A description of a language learning activity using Audioboo.

1. "Explorations in Podcasting"
Mtra. Ma. Elena Delgado Ponce de León
Mtra. Marsella Robles Mier y Terán
Mayo, 2013

2. What is a podcast?
What is not a podcast?
Why podcasting?
Sample activities
Content

3. Learning a language is more than exploring facts
about the way language is organized, it is about
acquiring the skill to express and communicate.
Communication has always been a strong motivator in
human beings. We want to share ideas, listen to others
and comment.
Podcasting allows teachers and students to carry out
this exchange of ideas with the advantages of choosing
content and having portability (as they can be
downloaded and listened to on the go) . Thus, creating
podcasts provides the ingredients to practice speaking
in a pleasurable way.
Introduction

4. • An audio file in mp3 format published on internet
• It can be downloaded and listened to anytime
anywhere
• It is published regularly
• it has a name, a slogan, a music that identifies it
• there is a host who states the purpose of the
podcast, it can include interviews with one or more
speakers.
• It is similar to a radio program
What is a podcast?

5. Audio files published on a blog or website
where students practice a dialogue or tell a
story.
They have no real communicative purpose.
They constitute a practice speaking task to
promote learning.
What is not a podcast

6. Learning a language is about communication :
We want to share ideas, listen to others and comment.
Podcasting allows students to communicate ideas while
providing an ideal tool to assess their performance as
communication messages are kept in files.
It engages students in an intensive oral practice
necessary to achieve a fair degree of fluency in the
production of the message.
It is a flexible tool as it can be downloaded and listened to
on the go.
Why podcasting?

7. Podcasting is strongly connected to an authentic
context as students have to select language according
to their topic, register, intended audience and
communicative function.
It helps students organize their ideas in a meaningful
and logical sequence paying attention to the features of
natural speech like stress, pauses, and fluency.
Why podcasting?

8. Where we started
Audioboo. It is a web tool that allows recording and publishing of audio
files. Files can be complemented with a photo and text. It has a social
network component as it allows users to follow and share their audios.
English 509 students subscribed to podcasts on different topics
downloading episodes on a regular basis. This helped highlight in a
practical and concrete situation the features of a podcast. Students
learned that podcasts usually have a tune that identifies the series, a
slogan, podcasts can incorporate background music and sound effects.
Students evaluated the podcasts they listened to focusing on the
organization of the ideas, clarity, type of information, number of
participants (monologues, interviews), creativity, etc.
Activities.
Ma. Elena´s Group 509 Number of
students= 32 level A1+
Ma. Elena´s Group 509 Number of
students= 32 level A1+

9. Then,they created an account. Audioboo allows users to record and
publish an audiofile creating a web page and the RSS feed to
automatically download the episodes from iTunes.
They shared their Audioboo webpage with the rest of the class and
became followers of other classmates. When working with their
podcasts it became obvious that students had crossed the
boundaries between formal learning inside the classroom and
informal learning outside the classroom. The engagement and
creativity displayed was the result of continuous learning .
Use of tools ( e.g google translator to get a pronunciation model)
Audioboo

10. Audioboo

11. Students were assigned 11 simple questions.
Each podcast was kept to approximately 1 to 2 minutes to ensure
a sustained engagement from the listeners.
The questions had been taken from a website called Plinky where
users answer questions and share their answers. Thus, the
suggested scaffolding for this task included reading the answers
given by native speakers to those same questions to spot the
vocabulary, structures and expressions they could use in their
own answers.
What they talked about in their podcasts

12. Sitio Plinky

13. Here are the 11 questions:
Here are the 11 questions:
Here are the 11 questions:
Here are the 11 questions:
Here are the 11 questions:
Here are the 11 questions:
Here are the 11 questions:
Here are the 11 questions:
Here are the 11 questions:
1. Describe your ideal job — where would you work? What would you do?
2. Recall your very first day of school. How did you feel?
3. What song, when you hear it, transports you back in time? What time in
your life does it transport you to? Describe that
time in your life in detail.
4.
If you were a mad scientist and could create a cure for any disease, which dise

14. 5. Do you believe in ghosts? Why or why not?
6.
What is your worst quality as a human? Describe it in detail, and why you think
7.
If you could have one superpower, what superpower would you choose? Why?
8. Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?
9. If you were able to clone yourself, how would you divide your duties?
10.
Go back in time to an event you think could have played out differently for you.
11. When was the last time you felt really, truly lonely?

