Vimeo

Purpose: 

Vimeo is a very user-friendly website that provides a wide range of high quality videos in a variety of languages that can be shared.

Relevance: 

I’m sure you’ll agree with me that learning should involve more than giving students information; rather it should also include creating opportunities for them to use and apply that information. Use of video in the classroom can do just that!

Tip: 

Use videos to get your students speaking. Select an interesting snippet from a video (I've embedded one I particularly like below). Let your students watch it without the audio then have them suggest what the characters might be saying in that scene. Replay the scene with the audio so they can see how their suggestions compare.

Another interesting variation would be to select just one image from the video and ask students open-ended questions based on the selected image.

Limitations:

The site is designed for the general public and so the homepage offers general videos that may not be easy to incorporate into a lesson. It would therefore be more time effective to click the Explore tab on the homepage or use the Categories page to have the videos listed according to topic.

Temps Mort from Temps Mort on Vimeo.

MyBrainShark

 MyBrainShark.com

Purpose:

Mybrainshark, originally designed for the business community, has amazing potential for use in the foreign language classroom.

The free version allows users to create, share and track video presentations of their PowerPoints, documents, photos or video clips.

Relevance:

An important aspect of language learning is review/ revision. This tool allows students to make, edit and replay their audio recordings.

They therefore benefit from an increased awareness of their pronunciation and fluidity in the target language.

It would also allow them to track their progress in developing their speaking skills.

Tip:

Outside the classroom, one great way to use this tool to develop speaking skills is by asking students to make an audiovisual presentation on a chosen topic: family, food, favorite hobbies, life accomplishments, vacation, etc and then email the link to the teacher. My video illustrates how this can be done.

In the classroom context, as part of a lesson, students can work in pairs and record themselves conducting an interview, which can then be shared with the teacher or their classmates in a larger online forum.

Limitations:

While the basic service is free, sign-up is required in order to upload documents.

Also, the quality of the content created depends greatly on the teacher/ student’s ability to manipulate the software used, for example PowerPoint.