Sound Recording and Editing

It could be quite useful to be able to record and/or edit your own listening material!
The freeware available is called AUDACITY.

TASK 1
1. Download mp3 audio file from Dropbox
2. Open the mp3 file in Audacity. Explore the possibilities offered by the menu!

You should be able to
- install Audacity and the lame library which enables export to mp3
- open a file in Audacity
- edit the file: cut and paste, fadein/out, change speed, delete, add silence
- create a new file
- combine two files (e.g. speech + background music)

TASK 2
1. Record comments to the 12 images in your gallery (1 minute max., save in wav file)
2. Edit the recording in Audacity, add background music, cut out noises etc.
3. Export the wav to mp3
4. Upload the mp3 to your website

REMEMBER - before editing, create a backup copy of the original!

Examples of galleries with audio comments created by your colleagues:

http://www.dzblecht.wz.cz/My%20home%20town.html
http://skipit.wz.cz/galerie.html
http://vvalova.wz.cz/gallery.html
http://romankalecky.wz.cz/gallery.html
http://mikeispoorpage.webz.cz/gallery.html
http://www.springday.euweb.cz/fotogalerie.html
http://personalpage.unas.cz/Personalgallery.html

Gallery

Examples of galleries created by your colleagues:

http://www.dzblecht.wz.cz/My%20home%20town.html
http://skipit.wz.cz/galerie.html
http://vvalova.wz.cz/gallery.html
http://romankalecky.wz.cz/gallery.html
http://mikeispoorpage.webz.cz/gallery.html
http://www.springday.euweb.cz/fotogalerie.html
http://personalpage.unas.cz/Personalgallery.html

HotPot project - F A Q

1. Do I have to use an authentic text in jcloze (gapfill) exercise?

YES.
Try to find an authentic text which will focus on the topic; some of the target vocabulary items should be included, but not necessarily all of them.
Such a text activates the passive vocabulary of the student, helps them understand the new words in context, and is much more informative than isolated sentences.

Tip: explore primary level sites for native speakers, e.g.
BBC for kids
British Council
Encyclopedia for kids


2. How do I make a good feedback in multiple choice?

Just follow these simple tips:
- DO NOT use capitals, exclamation marks, "NO!" "Unfortunately..." etc.
- be positive :) - do not start the feedback with "Sorry, no..."
- add extra information, eg.
Where do lions live? Chosen answer: "India"
Feedback: "Tigers live in India, but lions live in Africa."

3. How should I set the colour scheme?

- Remember that the text should be easy to read - the font and the background should be constrasting.
- The backgroud itself should not bee too bright, not to tire the eyes.
- study the Color Wheel site

Hot Potatoes Intermediate

Today you will develop your HotPot project; you should create three exercises, practicing the same set of 10 vocabulary items. The compulsory formats are matching, multiple choice and gap fill (10 questions each); you can add more, of course.

Visit HotPot homepage for download and tutorials!

You also need a HotPotIndex html page, which will present information about the target group you want to teach, about the topic and objectives, and other useful information for a teacher, e.g. instructions.

When creating the exercises and the feedback, please remember:
- NO MISTAKES ALLOWED (correct spelling and grammar, punctuation etc.)
- the feedback should bring ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
- include illustrations (images, texts, audio, video, links...)
- be positive, creative and friendly, do not offend the user

HP exercises can be interonnected using the menu Configure - Buttons.


Suggested course of actions:

1. Create HP matching exercise Ex1. Connect it to the index.html. Make sure you have all the files, including images, in the same folder as the exercise. Save, export.
2. Create a HP multiple choice exercise Ex2.Connect it to the index.html. Carefully fill in the feedback! Save, export.
3. Create a HP gap fill exercise Ex3. Connect it to the index.html and Ex1.html. Save, export.
4. Connect Ex1 to Ex2, and Ex2 to Ex3. Save, export.
5. Open your index.html in NVU. Add links to all three HotPot exercises. Save.
6. Upload all files (index.html, Ex1.html, Ex2.html, Ex3.html, all images) to the web.



Do not forget:
+ No diacritics, no spaces in filenames.
+ Save everything you want to put online into a single folder. No subfolders.
+ Regularly save your changes.

Hot Potatoes Basics

Hot Potatoes are perhaps the oldest living and upgraded, free authoring software for making interactive exercises. It offers five types of tasks: multiple choice, gapfill, matching, crossword and jumbled letters/words/sentences.

Remember!
When working with HP, you enter information into a “T’s Book” – a file with the extension .j** (.jcl. jmt…)
After finishing the exercise, you EXPORT it into html (“S’s book”). The names of the files should be identical, apart from the extension.
HotPot software does not recognise subfolders. All HotPot files AND all used images must be in the same folder


TASK 1
Choose a target age group and a topic for your own HotPot project – preferably a vocabulary field, which is taught at basic schools. Write your choice into the comment to this blog – each student must have an unique topic.
List ten vocabulary items (NOT proper names!) belonging to the chosen field – these you will present and practice in ALL THREE of your HotPot exercises.

Example:
endangered animals: snow leopard, elephant, lowland gorilla, vari, Comodo dragon... etc.


TASK 2
Use the web and find illustrations to the ten words you have chosen - the images should be in jpg format, between 10-20 kilobytes. Save them into a folder "HotPot" you create in your flashdisc.
SAVE the Urls of pages you use for downloading pictures! You will publish them as references.

TASK 3
Start working on a matching exercise, presenting the meaning of the ten words you have chosen, through the pictures. Use images of cca 20-40K size, approx. 100*100 pixels, all the same format!


Learning objectives - In this seminar you should learn how to:
- create a matching exercise in HP, save, export into html
- modify the colours of HP exercises
- insert images into HP exercises, set their size and position
- add and/or modify prompts and feedback in HP exercises
- set the timer, shuffle questions, show a limited number of questions in HP exercises