Integrating record-it-yourself .mp3 files into speaking or writing courses

The internet currently abounds with podcasting services, some of them (englishcaster.com etc) aimed at language learners/teachers. While the CALL literature (McCarty 2005, Kaplan-Leiserson 2005, Godwin Jones 2005, Chinnery 2006) has not been slow in raising the profile of online audio, practical details of pedagogical exploitation remain neglected or obscure. Meanwhile grand reports from the University of Missouri and the pioneering podcasting project at Duke (2005) focus on benefits to general education, rather than language learning. How should CALL practitioners proceed therefore?

At my university every student has a notebook computer - not an iPod - and I have taken pedagogical advantage of this by recording my own mp3s, to supplement or complement classwork.

Referring in my presentation to Neumeier's (2005) parameters for designing blended learning, I show how I have integrated audio successfully with contact learning in recent speaking and writing skills courses. By focusing on these skills, I deliberately emphasize the fact that audio has relevance beyond its obvious role in developing listening.

I contrast a "notebook & Media Player approach" with podcasting, referring to issues of portability, functionality and production time. Few teachers, for example, have sufficient time to create regular, radio-style podcasts, yet might easily manage to incorporate into their course webpages the simple features I present. These include:

o PRE-LESSON PREPARATION
o dictation of text;
o describing a picture or story with deliberate errors, and students spot the discrepancies;

o IN-LESSON ACTIVITIES
o Hot Potatoes audio quizzes;
o Shadowing tasks;

o POST-LESSON FOLLOW-UP
o recordings made in class on MD are edited and uploaded: chorus drills, modelling of grammatical patterns or new vocabulary, and student interviews;
o Q&A speaking practice;
o Test revision.

Finally, I attempt to assess the strengths and define the unique character of audio used in online learning.

Link to PowerPoint Slides (scroll through using the right arrow key)