Chirbit (Audio Tool)

I chose to work with the audio tool Chirbit. In this website, you can record your voice and create playlists. You just need to create a free account and then you can access all its available features. One thing that I like about Chirbit is that it lets you upload recordings from your phone, which can be easier and more convenient for some people. You can also add songs, because each audio file can last up to 5 minutes. Another interesting feature is that you can access profiles and add songs or recordings you like to your ‘favorites’ list (if you want to listen to them later).

How to record a Chirbit

In my opinion, Chirbit could be useful for both teachers and students. I could create playlists with Spanish topics we study in a class, so my students have access to them and can practice more pronunciation at home. I think it could be very helpful for them because they could also download them on their laptops or phones and practice wherever they are.

I think students could be able to create their own digital media artifacts, because they would definitely enjoy working in groups and recording roleplay conversations or maybe lists of Spanish vocabulary. This could also help me gather information about the areas in which my students are struggling and it would make it easier to assess them permanently. However, as with some of the other tools I reviewed, I think this app would be easier to use for high school and maybe middle school students, and we could have to monitor younger students very closely, as this might be more complicated for them. Also, as a teacher I would try to group students in a way that they all have access to at least one computer, because we know some students don’t have one.

Something I think could be very interesting is the fact that all the students can access each other’s work (they can follow each other with a link to their profiles), so they would be learning to publish what they create and being introduced to a sharing community.

Link to my Chirbit playlist:

Saludos y Despedidas en Español

I only recorded a few phrases in Spanish, but I think a whole playlist for every topic we study in class could really help students in my classroom. 🙂

Check this out on Chirbit

Open Education

In the youtube video, Opening Learning, Dr. Alec Couros says,

"Open learning is already happening in K-12 environments..."

And it is. Who hasn’t used webpages or online books to do homework or learn more about a certain topic we didn't understand very well in class?

I think Open Educational Resources (OER) are the best way to share, learn and teach. 

Nowadays, we have access to absolutely any kind of information we need. If we don’t know how to do something, we watch tutorials on Youtube. If we don’t know if a book or a movie is good, we check the reviews online. Openness and sharing are simply part of our lives. We can take advantage of this opportunity and make our classes more appealing and more useful to all our students. We have access to so many webpages, online books, videos, apps, etc. and we can use them all to our students’ advantage, when they work in the classroom or at home.

Also, openness in a classroom can include the teaching strategies we use and how flexible we are in our jobs. We know students learn in different ways because they have different interests, needs, hobbies, opinions, and perspectives of the world. We need to provide them with a variety of opportunities so they can participate actively in their learning process.

In my classroom, I want to use different materials and resources to engage all my students and motivate them to learn Spanish. Some of them will like watching videos of native speakers while others will prefer reading stories online. Some of them will learn by roleplaying everyday situations while others will feel more comfortable playing vocabulary games on their iPads. I think technology in general just makes things easier (and more fun!) for both teachers and students.

The great difference with books is that online information is revised and updated all the time, so something shown in a book today might not be accurate tomorrow. Mainly that is the reason why I think integrating OER in our classrooms is a need for 21^st century teachers like us.