tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post4915062508044198514..comments2017-09-25T09:03:29.725+01:00Comments on Teaching English with Technology: MyBrainshark: the incredible value of voice-overPhilip Saxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14788946344866888304noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-55429552038040133022014-02-13T06:01:24.739+00:002014-02-13T06:01:24.739+00:00Thanks very much, Philip, for posting all of this ...Thanks very much, Philip, for posting all of this and for setting me off on this reflective journey. Hope to meet you one day!Anne Hodgsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14225113474074315864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-6134321570929355862014-02-04T14:52:13.010+00:002014-02-04T14:52:13.010+00:00You may well be right, Anne. However, if Present.M...You may well be right, Anne. However, if Present.Me represents the ultimate goal, MyBrainshark might still work well as an intermediate "stepping stone" experience. I'm all for scaffolding in ELT!Philip Saxonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14788946344866888304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-3567668040928726612014-02-04T14:42:13.971+00:002014-02-04T14:42:13.971+00:00I think I know why
1. students may be a bit embar...I think I know why <br />1. students may be a bit embarrassed to watch themselves speak<br />2. when you are speaking on video you cannot read off prepared text, so the assignment is harder<br />Perhaps showing students the two versions - slides, video and speaking freely vs. slides and read of lines - and asking them for their impression might be conducive to convincing them to go the extra mile. Seeing another person in the video clearly increases the level of engagement with the information for the viewer, I'd say. And if we're teaching them to reach their audience, I'd try to raise their level of motivation. So overall, I do like Present.Me with the video option.Anne Hodgsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14225113474074315864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-11272198663804382092014-02-04T14:41:50.912+00:002014-02-04T14:41:50.912+00:00Anne, Russell has (admittedly briefly, during a wi...Anne, Russell has (admittedly briefly, during a wide-ranging session) showcased Photobabble to us. <br /><br />I'm quite prepared to admit a "mini presentation" involving the tool could get students focused more on storytelling - which is often what gets remembered from grander-scale presentations. I imagine it could serve quite well as a homework task.Philip Saxonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14788946344866888304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-91852425702532452762014-02-04T14:19:17.665+00:002014-02-04T14:19:17.665+00:00Ok, Philip, and I'll try Present.Me out (which...Ok, Philip, and I'll try Present.Me out (which I haven't used) and try to figure out why students might actually prefer MyBrainshark. <br />Have you tried Photobabble with your students? I really like that, both for storytelling and for explaining concepts and experiments in greater depth, because it gets them away from bullet points and they can focus more deeply on one visual.Anne Hodgsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14225113474074315864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-33366535819393632972014-02-04T09:54:04.674+00:002014-02-04T09:54:04.674+00:00Anne, that's certainly an interesting point of...Anne, that's certainly an interesting point of view!<br /><br />Concerning the use of MyBrainshark generally: you may have a point where "flipped instruction" is concerned. Perhaps Present.Me or another tool with a visual element is better for demonstration purposes. I promise I'll think it over!<br /><br />However, where getting students to do extra speaking practice is concerned (along the lines of Russell Stannard's "Connected Classroom") it's been observed here at Warwick that given the choice, students (many of whom are from Asia, as it happens) opt for MyBrainshark in preference to Present.Me every time. So learners - myself included, in the sense this was my first use of the tools - have a different perspective, it seems.<br /><br />I still reckon podcasting is great, though! Let's keep the dialogue going, it's a fertile area for exploration, of this I have no doubt.Philip Saxonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14788946344866888304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-2763560736976999012014-02-04T09:36:40.773+00:002014-02-04T09:36:40.773+00:00PS; Considering I've been a long-time promoter...PS; Considering I've been a long-time promoter of online tools http://askauntieweb.blogspot.de, perhaps my antipathy towards MyBrainshark comes from those highly enjoyable MOOCs. I say, if it is to be multimedia, have students film themselves telling and showing us how they do things. I recently experimented with mini-whiteboards for ad-hoc presentations. Students could film themselves showing a chart they've drawn. That makes language like "And over here you can see..." come much more naturally.Anne Hodgsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14225113474074315864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-31534992380404506772014-02-04T06:17:40.849+00:002014-02-04T06:17:40.849+00:00Hi Philip,
I would submit that given the choice, ...Hi Philip, <br />I would submit that given the choice, a learner would probably much prefer seeing your face as you tell him or her what you've just told us in your slide show. I find that a slide show with a read-off text tends to lose the heart and soul of teaching, and of show-and-tell. I wouldn't want to learn anything that way. WSo why have students commit Online Death-by-Powerpoint?<br />Certainly having students practice speeches by recording them is valuable, but I have prefer them simply using a voice recorder like Vocaroo, giving them a strict time limit to make them focus. <br />I'll grant you that Slideshark is a good drill instrument for practicing presentation phrases as they move from slide to slide, but that has all the engagement and drama of doing gapfills. And haven't we learned from all the good folks on TED that less is more, that too much signposting kills a good presentation?<br />Overall, to me, MyBrainshark is one of those tools that actually narrows down the dimensions of how we perceive and experience and enjoy the many facets of our world.<br />Take care,<br />AnneAnne Hodgsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14225113474074315864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6086552090707298293.post-71375766536302472012014-01-27T07:55:13.385+00:002014-01-27T07:55:13.385+00:00Thanks you for this post, another tool where I reg...Thanks you for this post, another tool where I registered once but I've never really got to use it:)) <br />For the flipped elements and student generated content I usually use the iOS app ExplainEverything, always in a rush, you know. But the 'add a question' facility of MyBrainshark wins:<br />Thanks again :)Barbihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02652250549893155220noreply@blogger.com