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Easy videoconferencing tool for language learning

Videochat tool graphics Thinking about promoting spoken language among your students? Videochat is one of the tools developed by SpeakApps which consists of an easy-to-use videoconferencing system designed for the specific needs of small groups work -up to six people-, allowing also messaging and video recording.

You can get more information about how Videochat works in the short video below.

[SWF]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkGNSOkfsSI,480,350[/SWF]

Try out the videochat tool in the demo version ubicated in the SpeakApps Moodle platform!

Towards sustainable pedagogical development

Society has undergone many changes in recent years, but according to Jacobs1 education has not been able to keep up. She posits that students feel like time travelling when entering schools, as schools have become distant from the world outside them. One of the reasons for this is probably that not many educational institutions have built a sustainable infrastructure for pedagogical development.

Another problematic issue is that new tools can be taken into use without any reconsideration of pedagogical practices. In this case, the potential of the tools may not be realized, and … Continue Reading

Enthousiaste reacties op SpeakApps op BVNT2. SpeakApps present at BVNT2

SpeakApps was aanwezig op de tweejaarlijkse conferentie van de Beroepsvereniging voor docenten Nederlands als tweede taal, de BVNT2. De presentatie had de vorm van een proeverij, waarbij docenten kennis maakten met het project, het platform en de applicaties. Nadat de resultaten van de pilots van het afgelopen semester waren gepresenteerd, moesten de aanwezigen zelf taken bedenken voor de mondelinge productie en interactie online.

De taken kwamen duidelijk tegemoet aan de uitdagingen waar docenten in de verschillende onderwijscontexten zich mee geconfronteerd zien. Zo bedacht men taken voor LANGblog waarbij cursisten op een originele manier … Continue Reading

Uirlisí SpeakApps in úsáid ag Gael-Linn. SpeakApps tools used by Gael-Linn

Ar 13 Aibreán bhuail ionadaí ó DCU le roinnt múinteoirí Gaeilge ó Gael-Linn chun leathanach Moodle SpeakApps a thaispeáint dóibh agus chun ligean dóibh taithí a fháil ar uirlisí SpeakApps sula dtaispeántar na huirlisí dá ranganna.

Tá Gaeilge á múineadh ag Gael-Linn le fada do dhaltaí meánscoile agus d’fhoghlaimeoirí fásta chomh maith gnéithe éagsúla de chultúr na hÉireann a chur chun cinn, an spórt, an ceol agus na meáin mar shampla. Tá ranganna oíche á reáchtáil ag Gael-Linn faoi láthair d’fhoghlaimeoirí fásta agus bainfidh na ranganna seo úsáid as uirlisí SpeakApps … Continue Reading

Work in pairs, learn in Tandem

tandem_logoIn order to improve oral skills in foreign language students, SpeakApps is developing a set of tools for online working and practicing. One of these tools is Tandem, a content management system that allows doing synchronous oral tasks in pairs.

Sometimes, online students are not willing to interact since there is not always a reason for doing so.  However, Tandem gives them that reason to talk and interact, since they both need to work together to reach a specific goal. Another advantage of the tool is that teachers do not need to be there, and students can … Continue Reading

SpeakApps Moodle Platform

moodleA SpeakApps Moodle Platform is already available for users interested in participating in pilots. In the SpeakApps Moodle classrooms you will find the three tools we are developing: Langblog (an audio/videoblog), Videochat (for videoconference sessions with up to 6 people) and the Tandem tool (a content management system for synchronous oral tasks); all three of them can be viewed and used in a Demo course from the SpeakApps Moddle Area.

If you are a language teacher interested in piloting any of the SpeakApps tools mentioned above, send us an e-mail to speakapps@uoc.edu, describing your … Continue Reading

Pilot met LANGblog in Groningen. LANGblog tool pilot study in Groningen

photo_postdutch_langblog_pilotIn het voorjaar van 2011 heeft het Talencentrum van de Rijksuniversiteit Groningen drie pilots uitgevoerd met LANGblog. Het audioblog is getest door cursisten Nederlands van drie cursussen op B2- en C1-niveau. De overgrote meerderheid was erg enthousiast over LANGblog waarmee ze hun mondelinge productie buiten de cursus om mee konden verbeteren.

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In the spring of 2011 the University of Groningen piloted LANGblog in three of its Dutch language courses. Although the use wasn’t obligatory, the overall majority of students used the tool and found it very useful for improving … Continue Reading

SpeakApps: Kick off

kickoff2The European project SpeakApps was launched during the month of February. The objective of this initiative, funded by the European Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), is to provide user access to a range of online tools whose aim is to facilitate oral practice of a language through an online platform. This project fills a gap in language training and allows us to go beyond simple grammar or reading comprehension exercises.

The base languages employed by this European project are Catalan, Dutch, Irish, Swedish, Polish and English but the idea is to … Continue Reading