Joining the conversation: tutor experiences of using voice over the

internet

AULC 2011

Teresa Mackinnon, Dr.Zhiyan Guo and Katsuko Nagata

•Useful process to encourage dialogue •Community of practice •Reflective practitioners •Importance of awareness of research •Student engagement and desire for control!

Conclusions from earlier work on tutor perspectives of voice over the internet:

Use of online voice: case study 1

Teaching Chinese

Dr. Zhiyan Guo

Wimba Voice Board

How students use voice board

Use of Voice Board

student • Enhance

pronunciation

• Practise speaking

• Improve listening

• more use before oral test

teacher • Demonstrate the

use

• Teacher be notified

• Teacher feedback

Wimba Voice Conference

Voice conference

• Synchronous: a certain hour of a week

• Chinese 5, Chinese for Business

• Demonstrate the use at the first class

• Choose to archive the session

Voice conference

• Extend class hours

• Discuss oral/project topics

• Differentiation

• Business-related knowledge

• Oral discussion guided by teacher

• Pair/group discussion organized by students themselves

How smooth?

• Used to online pauses

• Reduce the number of switches

• Lack of interaction by facial expressions

• Establish rapport in classroom

• All facilities: normal working condition

How useful? • Extend the learning community

• Integrated technology with language learning

• Complementary to classroom hours, not replace classroom interaction

• Peer support

• Online may not suit everyone, but a useful tool

Use of online voice : case study 2

Teaching Japanese

Katsuko Nagata

Online voice for homework • Grammar reviews

• Pronunciation practice

Example 1: Grammar Review

• Students: Beginners

• Tools: Wimba Classroom

• Benefits: Integration of text and audio

Easy access

Re-usable

Example 1: Grammar Review

• Students: Beginners

• Tools: Wimba Classroom

• Benefits: Integration of text and audio

Easy access

Re-usable

Example 2: Pronunciation work

• Students: Intermediates

• Tools: Wimba Voiceboard

• Benefits: Reflection

Verbal (and text) feedback

model

First attempt

feedback

Second attempt

Finding the tool for the job

nature of communication

one to one one to many many to many immediate sustained

suitable for collaborative communication

voice email √ √

voice board √ √ √ √

voice podcaster √ √ √

voice conference √ √ √ √

voice presentation √ √ √ √

Wimba classroom √

√

√

√

√

√

Locating best practice :

• Importance of understanding nature of communication

• Management awareness of relative advantage

• Opportunity for shared reflection and student input

• Use may challenge language tutor approach

Integrated deployment.

谢谢