A voice message is an element of interest and motivation for students, because they can hear somebody or hear themselves, and improve their listening comprehension and speaking skills in the L2.
Equipment
To record and listen to a voice message you need a headset (if you're on a PC) or the built-in mic and speakers (if you're on a laptop).
fill in the required fields and click the "Create my talkgroup" button
start a discussion
give your discussion a title
write a short text, if you wish
record your message
ViP: change Admin settings to Public (before the session) (did)
Video files
A video message is another very motivating element for students, because they hear and see the person speaking to them. I find that associating a voice to face and name creates a more personal and closer relationship and helps generate a bond.
Video is also good to record an interesting activity carried out in the classroom or outside. You can film a class or part of it, or you can film an activity taking part outside the classroom (in the school grounds or on a field trip, for example).
Whether you create a video online (with a Web-based program) or offline (the simplest way is with your webcam), you need a webcam and a headset (or the built-in webcam, mic and speakers if you have a laptop).
Examples
Offline recording
Teste_12jan10 (recorded with my webcam; in Portuguese)
Online recording
Teste (11jan10; recorded with Tokbox; in Portuguese)
How to demos
demo how to record a video message with a webcam and upload it to Vimeo (didn't do)
record the message
log in to Vimeo (you need an account; it's free)
click the "Upload a video" blue button (top right)
click the "Choose a file to upload..." red button
select the file you want to upload in the new window with your files
wait for the video to upload (leave the window open, because it may take a few minutes)
fill in the info you want (title, description and tags/keywords)
click the green "Go to video" button when upload is complete
the video will be converted: Vimeo will email you with a link when it is ready (it may take a couple of hours)
demo how to record a video message with Tokbox (see the tutorial), create a link to it and embed it in your wiki
Tokbox
free
no downloading
record online
get a message with a link before sending it to students, friends... by email
the recipient clicks on a link to listen to the message
all your messages are kept online in your Inbox
you can make a link to your message in your wiki
you can embed your message in your wiki by inserting the html code given by Tokbox
create a link to your message or embed it in your wiki
Discuss your different experiences with one another and report next day on your preferences in terms of ease of use / user-friendliness of the tools and how you did to create links and embed the .html code
a free hosting service for .mp3 (audio) files and podcasts (dowloadable sound or video files) that you may record offline (with a program available in your computer) and need to upload to the Web to make available to students, friends...
you can listen to a message I recorded recently in Portuguese for my f2f trainees
Video hosting tools
Vimeo (need to register; share videos you make by uploading them to Vimeo, a video hosting service)
TeacherTube (need to register; search for educational videos; click the "Upload" button and follow the steps to upload your videos)
YouTube (need to registerto upload videos; click the "Upload" button and follow the steps)
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