15. The task was developed over a period of 4 weeks.
There was one session at the computer lab to guide them in
Audioboo and solve questions.
Students had two weeks to upload their recordings. In the
meantime some would take their scripts to class to be checked,
others preferred to share a google document with me asking to be
corrected and still others decided to use the google translator kit
and get a model on pronunciation.
For the recording some used the recording option provided in
Audioboo and others recorded on their computers and edited their
files to add music or sound effects.
Length of the activity

16. When the deadline was met, groups were formed to listen to their
recordings and select the best answer in their groups.
Four criteria were given; they had to select:
the most creative answer,
the one with the best pronunciation,
the best background music or sound effects, and
the most touching and emotional content.
In a class session, we all listened to the winners podcasts in each
group.
Sharing and networking

17. To what extent do students believe their language learning is enhanced by the use
of these technologies?
These are some of the comments they wrote at the end of the course:
¨Me costaron mucho trabajo, me ayudé con el traductor para la pronunciación pero
fue muy lindo hacerlos¨.
¨Hacer estos audios fue mi actividad favorita, me hubiera gustado hacer más
audios en el transcurso del año.
Ësta actividad me gustó mucho, pues era divertido planear tu audiose interesante
escuchar los de mis compañeros¨
¨Veía como lo contestaban en Plinky y después me ayudaba con el traductor.
¨Me gusta platicar o narrar un suceso importante de mi vida y esta herramienta me
ayudó a expresarme.¨
¨Para estructurar mis oraciones leía las ideas en Plinky y antes de grabar mis
ideas me ayudaba con la pronunciación del traductor de google¨
Me di cuenta que tenía que planear lo que iba a decir si quería que los demás me
entendieran¨
Students opinions:

18. Level: A1
Level: A1
Level: A1
Level: A1
Level: A1Where we started
I started with a Google Site in which I posted the task to my students. From there, they could have
access to a Google Doc where they had to post the URL of their work.

19. Google Site <
https://sites.google.com/site/englishvmrsrobles2012

20. Unit 2. Compliments
Rubric
Vocaroo

22. As a project for the Second Partial I asked them to do a
video or a podcast about Unit 2 of the Pilot Program. I told
them they could do a video a podcast or a power point
using the Audio tool Audacity, I posted a tutorial for using
this.

23. Finally, for the Third Partial, I asked them to take part in the
Podcast Congress, I shared the Call so they could know
the requirements for their job.I shared with them the link: <
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vBGNvAIAqJRbFJIAEXPG
>

24. This is an example of a podcast from the Podcast
Congress about some themes of the Program of English
5th.

25. Survey about the podcasts
For this activity I did a Survey about how did they like doing
podcasts, here they are the 10 questions and their
answers. I posted the link in our group in Facebook so they
could do it online. <
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17xB4JMf9xXBpHwGVITebzsm
>

26. Survey questions

27. Here they are their answers. <
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/17xB4JMf9xXBpHwGVITebzsm
>

33. I told them to post the URL of their work in the Google Doc
and also in their blogs, the recording as well as the script.

34. Conclusions
Podcasting has become a major feature of today´s society
and has emerged as a means for supporting learning in
foreign language teaching. It is an interactive medium of
communication which teenagers greatly enjoy. It helps to
build on whatever language resources they already
possess.

35. References
Campbell, G, (2005) Podcasting in Education [online]. EDUCAUSE,
Nov/Dec 05. Available from:
http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0561.pdf (Accessed 27 April
2013).
Dunn, Jeff. (2010). The 35 Best web 2.0 Classroom tools chosen by you.
Available from:
http://edudemic.com/2010/07/the-35-best-web-2-0-classroom-tools-
chosen-by-you/ (Accessed 27 April 2013).
Huann, T. Y. and Thong, M.K. (2006) Audioblogging and Podcasting in
Education [online}. Edublog.net. Available from:
http://edublog.net/astinus/mt/files/docs/Literature%20Review%20on
%20audioblogging%20and%20podcasting.pdf [Accessed 21 April 2013].

36. edelgado1313@yahoo.com.mx
marsellarobles@gmail.com