE OF TOOLS

• SYNCHRONOUS
• Instant Messengers (Yahoo, MSN, AOL, ICQ, Skype)
• Voice chat rooms (Horizon Wimba)
• Virtual Classrooms (iVocalize, Live Classroom,
  Centra, Elluminate)
• ASYNCHRONOUS
• Voice Boards (Horizon Wimba, Vaestro, Chinswing)
• Voice Email (Horizon Wimba, Springdoo, Vemail,
  Handybits)
• Digital Storytelling (Photo Story, Movie Maker)
• Audio Blogging (Hipcast, Gcast)
• Podcasting (Podomatic, Odeo, Podcaster)

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HOW CAN YOU USE VOICE TOOLS? (1)

• Conferences to deliver and participate
  (Webheads)
• Teacher Education
• With students
• 1) Live discussion with a musician about
  their work
• Organised by Webhead Aiden Yeh (Taiwan) and
  Michael Coghlan (Australia)
• http//dcyeh.com/sy0304/2ndsem/groupa_projects/ha
  ppy/

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HOW CAN YOU USE VOICE TOOLS? (2)

• With students
• 2) Small Group Discussion - Intercultural
  Communication
• Streetlife Project organised by Webhead Anne Fox
  (Denmark) http//streetlife.homestead.com/

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HOW CAN YOU USE VOICE TOOLS? (3)

• With students
• 3) Small Group Discussion - Intercultural
  Communication
• Interviews organised by Webhead Chris Jones
  (Arizona, US now in UAE) see student comments
  at http//sp05internet.blogspot.com/ (links to
  student blogs in right margin)

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HOW CAN YOU USE VOICE TOOLS? (4)

• With students
• 3) Small Group Discussion On Architecture and
  Urban Planning
• Discussion organised by Webhead Dafne Gonzalez
  (Venezuela) http//vaestro.com/viewforum-368

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HOW CAN YOU USE VOICE TOOLS? (5)

• With students
• 3) Oral Presentations
• organised by Webhead Buthaina Al-Othman (Kuwait)
• http//alothman-b.tripod.com/wia_162finalproj.htm
• 4) Pronunciation Practice
• 5) Fluency (http//aidenyeh.podomatic.com)
• 6) House Student work (audioblogs, podcasts)
• 6) Sense of Community

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MEDIA RICH BLOGS
MULTILITERACY DIGITAL LITERACY ELITERACY

• http//english-ad.blogspot.com/
• by students of Aiden Yeh

Aiden is an EFL Lecturer, Wenzao Ursuline College
of Languages Kaohsiung, Taiwan MOVIE
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Cutting Edge Community Building?

• .. the cutting edge in the language classroom is
  not any single tool, but a complete learning
  community.  I have used various individual tools
  with success but have been never satisfied with
  each alone.  I have used email exchanges,
  discussion boards, wikis, surveys, and now Skype
  but they all leave me wanting something that will
  integrate all the communication in my
  classroom.I sense the cutting edge is in blended
  learning that connects both the face-to-face
  community and the online community that my
  classroom is. 
• (Don Hinkelman)

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ARE YOU BUILDING COMMUNITY IN YOUR CLASSES?
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Is this the Paradigm Shift required?
COMMUNITY-CENTRIC
(diagram courtesy of James Farmer)
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Mobile Phones
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Africa Skips the Net

• A trinity finance, mobile phones Africa
• Sponsor a PayPhone Lady

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CONVERGENCEHand Held PC Phone


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Whither Voice Technologies?

• VOIP (Voice over Internet
• Protocol) eg Skype to Phone
• Coupled with desktop video conferencing
• Use with PDAs and other mobile devices
• Is voice alone a transition technology?

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Whither Voice Technologies?

• As an extra channel in 3D virtual worlds eg Vivox
  Second Life client

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Second Life (http//secondlife.com/)
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Whither Voice Technologies?

• Podcasting (lectures, interviews, instructional
  bytes, assignments, etc)
• Part of the personal publishing revolution
• Retrieval of info from remote databases eg
  Wikipedia
• Voice recognition software will become better and
  better..

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RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS SESSION
AThttp//users.chariot.net.au/michaelc/fll/vol_
resources.htmand http//users.chariot.net.au/
michaelc/els/pres.htm
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THE BOTTOM LINE

• Every language class should have
• A voice board
• A virtual classroom (eg Alado)
• An audioblog (Hipcast or GCast)
• A podcast site (Podomatic, Odeo)
• create Digital Stories with PhotoStory or Movie
  Maker and store them at places like YouTube or
  BlipTV see example video

courtesy of anybaird.com
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• thank you
• michael coghlan
• michaelc_at_chariot.net.au