Russell Stannard promotes podcasting.
Podcasting is the ability to record audio files that can then be listened to and downloaded by others. Sometimes we talk about ‘vodcasts’, where video is also used, but in most cases podcasts are just audio. They use ‘push’ technology, which means that someone can subscribe to a podcast, and each time a new one is created, that person automatically receives it as a download on a computer or a smartphone. The great thing for a podcast producer is that all this is done for you. You simply need to make the recordings. Amongst my favourite tools is Audioboo, which I have written about before but which has been updated and improved a lot.
Podcasts have amazing potential in language teaching because they can be used by both teacher and students.
Podcasts and teachers
The teacher can use them to create listening content; this could be material the students have to listen to before the lesson or after it. For example, a teacher I know in Spain has used Audioboo to create a collection of interviews with his friends and family for his students to listen to. Each month he uploads a new interview and the students can access it either by visiting the Audioboo website and listening to it there, or by subscribing to the podcasts and then receiving them on a variety of different devices.
The possibilities are endless. You could, if you wanted, create a series of mini-grammar lessons or summaries of your lessons using Audioboo. You might, for example, want to record a story but leave the ending unfinished. The students then have to listen to it for homework and complete it, either by writing or recording their own ending.
Podcasts and students
Students can use podcasting in all sorts of ways. One idea is to get them to keep a podcast diary, where they talk about the most interesting things they have done that week or that month. For higher levels and those studying for exams, it might be a reflective journal where they talk about their progress: what they have learnt, what they are finding difficult, what they need to revise, etc. If you are going to get your students to do this, I suggest you provide some concrete questions for them to address. The examples below are for students on a Cambridge ESOL First Certificate course. The teacher wants to find out how they are feeling about the oral exam which they have been working on over the last month:
- What things have you covered in the last month?
- What things from the last month have you found difficult to understand?
- Can you explain what you need to do in the oral part of the exam?
- What do you think is the hardest part of the oral exam, and why?
- Can you suggest useful ways of revising and practising for the oral exam?
Each month the students can be given different questions to answer, and this helps the teacher to chart their progress and to get an indication of what they are having difficulty with.
Students can use podcasts for lots of other things, too. You might give them simple texts to read aloud and record. You might ask them to record themselves talking about different topics each month (their best friend, their room, their house, a hobby or interest, a person who has influenced their lives, etc) and these can be the basis of a portfolio of recordings and a record of their progress. The topics and the amount of guidance you provide will depend on the level of the students. In many cases, it is a good idea to practise and work with the ideas in class but get the students to do the actual recordings at home.
Podcasts are great for exam practice. Say, for example, the students have to describe a picture or compare two pictures as part of the oral exam. In the lesson, you can go through the format and perhaps do some practice. For homework, you provide the students with pictures and ask them to record themselves describing them.
It is easy to access your students’ recordings simply by subscribing to their podcasts. Alternatively, you could create a class account with a shared password and have all the students keep their podcasts in one place.
I normally listen to my students’ podcasts and take notes, which I send or give to them. Of course, you could also provide feedback by sending the students another podcast.
Getting started
The free account at Audioboo (Audioboo.fm) is limited to recordings of five minutes, but that is plenty of time for most types of activities. They are also introducing an Audioboo Professional account which teachers will have to pay for, but I am told it will be quite cheap. You can also download free apps from the site that let you create podcasts onto a smartphone, and these can be really useful if you want to do recordings in the class or make a podcast while on the move. So, for example, you could record your students in class and then upload the recordings in the staffroom. Don’t forget your students can download these apps, too, so that they can make recordings in class. This can be great for recording group conversations.
Audioboo is very simple to use. All you need to do is click on the ‘my profile’ tab and then click on ‘new recording or file upload’. You can then make a recording or upload a file that you have already recorded. There are many interesting recordings on the site to listen to and you might decide you want to subscribe to some of these, too.
Students can easily access your recordings, by creating their own Audioboo accounts and subscribing to your podcasts. You can also embed your podcasts in a blog or web page.Watch the help videos I have created to find out more.
Follow me on Audioboo: http://audioboo.fm/russell1955
Help videos for Audioboo: www.teachertrainingvideos.com/audioboo/index.html
Russell Stannard is a Principal Lecturer in ICT at the University of Warwick, UK, where he teaches on the MA in ELT. He won the Times Higher Education Award for Outstanding Initiatives in Information and Communications Technology in 2008, TEFLnet Site of the Year in 2009 and a 2010 British Council ELTon award, all for his popular website www.teachertrainingvideos.com.
This article first appeared in issue 79 of English Teaching professional, March 2012.
