VNU Spring 2009 - Day6

Day #6 Agenda
  • Group Discussions
  • Catch-up on Day#1-5 assignments
  • Experiment with building a Personal websites
Group Discussions (same as described yesterday)

Break into 4 groups.  Make sure there's at least one person in each group who is confident in their ability to record and publish audio recordings.  Use one of the headset microphones as a handheld microphone and pass it to the person who is speaking.  Do a short 'sound check' with everyone in your group to make sure the recording will be listenable. Background noise from other groups shouldn't be a problem as long as the current speaker holds the microphone close enough to his or her mouth.  Please identify yourselves in the beginning, so I know who is speaking.
The entire recording should be no longer than 26 minutes.  If it is longer, the filesize of the mp3 file will be too large to upload to the site.  If the discussion is very interesting and you want to go longer than 26 minutes, stop the recording, export the file as an mp3 and then record a Part#2.

In your groups, answer and discuss these questions:
  • Which ideas or resources from your Day#2 readings, did you find most interesting or useful?
  • What other CALL tools and skills do you think are useful and how would you use them in your classroom, now or in the foreseeable future?  
    (I realize many of you have very limited technology available to you in your current teaching environment, so when answering the above question, also think about how you would use the tools if your technology situation improves.)
  • Feel free to bring up and discuss any other topics of interest that you want to share with your classmates and/or Jeff. 
* If  expressing a particular thought in English gets frustrating, the group can take a 'Vietnamese clarification' break.  Press pause in Audacity, briefly work together to figure out how best to express an idea in English, the press pause again and continue recording.

When finished, one person should attempt to post the audio recording (create/audio) on the website. (Make sure the file is smaller than 7mb or it won't work)  If the connection or website is slow, make sure to save it on your USB drive and try again later.

Catch-up on Day#1-5 assignments

If you haven't had time to do any previous assignments, please work on them today.

Experiment with building Personal & Class websites

If you haven't had time to 'Explore Personal and Class Websites' as described in the Day#5 agenda, take some time to do so now.
When you're done exploring, it's time to start experimenting.
One of the easist ways to create a websites is with Posterous.com which allows you to post using email.
To begin
  • You can register here. 
  • Watch this screencast by 'Demogirl' for an explanation of how to post to posterous.
  • .You can then post to your Posterous blog by sending an email to 'post@posterous.com'.  You can attach these kinds of files - .doc, .ppt, .pdf, .jpg, .gif, .png, .mp3, .avi. or .mpg and they will automatically be added to your post. 
  •  This screenshot shows you where to click in order to manage your setting and change your profile information. 
  • After clicking 'manage', this screenshot shows where to click in order to edit posts, edit your profile, or manage your email settings.  
  • If you have time, try posting a photo, a ppt file, and/or an mp3 file (you can use ones you've already posted on EFL537.com or create new ones)
  • Add the URL (website address) of your posterous account to your profile (click My Account/Profile).  I look forward to seeing them.
Assignments
  • Select a reading for your second Reading Reflection. Please try to choose an article that discusses a topic related to CALL.  The reflection will not be due until Monday, March 16, but I'd like you to post a link the reading you select in this forum.  Rather than assign everyone the same reading, I would like you to try and find one that is especially interesting to you.  You can browse through the 'megasources of CALL related Readings and Journals' listed on the EFL537 Readings page or use the special search box there to search for articles. (shown below)
  • Keep bookmarking sites in your Delicious account and saving files in your Materials Archive (described in the Course Overview under Required Assignments)
  • (Optional - you don't have to do these!  Do these only if you've finished your other assignments and want to do something extra.
    • Another Daily Report:  Post either a 1-3 minute audio or 1-2 paragraph blog post sharing your latest CALL adventures, thoughts, and/or questions with Jeff. 
    • Try uploading a presentation to your Slideshare account.  A screencast of how to do so is here: http://blip.tv/file/1867974