AUDIO-PAL

Picture One
Audio-pal home page

Audio-pal is a great tool to record up to one-minute voice files that you can use in many different ways for your classes. The tool can be found at www.audiopal.com and it requires no sign up nor download. This is really great, especially in school environments where downloads are limited by firewalls and other digital hurdles.

One minute recordings are a great way to create simple activities for students to practice listen comprehension and to also share their productions with teachers and with each other.

The tool lets you record from different devices, and even has a text-to-speech capability (with different languages). Overall I prefer to use the microphone from the computer. It is easier than anything else, and you do not need to store any file anywhere.  The other great advantage is also this: since the tool creates a code, the file will not take very much space. A sample of code was dropped into this blog and you can hear it by clicking on the icon below:

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Audio-pal Code Selection Page

What is the downsize? The tool will send you (email you) a link, from where you can get a code to upload in different environments, like Twitter, Blogs, IGoogle, etc. So it works really great on web-spaces, digital environments that are meant to be accessed online. You can also save the code into your Blackboard spaces for more formal settings (although these would not be as free as online spaces like the ones we talk about in the session).

Once you complete your recording you can listen to it on the spot. If you like what you hear then you just have to add an email that Audio-pal can send you the code to. Or you can simply ask your students to send their raw file (which will show up as a link) directly to an email address for their assignments.

When you get the link, you will see a number of options to capture the code like in the Picture 2. Select the place you will be putting your audio file into and copy the code. Then go to your place and paste the code right into the space. You can select the option at the "Grab your widget"stage (Picture 2) that every time a user clicks on the space where your file code is saved the audio will automatically play. This can be helpful for web pages where you want specific instructions to be heard. However, remember it can also be very annoying.

Try your page in a view mode and see and hear what you have created. These files (the code behind them) will remain available for as long as your page is open to your students. It may take a bit to create the files, but once they are done, your students can access them as often as they need to.

Picture 3
I Miei Mostri Blog

I list below a couple of places where I used this widget for on-site practice, especially for instructions and also for listening comprehension and pronunciation purposes.

1. I Miei Mostri - At this blog you will find single audio files to follow along a book I made using the Story Bird tool (online tool that I will also cover during the session). Click here for the sample.
2. Speed Dating Blog - An Italian Lesson. Check the specific blog entry where these audio files are most used. Click here.