MailVU

http://www.mailvu.com/

What is MailVU? What does it do?

MailVU is a website that offers free video e-mail service. It allows users to record up to 10 minutes and they can send their video e-mails directly by a simple click. Users do not even need to sign up for an account to use MailVU; however, they can play with more functions once their accounts are set. For example, they can set a self-destruct time to the video, or instantly delete a sent video from the dashboard so that the recipient can no longer view it. They can also get a short link to the video and post on Twitter, Facebook or blog.

Why is MailVU relevant to language learning?

MailVU is a great tool for strengthening students' English speaking ability. In order to carry out a successful video recording, they might need to compose the draft and practice saying it a lot. Once they play and watch the video they have made, they still might find it necessary to correct their pronunciation and rerecord it. Through this kind of task completion process, learners can really exercise their communicative skills.

Owing to the immediacy, accessibility and friendliness of MailVU, both teachers and students can use it to achieve teaching and learning goals on a daily basis. For example, teachers can ask students to send a video of them pronouncing the new words they have learned in class, and teachers can give immediate feedback as well.

How can we use MailVU to foster language learning in class or outside class?

In class

In a classroom where access to the internet, computers and microphones is available, teachers can pair up students and ask them to take turns to describe or introduce each other for 5 minutes. They need to send the video e-mail from MailVU to their own e-mail address (so that they can view it from anywhere). Then for homework, teachers can ask students to watch the video from home, note down things that can be improved, redo the recording task and send it to teachers for assessment. 

Outside class

Teachers can give students different kinds of tasks such as talking about your dinner, describing the weather today, sharing your happiest/saddest thing today, etc.

What are the limitations with the use of MailVU?

1. It might be both mentally and physically demanding for teachers of large class to give feedback to every student.

2. Users cannot download videos from MailVU unless they pay for the business account.

3. All video e-mails on MailVU will be kept no more than 365 days.

Dvolver moviemaker

http://www.dvolver.com/moviemaker/make.html

What is Dvolver moviemaker? What does it do?

Dvolver moviemaker is a very interesting website that allows users to create their own mini movies in just six simple steps:

1. Select a background and a sky that you want to use in your mini movie.

2. Select a plot.

3. Select two characters for your movie.

4. Type in the characters' lines.

 5. Select the background music that suits your movie.

6. Key in the movie title and the director's name.

After the six steps, your movie is now done. You can preview your movie and send it to your friend.

As soon as you press the SEND key on the screen, you will get a code so that you can embed the movie in your webpage if you like.

Why is Dvolver moviemaker relevant to language learning?

Dvolver moviemaker is relevant to language learning for the website itself provides students with a variety of adjectives and nouns to learn. As the students go through the Background, Sky, Plot, Characters sections, they can largely increase their vocabulary because they need to know the meanings of the words to make better choices for their movies. Furthermore, Dvolver moviemaker enables learners to create their own characters' lines, which strengthens learners' ability to make sentences and construct conversations in a variety of language settings. Most important of all, Dvolver moviemaker provides is fun and easy to use, providing an interesting way to learn English with creativity.

How can we use Dvolver moviemaker to foster language learning in class or outside class?

In class

Firstly, teachers need to demonstrate to students how to use Dvolver moviemaker to make mini movies step-by-step. Secondly, get pairs of students to discuss and make their own mini movies. Finally, students are asked to send their mini movies to teachers and they should also hand in the worksheets which contain 10 new words and example sentences they have learned from this movie-making activity. Teachers may as well ask students to practice the conversations in their movies face-to-face in class if time permitted.

Outside class

Teachers can ask each individual student to make a mini movie and complete the worksheet for homework.

What are the limitations with the use of Dvolver moviemaker?

 1. Learners can only choose two characters and type in six characters' lines in each scene, which might lead to a monotonous atmosphere and a quick loss of interest for higher level learners.

 2. Dvolver moviemaker can stimulate learners' creativity, foster their sentence-making ability and increase their vocabulary. However, it cannot help them improve their listening ability.

3. Some spelling mistakes can be found on the Dvolver moviemaker website.

4. Some characters which Dvolver moviemaker provides might not be suitable for young learners, for example, the character Hottie.  

My BrainShark

MyBrainShark.com

What is My BrainShark? What does it do?

My BrainShark is a great tool for making video presentations. Users can easily upload their PowerPoint files, Word documents, photos and video clips to My BrainShark and add audio to them. Users can also share their presentation links via email or embed the links in their websites or blogs and watch the presentations at anytime.

Why is My BrainShark relevant to language learning?

In order to carry out a successful presentation, a student first needs to make a PowerPoint document. Then, for the audio commentary that My BrainShark allows users to add to it, they will need to talk about personal experiences and describe the photos they have included. This would be written as a script, which the student would then read out loud and record. This process would greatly contribute to each learner's writing, storytelling and speaking abilities.

Additionally, a student could then monitor his/her own speaking habits, accent, pronunciation, stress and intonation by re-watching their own presentation.

How can we use My BrainShark to foster language learning in class or outside class?

In class

Teachers can divide students into groups and ask them to discuss and give English presentations on topics such as "ten must-see places in Taiwan", "five tourist spots in my hometown" and "three bank holidays in the UK" by using My BrainShark.

Outside class

   

Teachers can ask students to make audiovisual presentations as assignments on topics such as "my best friend", "my pet" and "my favorite singer." Students would need to finish the assignments at home and send the link to their teachers by email. By giving these assignments to students, teachers get students to practice their speaking and writing and thus foster their English learning. 

What are the limitations with the use of My BrainShark?

1. Basic computer skills in manipulating software such as PowerPoint and Word are required, otherwise students will fail to complete the tasks.

2. It takes some time for teachers to explain the process of uploading files to the My BrainShark website, adding audio to the files, and arranging the order of the slides.

TED

http://www.ted.com/

 What is TED? What does it do?

TED is a non-profit organization devoted to ideas worth spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from worlds of Technology, Entertainment, Design. All TED speech videos were recorded from the two annual TED conferences where the world's most innovative thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes or less). All of the talks on TED website are subtitled in English and texts of the talks are also available. Everyone can download the videos  from the website for free, share them with friends, or embed them on their website or blog for non-commercial purposes.

Why is TED relevant to language learning?

TED is relevant to language learning as it provides authentic listening and reading materials for both language teachers and students, moreover, the speeches there are inspiring and creative, and thus very suitable for teaching purpose.

How can we use TED to foster language learning in class or outside class?

In class

Teachers can use TED to foster students' listening and speaking abilities. Firstly, they can show students an inspiring speech and ask them to jot down the words and sentences as much as they can when watching the video. Then students will be divided into groups and asked to discuss what they have picked up from the speech. They will need to reconstruct the speech together and share their result with the rest of class. 

Apart from listening and speaking activities, TED can also be deployed in reading and writing activities. Teachers can hand out copies of a selected script and use the script of the talk as an authentic reading material. After the script is taught, teachers can ask students to make sentences based on the new words or sentence patterns they have learned.

Outside class

Teachers can foster students' autonomous learning by giving them a link to a specific talk on TED and encouraging them to listen to it at home. Students can read the script and look up words they don't know in the dictionary if they want. When they feel ready to test how well they have learned, they can try to complete the blank-filling worksheets provided by teachers when listening to the talk.

What are the limitations with the use of TED?

1. Teachers cannot always find speeches that suit both students' language competence and interests.

2. Due to the content and language complexity of TED speeches, it is not suitable for learners with low English level.

3. TED speeches vary in length, so teachers need to choose the ones that are not too long.