Podcasts made easy with Vocaroo

Podcast - The buzz word

Podcast is an online audio content. The audio file is downloadable to iPod or other portable media players on demand. Listeners can then listen to it anytime and anywhere at their convenience. To produce a podcast, we can use a tool, called Vocaroo, to record voice or audio with much simplicity! 

What is Vocaroo? 

Vocaroo is one of the online voice recording services that allows us to send voice messages across the interwebs. Vocaroo has slowly gaining its popularity for podcasting purposes. Let's look at its specialties:

1. Free! 

Vocaroo is a free service! We can create audio recordings without the need to install any software! We don't even have to create an account to use it. Even if we would like to create one, it is free of charge. All we need is a microphone or a built-in one. 

2. Easy to use

To create a voice recording, we just have to

• plug in a microphone or use the built-in microphone, 
• click record, and 
• start speaking.

"Click to Record" button

The tool has also allowed us to review our audio and try a second or third take. After listening to the recording and If we are not satisfied with it, just click "Retry" button. Otherwise, we can just choose to publish it without going through a another attempt. 

"Retry" button

3. Cool

What is so great about Vocaroo is that it offers us to

• embed our voice recording to blogs or other websites using the HTML code provided, 
• download it as a MP3, Ogg, FLAC, WAV
• share the audio file to other social networking sites, and 
• email it to friends or anyone. 

Sharing options

How can teacher use Vocaroo in classroom teaching?

1. To allow students to practise reading independently

• Teacher can ask students to read a text (of any genre) aloud and record their own reading using Vocaroo. The text can be a story, a speech, a poem, a report, a news etc. Learning takes place as students listen to the audio recording, determining how fluent and smooth is their reading, checking on the accuracy of their pronunciation and intonation. In other words, students learn as they compare their own reading to what is considered a good reading. 

2. To assess students' speaking skills

• Teacher can assign any topic for students to talk on and listen to the audio recording created using Vocaroo later on. While listening to the file, teacher may make evaluation towards students' speaking skills. This includes checking on students' fluency, pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary choice, sentence construction, etc. Other than having teacher to do the evaluation, teacher may also allow students to exchange their recordings so as to promote peer-assessment and feedback. 

4. To give students oral exercise as a homework

• Teacher may design a speaking task and ask students to complete it using Vocaroo at home. The tool brings innovation to the design of homework. Students can have oral exercises, other than just writing, listening and reading exercise. In this way, students are encouraged to use English both in the class and out of the class, hence, maximising the opportunity for students to speak in a second language.

5. To record students discussion in a communicative activity

• Recording what has been discussed allows students to review on the points  that have come up with. Nevertheless, it also allows both teacher and students to evaluate the latter's communicative skills. Both teacher and students can access on latter's linguistics knowledge, pragmatic competence (how to use language to achieve communicative goals), discourse competence (how to perform turns-taking, how to maintain a conversation, how to develop the topic), strategic competence (how to express successfully with the lack of resources) as well as fluency. Communicative activity often exhibits a real communicative situation; therefore, the recording can tell how well students can use language in a meaningful way. 

Why would we use Vocaroo?

1. To promote autonomous learning

• The tool encourages students to take responsibility and self-direct their own learning. As discussed above, students can listen back to their own recordings and self-evaluate their speaking abilities. If they find their speaking skills below the desirable level, they might do something to improve their competency. 

2. To create E-portfolio

• As the audio file can be downloaded, shared via emails or other social sites and can even be embedded in the blogpost, both students and teacher can have a record of all the voice recording created. With a record of the audio files, they can review the recordings from time to time and observe how much is students' progression in speaking and communicating. 

Limitations of Vocaroo

1. We cannot edit the recording. If any mistakes occurs, we have to begin recording again from the very beginning.

2. The recorded files are deleted after one year for those without a Vocaroo account.

3. We need to have access to internet in order to use the tool. 

Here is an example of my audio recording created using Vocaroo. 

Record and upload voice >>

Try out this tool yourself now! 

My Brainshark

Bring your presentation to a new level using myBrainShark 

An outlook of mybrainshark site

MyBrainShark is now a leading tool to create, share and track online video presentations. It transforms static content into voice-enriched video presentations that can be accessed anytime and anywhere. 

To create myBrainShark online video presentation is quick and easy. You just need to upload a content, be it a powerpoint, document, video clip or photo, and then enrich it with voice narrations, transforming the-otherwise-boring presentation of information into an engaging, interactive one. The video presentation can then be shared via e-mails, posted to social network sites (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube or Linkedln) or embedded in blogs or websites. Furthermore, you can track the viewing details, following up with who view, what they view, when they view or even where they view your presentation effectively. 

To get a better grip on how to use myBrainShark? Here is a free online tutorial with Russell Stannard. 

How can we use mybrainshark in the language classroom?

1. virtual learning

• MyBrainShark is a useful tool for long-distance learning. Teacher can easily create a video presentation using myBrainShark and share it to students in a website, class blog or via e-mail. Students can then watch the online lesson at their convenience. This method is very useful when teacher wants to provide students with more knowledge about the syllabus or when teacher is not able to finish the syllabus within the classroom hours. 

2. oral exercise

• Apart from assigning students with writing and reading exercises, teacher can design speaking tasks using myBrainShark for students to do at home. For instance, teacher may assign students a speaking homework after teaching the topic 'Global Warming'. Teacher may ask students to create a powerpoint presentation and enrich it with voice narrations on the concept of global warming, its impacts and the solutions for this environmental problem. The task can be done individually or as a group work, depending on the level of difficulty of the task itself. In this way, students are encouraged to use English both in the class and out of the class. Thus, the tool maximises the opportunity for students to speak in a second language.

3. give feedback to students' work

• Teacher can use myBrainShark as a mean to provide oral feedback to students' works. For example, teacher can upload students' works into the video presentation, give comments and email to the students. 

What is good about myBrainShark?

1. The video presentations can be kept as e-portfolio. 

• As an example, video presentations can be embedded in teacher's blog or class blog in order for students to keep track of what they have learnt.  

2. It promotes an autonomous learning. 

• With myBrainShark, students can independently access to a range of e-learning contents available so as to gain extra knowledge about the topic learnt in the class. Also, students can self-direct their own learning by accessing to the online-lessons created by their teacher using this tool. 

3. It exhibits an interactive way of learning. 

• Even though the speaker and the listeners of the presentation are both separated in space, the presentation can still be made interactive as myBrainShark allows presenter to add polls, surveys or questions to the video presentation. 

4. It motivates speaking. 

• Students' effective filter for speaking is low because they can discard or retry their voice recording before saving it to their video presentation. In other words, students' anxiety to speak is lower than that of doing a presentation in front of the class.

5. It develops the sense of ownership. 

• Students can personalise their own video presentation and share it to the public in myBrainshark site.  

6. It is very quick and easy to use. 

• MyBrainShark comes as an Application for mobile devices. Therefore, it allows users to access to web-based information anytime and anywhere at their convenience.   

What is its limitation?

1. The facial expression or the gesture of the presenter cannot be seen.

2. Both the presenter and the listeners are not interacting in real time. Response or feedback given is not immediate.   

3. The tool needs internet to access.