mailvu video email and keek

.

hello everyone!! today i've been introduced to a very cool website which is called mailvu video email. 

WHAT IS

??

ever heard about it before??

THIS IS SOOO COOL. It is a website where you can record a video of you and you can share it with your friends by sending them an email.

the caption of this website:

Kinda cool, isn't?

This website is free and it has a 14 days free trial. What's the difference then?
the free version:videos can be emailed to others but can't be embedded onto other websites
the paid/14 days free trial version:videos can be emailed to others, can be embedded and many more features available.
 so, take this chance! sign up! record your video! send it to your friends! 

to use this one, you have to sign up an account, but if you want to use the free version, you don't need to sign up.

LET'S DO IT!

go to HERE, then click learn more about free account

then sign up (if you want to try the 14 days free trial version)

 choose free plan.try first before you upgrade it to business plan, then click sign up

after you've sign up, this is your dashboard. click on pictures for bigger view. 

if you want to record a video, you MUST allow access to your mic and webcam, if you deny, you can't record a video

a recording window will pop out and you can start recording.there is time remaining stated there, you can replay the recorded video. you can send it to other people or you can share it with others

send it to your friends

if you want to upload a video from your computer

you can also view you saved videos, you can either send it or delete it

this is how it looks when you got the invitation to view the video email. just click on the PLAY button

then, it will direct you here. you can reply the video or create your own video mail.

As a language teacher, I think I can use this tool in my classroom. How??

• I can ask students to decide the most favourite item that they like to use (eg:shampoo, toothpaste etc), record a video of the students promoting the item and persuade their classmates to buy the item. *students get to learn different skills:the use of persuasive language, personalisation is involved here as students describe the item that they like, enhance speaking ability*
• ask students to describe the unique/strange experience in their life and record it at home, then send it to the teacher's email. this can be done as a homework *less formal so students can express themselves in front of videocam,personalisation since the topic is about students itself, lower affective filter (Krashen,1987) because students don't have to talk in front of the class, so motivate them to be more confident*
• ask students to record an interview with a friend  by asking them a set of personal questions about your friends. *This can make students motivated because they have purpose for listening and asking (communicating meaningfully) and they can communicate using authentic language. Moreover, students will be more relaxed because it's a communication between two speakers.*
• asking students to record a video of a student sharing things that they are good at (eg:cooking, wearing scarfs with different styles, make up tutorials and etc). This can be done monthly. *this kind of thing really help students not only in terms of language ability, but also in terms of content; expand students general knowledge by sharing and exchanging opinion about different things*
• can be used to do a listening activity  as well, where teacher could record a video he/she talking about a topic, play the video in the classroom, and give students a set of questions to answer/ask them to write an essay/discuss about the topic in groups *students' listening skills can be improved, writing skills too, or communicating skills if they are asked to discuss the topic with friends*

I LIKE IT. WHY??

• by using this, there are changes in the types of homework, not only writing in a book, but recording a video, and I think this what makes it cooler! students don't have to submit it by hand, rather just by email
• it can connect the practise that students did in classroom with homework. So this is one of the connected classroom activities. In my opinion, it is more effective way of learning because when they go home they won't feel the burden of a homework, rather they will feel that it is something fun to do (because i think students nowadays love internet sooo much)
• the files can be sent to people, can be deleted and saved in your own account
• if you get an invitation to view others' video, you can reply it by using the same way
• you can embed it to the other websites
• you can share videos with other people and this will encourage a lot real interaction, so your speaking skills as well as listening skills can be improved

THINGS THAT I HATE ABOUT IT.WHY?

• sometimes there are some technical problems happen; eg: i) when you press backspace key whilst you are filling the details to send the email to whom, the page will suddenly disappear, and you have to fill in the recipients' details again, ii) when a problem occur, the video can't be recorded even after you've refreshed the page. this might also be because there are many people using this website as the same time *it happened to me many times before*
• people who get invited can only view the video, but they can't download it. the only person who can download it is the video maker
• it is not free. Only free for 14 days.so after 14 days you have to buy it in order to use it
• the duration of recording is limited to 10 minutes

THERE IS ANOTHER WEBSITE THAT IS QUITE SIMILAR TO MAILVU, WHICH IS CALLED

IT IS QUITE SIMILAR to MAILVU in terms of:

-the way it can be used in the classroom

-the way of how it works
-the application is available for iPhones and smart phones' users

BUT, THE DIFFERENCES ARE:

-it's FREE but you have to sign up to use it

-it can be embedded onto the other websites and can be emailed to others as well
-it only allows 30 seconds recording

SO THESE ARE SOME SNAPSHOTS FROM KEEK:

homepage

steps to record a video

your profile. people can comment by videos or written comment

your dashboard

SOOO???

SIGN UP! RECORD! SEND!

GOOOOOO!!

.that's it.

.

ellloenglish

.

