hearing voices in online language learning

HEARING VOICES IN ONLINE

LANGUAGE LEARNING

Becoming a Webhead SeminarJanuary 25th, 2007

Are you using the Internet like a book?

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 1) interaction with others via computer mediated

communication (CMC) tools, 2) and to help create the content of the web

“The read/write web”(Tim Berners-Lee)

So therefore also the listen/speak web

Picture by dwstucke

Movies or stage plays?(Are you making movies or just filming stage plays?)

‘pre-technology teaching’

• Sage on the stage (drone on the throne)

• Teacher centred:

‘post-technology teaching’

In Practice:

• We DON’T all teach the same way

• We DON’T all teach in ‘pre-technology ways’

pre Internet post Internet arrival

lecturers move back and forth along continuum

Paradigm Shift

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

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

Issues (1)

• Saves times for students, but NOT for teachers

Allows for individual monitoring/feedback/encouragement in ways not hitherto possible; esp using Voice Boards Horizon Wimba Vaestro Chinswing

ISSUES (2)

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

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

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!

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)

THE RANGE OF TOOLS

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/happy/

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/

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)

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

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 Practice5) Fluency (http://aidenyeh.podomatic.com) 6) House Student work (audioblogs,

podcasts)6) Sense of Community

MEDIA RICH BLOGS

http://english-ad.blogspot.com/

by students of Aiden Yeh

Aiden is an EFL Lecturer, Wenzao Ursuline College of LanguagesKaohsiung, TaiwanMOVIE

MULTILITERACY DIGITAL LITERACY

ELITERACY

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)

ARE YOU BUILDING COMMUNITY IN YOUR

CLASSES?

Is this the Paradigm Shift

required?

COMMUNITY-CENTRIC(diagram courtesy of James Farmer)

Mobile Phones

Africa Skips the Net

• A trinity: finance, mobile phones & Africa

• Sponsor a PayPhone Lady

CONVERGENCE:Hand Held PC + Phone

+ =

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’?

Whither Voice Technologies?

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

Second Life (http://secondlife.com/#)

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…..

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS SESSION AT

http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/fll/vol_resources.htm

and

http://users.chariot.net.au/~michaelc/els/pres.htm

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

thank you

michael coghlan

michaelc@chariot.net.au