audioBoo

My boo, or boyfriend, appropriately introduced me to audioBoo, a website that allows you to make your own digital recordings via computer or telephone (for FREE!).  The website is genius for those who teach in the foreign or second language classroom.  In New York City public schools, most teachers have up to 34 students in their classes.  Speaking tasks can be a nightmare.  With audioBoo, teachers can have students complete speaking tasks for homework, or have them practice all at once in the language lab.

I would use audioBoo with high school students, especially during the year that students have to take the Regents exam.  As for instructional goals, I would have students use audioBoo for speaking tasks.  I would give students a topic, and ask them to speak for one to two minutes on the topic in the target language.  AudioBoo is great because students can preview recordings, and if they don't like them, they can delete them and start a new recording.  Students publish their best "boo."  Students can follow each other's "boos," or just be followed by the teacher.  You can do multiple things here - you can have students complete a speaking task and just solely grade it, you can have students listen to other "boos" as a listening task, or have students respond to each other's boos.  After my recording, you will see "record a comment."  The limits seem endless with audioBoo.

I tried out the software and found it to be very user-friendly.  Everything was pretty self explanatory and I don't think students would have any issues.  I used my MacBook to make my audioBoo.  Besides your computer, audioBoo is compatible with any Apple, Nokia, or Android phones.  The downside to this is that there is always a chance that students will not have the proper tools to use the website, but that can be arranged.  AudioBoo may also be completed in a language lab, if a school has one.

I would definitely use audioBoo in my classroom.  It makes students more accountable for their speaking, which is very important when learning a foreign or second language.  Sometimes, being that the number of students is so high in the classroom, some students fall through the cracks.  With things like audioBoo, EVERYONE is accountable for speaking, and everyone gets practice.  It is good for those who may be super shy in the classroom, who can make their audioBoo in the privacy of their own home.

**Edit**  - I created my own audioBoo, and went to upload it into this blog entry. It would not work. I guess you would definitely need tech support if uploading audioBoo to a blog. I don't forsee any issues, however, if you were following others on audioBoo.  The problem would be embedding the code onto a website. Nevertheless, I was very disappointed that it didn't work on here. Oh, well!