ELLLO ENGLISH!!! 

triple L.wow!

WHAT IS IT?

it is an English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO), where people can do listening activities, learning vocabulary and downloading audio files, notes and etc.

LET'S EXPLORE IT MORE!!

this is the homepage

content and categories available

can connect with tweeter

LET'T LOOK INSIDE:

one example, scenes

this is a list of scenes topic. there's a lot more actually

choose one

basically, this is how it looks like.zoom for bigger view

in the transcription above, there certain phrases highlighted in blue colour. when you click in the play button, the phrases will be pronounced twice and after that it will pronoun the next highlighted phrases using correct pronunciation

there's also an audio slide show

and audio notes as well

there are also exercises available on the right hand side of the page

LET'S TRY THE OTHER CATEGORIES, VIDEOS

list of videos available

videos created by people from all over the world

an example

there are transcription and quizzes to be looked at

THEN , NEWS!

there is a news reading, exercises and vocabulary explanation

THEN THE LAST ONE THAT I'VE TRIED, MIXER

quite similar to the other categories. some audios or notes can be downloaded

IS IT A GOOD WEBSITE? yessss. WHY?

1. it is a very well organised website because

-easy to be accessed because there's a home button there in which people can go back to home anytime they want

-the lesson is nicely arranged in order, people can see it clearly at the left hand side of the page

-it is arranged according to the categories, and under that it is arranged by topics

-it is easy to download, just right click on the linked words

2. it gives the transcriptions of all the listening audio, so it is very useful for people who want to check whether they listen correctly or not

3. we can click on certain phrases to listen to the right pronunciation of the phrases. the phrases are pronounced twice, then the descriptions of the phrases and the examples of sentences are also given straight away and questions are given as a practise. 

4. there are 3 types of exercises given based on the vocabulary highlighted, comprehension, listening activities where students can listen to the vocabulary highlighted and how to use it. possible answers are also given

5. people can download both notes and audio files for free

6. you don't have to sign up to use this website, so you can freely use this anywhere and anytime you want provided that you've got an access to the internet

7. there are many choices available (eg:views, games, mixer, videos, news, scenes, songs, points and many more)

IF IT IS A GOOD WEBSITE, WHY CAN YOU USE IT IN THE YOUR CLASSROOM AND HOW DOES IT IS CONNECTED WITH THE CURRENT UNDERSTANDING OF LANGUAGE LEARNING?

-it is important for a language learners to listen to a variety of accents so they can know what are the differences between native speakers and non-native speakers of english and ways of how different people around the world use English

-it helps in vocabulary enhancement in terms of pronunciation and information on how to use the words correctly

-the materials are authentic because most of the videos are recorded by themselves so students can learn how do people actually use/communicate in English (english that we won't hear on the script) *real language use vs. language in the book*

-it encourages autonomous learning in which students can learn and doing tasks without teacher's help, independently

-students will be exposed to different types of texts, how the language is used in everyday situations (different text require different styles, vocab, jargon)

-it provides variety of topics so students can choose the topics of their interest, in addition increase their general knowledge can be expanded (content learning through language *CLIL*)

-it helps in developing variety of skills (eg: writing, reading, speaking, listening)because it offers students with the opportunities to practise these skills.

-it provides context (real audience and purpose so there will be a reason to listen/read (language is learned through context, not isolated)

-it contains a variety of levels, so students can choose levels that are suitable for them

-students can enjoy while learning language by choosing the audio that is lower than their levels

WHAT I DON'T LIKE:

-some of the audio/videos have low quality in terms of background noise, the video resolution, the flow of the speakers' voices, the sound of the voice itself

-there are errors after certain times using it (it happened to my friends, i don't know the reason why)

-On the homepage, the categories appear randomly. Suddenly, there will be more options/categories appear, so you can't really see all the categories at one time

-some of the activities (eg: scenes) are not really authentic (it is made as authentic), so it's not really helping students in communicating in reality (videos is a different case)

THAT'S IT!!! TRY IT!!

.

audioboo

.

boooooooooooOoo!
=))

i need you boo... i gotta see you boo...

when i was typing the title of this post, i suddenly remember this nice song by chris brown. let's listen to this song while reading this post. SHALL WE??

so, let's get back to audioboo. What is the meaning of boo really? to be frank, i still don't know. when i look up in the dictionary, it says that boo is a sound that people make when they don't like a person. I know that sound, but i can't see the connection with audioboo. haha. WHATever!

Below is my audioboo. Listen to it if you want to. As usual, nasal congested-like behaviour sound.

