Many times oral production is assessed informally during class throughout the semester and formally once or twice in a face-to-face oral exam. Feedback is provided when possible but because of the size of the class and the limited time it’s difficult to provide specific feedback on an individual students’ oral production. Papers can be graded in the office or at home, but you only have so much time face-to-face with your class, and even less with each individual student.
That’s why I’ve set up a system to easily record students that allows you listen to their oral production outside of class and provide specific feedback for each learner.
The system is built into Pioneerweb (Blackboard) and is extremely easy to use for both you and your students. Because it is a home-grown solution it is highly customizable.
Here are some screen captures that will help you see what the process entails:
After following the link in Pioneerweb students will see a very simple recording interface. Recording is as simple as clicking the red button to record and clicking Send to submit the file.
You could also provide a prompt along with the recorder. In this example students are instructed to view a video online and answer the questions presented:
Once students have submitted their assignments you’ll be able to access them through Pioneerweb. You have the option to play, edit, play the edited version, or remove each file.
If you choose to edit the file the student’s original recording will open in the same recording interface. You can listen to the file and stop it at any point to insert a comment or some feedback. This is ideal for inserting the correct pronunciation or grammatical structure if a student makes a mistake. You can also type comments that the students will see when they retrieve the edited files.
