|
Electronic
Education: See Me, Hear Me
Just
as we were rejoicing that the Internet was bringing the written
word back to prominence, audio and video started to creep into
our e-mails and chat rooms.
Thoughts the size of sound bites will again become the norm. For
us language teachers though, adding sound to the communication
process is more enriching that threatening. Students now can tune
into and participate in real life chatter in both written and
oral forms. They can no longer hide behind the written word; they
can no longer pretend to be older, richer, or native speakers.
The actual voice speaks volumes about one's age, personality,
and background.
Internet telephony is not a new idea: anyone with the appropriate
software, microphone, and speakers can use their computer as a
telephone. Voice chat is an extension of this idea and is rapidly
being added to many chat rooms.
Your students can help someone else practice the students' language
(www.hearme.com offers a Planet HearMe so students can chat in
their native language with people around the world. ) Students
can go to a travel chat room to discuss sites in their country.
They can even join in the singing on Excite's Karaoke Club (www.excite.com)
Chat rooms change focus constantly. Romance is a common topic
on many sites. Some are divided by age or interest. You can even
start your own chat room on a subject and invite others to join
you. Students might be curious about Excite's Talk Trash; so might
you.
Your students don't have to participate, of course. They can work
on their listening comprehension skills. A lot of the sites mentioned
in past columns have audio and video downloads. Even our friend
David Sperling (www.eslcafe.com)
shares his voice with his fans.
Altavista (www.alta
vista.com), the search engine, has added the search paths
of images, video, and audio to its services. In the search bar,
if you type in Al Gore and click on images you can get his picture.
Click on video and you can download Gore in motion. Click on audio
and you can hear Gore's plans to improve education. Have your
students prepare a documentary on any subject using text, audio,
and video. Or just let them sing along to "This Land is My
Land."
Students with their own web pages can even add their own voice
chat capability using the software available from www.hearme.com.
To get started you need the appropriate software. Many voice relay
applications can be downloaded from the Internet and most are
free. Check out some of these sites (below) to find the chat room
and the software that fits your particular computer and need.
Warning: getting started with audio/video downloading is not for
those short on patience or low on RAM. Also many chat rooms only
support Windows 95/98/NT.
Lin Lougheed is president of Instructional Design International,
based in Washington DC
|