HOW TO USE IT??

go to the page HERE. 

this is how the homepage looks like. easy, right? they've got an audioboo application downloader for smart phones. Firstly, of course, SIGN UP/LOG IN if you already have an account

don't forget to tick the small box before joining audioboo

you can either follow friends or invite friends to view you audioboo

random audioboo that can be listened to, recorded by people from all over the world

your profile. you can upload your photo, record new audio, or listen to the previous audioboo that have been recorded

THESE ARE THE WAYS/QUICK STEPS TO RECORD AUDIOBOO:

 

you can either upload your own files, or just record a new audio directly. if you are not happy with the recording, you can restart another recording. then gives it a title. You can add pictures, location or some descriptions if you want to. published audioboo will be saved into your profile

this appears when you click on one audioboo file.here, you can edit your audioboo, you can publish it on tweeter, like it on fb, embed it onto your blog, or email it to someone

dropping comments in two ways: i) written and ii) audio comment

when dealing with files and sounds on the internet, we'll always connect it to the word podcasting. What is it really? Based on the online dictionary, podcasting is a series of digital video files that can be downloaded through web. In my opinion, podcasting is VERY USEFUL to be used in learning language, especially in improving speaking skills. 

of course AUDIOBOO is one of the podcasting tools that can be used by students and teachers in the web.

the question here is:
  HOW AM I GONNA USE IT IN MY CLASSROOM??

• I can ask students to record their reflection on certain issues in about 2-3 minutes long at home and email it to me. This activity is suitable to be done monthly, for lower intermediate level of students. So teacher can assess their students' performance/improvement in speaking. As for students, they can express themselves more compared to when they are learning in the classroom. *this is because audiboo only record your voice, not your face and not in front of the class, so students will be more relaxed and confident*
• Students can practice their own speaking skills every week in which they can record their own voice talking about a topic per week, then compare it to each other at the end of the year. So here the students can evaluate their own improvement. *I think this can be a good practice for students as when they are doing the recording by themselves and get familiar with it, they won't feel shy or afraid to make mistakes because there's no teachers' control (Willis and Willis). This will also encourage autonomous learning where students will be independent
• students can be exposed to different ways of people using English from all over the world, so they can learn not only about language difference, but in cultural aspect too. So, this can help them to be more lenient towards the use of English in their daily life
• can be used as a materials to improve listening skills as well, where teacher could ask students to listen to people from different culture speaking in English and make them familiar with it. From this, i believe that students' listening skills will improve. They can grab difficult words faster as they are familiar with how certain people from certain cultures pronoun certain words.

I LIKE IT BECAUSE:

• it can be connected to other pages such as tweeter, iTunes, facebook, blog and email it to your friends
• it offers application for smart phones, so the audio can be recorded and uploaded by using phones as well, not only laptop
• it allows people from all over the world to share information
• it's easy, quick, free and effective (it doesn't give people headache)

I DON'T LIKE CERTAIN THINGS ABOUT
AUDIOBOO, WHICH ARE:

• it is limited to 3 minutes only, and because of that students can't talk much
• it can't be downloaded
• it doesn't have real life interaction (one way of communicating only, absence of distruption, backchanelling, etc)
• can't be done frequently because it will discourage students to be more active, brave and confident enough to talk in front of the class (though it may help, but it is a long term result)
• requires access to internet connection

IF YOU STILL HAVE TROUBLE USING AUDIOBOO, GO TO THIS LINK BELOW:

Help Videos for Audioboo

http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/audioboo/index.html

.that's it for today.

.

lyrics training

~Lyrics Training~

another website that i knew from my lecture is LYRICS TRAINING. this is a website where you can learn english through English songs. While the song is being played, you have to type the lyrics of the songs or filling up the blanks with missing words from the song. 

lyrics training. Click HERE to go to the page.

the activity

so, i think this website is suitable to be used by students as a tool to improve their English, because:

• it's FREE and FUN! because students will dealing and working with songs, that i believe most of people enjoy songs, so this will make them happy and exciting doing this activity
• it has three different levels where students can choose the levels that are suitable to them (the levels are beginners, intermediate and expert)
• students are free to choose the song that they favour the most, or they can choose new song that they like
• students can enjoy and learning at the same time. Not only that, they can also memorise the song lyrics
• students can view their score and they could also view the vocabulary items in the song if they sign up
• students can enhance their vocabulary level because they will be exposed with broad themes of songs that contain many words
• students can develop their listening skill 

what i don't like about this website are:

• there are a few songs which contain inappropriate music, music videos and lyrics, so they are not quite suitable for students to learn. (they might use that kind of language in their written exercise)
• there are time limit to type the lyrics so it's quite annoying for me because we are not testing students in terms of speed, but listening and vocabulary, so students should be given some time/their own time to finish typing
• some words that are missing are not actually words, but the other kinds of sound which follow the melody of the song such as ooooo, yeahhhhh, ahhhhh..... <-- these are not really helpful in developing students' vocabulary, students might get confuse as well
• the sentences used are not formal because it is a song, so it won't contribute in helping students' writing skills as much

inappropriate music videos for students in my culture

and that's it! =))

happy singing and learning!

.