As a SLMS, it is often our task to be current on new technologies in order to be of good service to our school community and clientele. Podcasting, an increasingly popular way to create MP3 and MP4 audio files, allows teachers and students to record, and broadcast a variety of materials on the web. In order to be of assistance to the teachers at my school, I try to find out as much about this subject and begin to compile information, sites, and links to useful tools online that help the teachers at my school to begin to create podcast lessons and/ or projects for their classes.
After reading the chapter on podcasting, I Library 2.0, a myriad of ideas began to swirl around in my head about podcasting. I immediately began thinking about how I could use podcasting in my own foreign language classroom. One such use could be to improve pronunciation. If a school doesn’t have a language lab (like mine) and software for technical pronunciation the teacher can create a fast and flexible practice method for groups or individuals in the computer lab. Using a free program such as Audacity, the teacher records or provides a commercial pronunciation segment and posts it to a student access file. Students can then access the file, listen and record their own file. They can toggle back and forth between their recording and the teacher or commercial sample to refine their listening and pronunciation. They can re-record their own speech until they are satisfied with the result then save the final recording in MP3 format and put it in a computer file "drop box" for the teacher to review with each student later.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
This idea of using podcasting in a foreign language classroom to improve pronunciation makes a lot of sense. It's as if it multiplies you, the instructor, to practice individually with each student. Since practice is so crucial to learning a language, you've found a way to make sure that what is being practiced is the correct pronunciation. There have been so many times in the classroom when I've wished that I could duplicate myself...and you've found a way to do it!
Have you thought about having two students work together to plan and record a short conversation in the foreign language being learned? Depending on their level, it might be interesting to suggest a topic or location for their conversation to be based on and to see what they create. Au revoir!
Jeanne,
Your idea sounds great about using audacity to improve your student's pronunciation in French. This gives the students the opportunitiy to hear themselves live and monitor their own speech. As your students monitor their speech they are also becoming fluent speakers in French. Podcasting can be used for all sorts of things. Have you ever thought about having your students to create a 3 minute podcast on a booktalk in French. Wow, how exciting that would be for your students to participate in such activity!
You are correct that the SLMS must be current on new technologies in order to better serve our students and teachers. I often find it a little intimidating and overwhelming. I'm fortunate to have a technology specialist at our school (her office is actually in the media center), but a great deal of technology questions still come to me, especially when she's not available. I am enjoying learning about and using the technologies that are available to me.
The idea of using podcasting with you foreign language class is a great idea. It's like having a teacher that is accessible 24 hours a day. Students have the opportunity to practice and evaluate their own work before submitting. What a great idea, it benefits students and teachers.
If I get back to the Spanish classroom, I am definitely taking podcasting with me. It was the type of thing where while I was in the classroom, I didn't have the time (or so I thought) to figure out what podcasting was and how I could use it. There are so many applications for it, though, from static broadcast to more interactive or performance-type activities. Great ideas, all! And all it takes in terms of money is a $30 headset. Everything else is free!
Post a Comment