SpeakApps: resources and applications for developing oral skills online

Christine Appel

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

SpeakApps

Programme : Lifelong Learning Programme

Sub-programme : KA2 LANGUAGES

Project title : SpeakApps: Production and interaction in a foreign language

through online ICT tools

Duration: Jan 2011 – Dec 2012 Nov 2013- Oct 2014

Partners:

Motivation : Distance Education

Motivation: F2F Class

Motivation: F2F Class

Telecollaboration / Informal Learning

Objectives

How?

Developing tools, resources, training and communication spaces for language teachers (and their students)

SpeakApps

Oral production: most common difficulties

Students need a programme and instructions for making

recordings.

Sharing recordings :

• Email: File size is an issue

• Free web applications require setting up an account / do

not allow for privacy settings

Little Student/Student interaction or feedback

Langblog

Producción oral: Langblog Producción oral: Langblog

Easy recording from web-browser without installing any software. No need for attachments.

Sharing recordings with the rest of the class.

Students can record presentations or contributions to activities set by teachers from home.

Build sense of community and helps prevent drop-out .

Tips:Tips:Recommended length: 2 minutes max. For teachers, 1 min. For students.Remind students not to readIntroduce into the task an element requiring students to listen to each other.

Examples of tasks with Langblog

What do these objects have in common?

Guess which city I’m talking about.

Agony aunt

13

Speaking Interaction

VoiP

E.g. Skype, Google Talk, Google

Hangouts

No recording functionality:

• Post-task activities

• Assessment

Integration into the classroom

Videoconferencing

E.g. Adobe Connect, Flashmeeting,

Eluminate

Teacher presence required

Installation of programmes

sometimes required

Press to talk button

Interface complexity

Speaking interaction: VideochatSpeaking interaction: Videochat

Integrated into virtual classroom Small group work (pairs, groups of

4, máx.6) Students can create sessions and

record without the teacher’s presence.

Records and archives into the classroom automatically.

Search engine for recordings The player includes a Mute/Solo

button

What did you do last weekend?What did you do last weekend?

Contents for speaking interaction: TandemContents for speaking interaction: Tandem

Tandem is an application which fosters conversation between two students by distributing contents in real time in order for participants to work together in completing a task with a common goal. The example above is a spot-the-difference task.

Invite classmate to do a task Student A & B see different images. Once completed the task students see the solution.

Open Educational ResourcesOpen Educational Resources

The SpeakApps platform includes an Open Educational Resources site for oral production and speaking interaction. Ideas and tasks can be shared here . These tasks can be carried out with the SpeakApps tools or other available applications such as Voicethread or Skype.

OER/ Editor Tandem

Install & contribute

Full use of platform

Results

- Stronger feeling of community- Higher student motivation- Students have a closer relationship to classmates:

friendship- Drop-out levels decrease- Fewer plagiarism problems- Law, Arts & Humanities, Communication Studies, etc

- Blended learning: shift of classroom/homework activities

¡Thank You!

mappel@uoc.edu

mmalerba@uoc.edu

speakapps@uoc.edu

www.speakapps.eu