Vocaroo-- Free online recording tool

Website of the day : Vocaroo  - A free on-online voice recording service.

What is this?
It is a free on-line  voice recording service which basically functions just like Internet voicemail.  Users can  record their voice and send  the file to others through email. In addition, they can even embed in the link of their voice file to their blog, publish it to the website and downloaded.


Why is the content good for language learning?

• It is free and simple easy to record one's voice.
• It help teachers to care for students' individual needs. Teachers can record part of their lecture, English listening practices, instructions or feedback which students can listen to for several times for further understanding. 
• It can function as one of speaking and listening assignments. Students can record themselves reading a short story, poetry, or conversations and send the file to their teachers and students. 
• Once singing in for Vocaroo and getting your own account, the website will record the history of the user's recordings. 

     

• It is easy to distribute the audio file. In addition to mailing the recorded voice to others by emails, it can also be embedded to the blog, published in the website, and be downloaded. 

The following are the steps to mail the audio file, embed the link/publish on the website and download the file.



Send the file to friends.

  



To embed in the blog or publish on a website



 

Classroom use

• Students in groups record themselves reading a conversation in turn and mail the file to the teacher. Students should download the files for themselves as well. The teacher listen to all the files, mailing a file in which he/she read the same conversation, and correct  the common mistakes students made in the next class.The Students can listen to the teachers' audio file  and compare it to their own version. 
• The teacher can record himself/herself explaining some grammars or sentence patterns which are more complicated and difficult for students. The teacher can put the link on his/her blog and website so that students can listen to it again.
•  As assessment, the teachers can design a speaking activity and have each student  record their own file and send it to the teacher. The teacher can give students feedback on their pronunciations and grammar mistakes either by email them a audio file or talking to them face-to-face.

         
Limitations

• Vocaroo can only record the voice. Unless the teacher also provides a word file or written feedback accompanying with the audio file, those visual learners might find it difficult to understand only by listening to the audio file. 
• Not all the students are equipped with a microphone to record their voice at home. 
• The recording quality depends largely on the equipment students have and the place where students record their voice.   
• It's a free service. Therefore, the link of a particular audio file is likely to only exist for some time. 

How to use it?

To learn more about how to use Vocaroo, click here to watch made by Russell Stannard from teachertrainingvideos.com.