The future
Social software
The social aspects of learning
Where does the socialising stop and learning begin?
The use of voice tools in educational environments is rapidly increasing. The range of application of voice online is moving beyond the more recognised forms of chat, email, and discussion boards. Audioblogging and podcasting are two more recent methods of using voice to publish content to the web. These are examples of a new wave of software known as social software.
Developments in this new breed of social software have been motivated by the desire of individuals to engage in a more authentic online social experience. The research findings of they Beyond Text project indicate that online voice technologies such as audioblogging can assist in providing individuals with a social learning experience while increasing learner engagement and educational opportunities.
Voice and mobile learning
Where does audioblogging end and podcasting begin?
There is considerable overlap in people’s understanding of these two methods of using online voice technologies. Audioblogging allows for content to be created anywhere and uploaded to the web via a telephone call. Podcasts can be created anywhere, and are designed to be received via RSS feed and downloaded to a mobile device such as an iPod®. Both audioblogging and podcasting are examples of the growing interest in mobile learning. Although in its infancy mobile learning (through tools such as mobile phones, pocket PCs and PDAs) will inevitably continue to merge into one mobile device. It is therefore reasonable to assume that the role of voice in mobile learning will continue to increase.
Integration
Teacher uptake
Voice technologies appear to have a dramatic uptake and acceptance by teachers who are new to the online medium. Not only do they add another dimension to online teaching and learning, many of the voice tools are also technically very easy to use and therefore accessible to teachers who may not have high levels of technical skill.
Tone – new dimensions
Most people can express their feelings more clearly in voice than in text
Typically, online learning has been limited by the need for learners and teachers to conduct their interaction via text. By its nature, text communication often limits the range of tones a writer is able to convey, especially if that person is not used to expressing themselves in written format. The spoken voice allows not only a complex range of tones, it can also convey the intention of a message clearly. This applies to both teachers and learners.
For example, although it is relatively straight forward for a learner to express a feeling of confusion via text-based discussion, it can be far more difficult for the same learner to explain the exact nature of their confusion in a text based environment. Online voice tools give learners the option to express themselves in voice. Thus online tools provide greater opportunity for those who are not fluent writers to describe complex feelings.
In short, voice tools give teachers and learners the ability to express themselves using a wider range of complex tones. This enables them to convey the intention and complexity of a message clearly and accurately.
‘Hearing’ how learners feel about the learning experience
Many learners are more comfortable using voice rather than text
Voice posting by learners will often tell the teacher more about how the learner really feels than a text post. Learners tend to be more comfortable with using their own voice during teacher-to-learner interactions. Although online voice interaction is not the same as a face-to-face exchange, voice does add breadth and complexity to many online communications.
Using voice boards as blogs (or using audio blogs) can be a way for learners to document their progress towards meeting competency requirements. Many learners will find it easier to talk about what they have done rather than composing a written report or journal entry. Therefore, with a voice board, they may be more likely to keep an ongoing record of progress towards competency.
Public vs private space
Voice boards allow learners to practice using their voice without the pressure of others listening to them
The voice board environment appears to create the type of private (even safe) space for learners which can not be created in a face-to-face classroom. Learners can work at their own pace, have individual access to postings as many times as they need and can record when they are confident to speak. They can then listen to their own postings and re-record if they want to before making the posting public - all within the ‘private space’ created by their headphones and microphones.
This sense of private space can assist in reducing the anxiety of learners who have a fear of speaking in front of the teacher or a group of peers. This is because a learner is able to practice and post only when they are satisfied their response is to their own standard of proficiency.
Online assessment
Voice online can improve online assessment
Online voice technologies can assist learners to provide evidence of underpinning knowledge and skills, particularly for oral competencies. As learners become comfortable with online voice technologies, they tend to stop scripting their responses and begin to respond in a spontaneous manner. This type of interaction allows the teacher to hear in more detail how a learner has arrived as a particular point in their learning. This can be a valuable addition to evidence for assessment purposes.
Learners with low literacy skills often find it difficult to provide evidence of competency in writing. Online voice tools remove the need for learners to be assessed in a text-driven environment, thus providing an opportunity for learners for whom reading and writing is a barrier to demonstrate their competency.
Online voice tools help to address the issue of authenticating online assessments. When the teacher of a course becomes familiar with the voices of the learners, the teacher can then use this knowledge to authenticate the author of a particular oral assessment task.
Emerging issues
The reflective nature of voice boards
Are postings as reflective in voice as they are in text?
Voice postings can be as reflective as text postings. However, this will require learners to script their posting or at least make notes prior to recording a voice posting. Written text encourages the learner to recheck and redraft a posting prior to submitting their final message. This practice is inherent in the writing process itself. The re-reading of written text, prior to submitting work has become an ingrained habit for many learners. As few of us have the equivalent practice when using an oral medium, voice posting can tend to be more spontaneous and colloquial and possibly less reflective and refined. However, when considering the impact this emerging issue will have on the teaching and learning process, the teacher should also consider that scripting may detract from the spontaneity of a posting. The decision to encourage learners to script voice posting will be dependent on the nature of the learning activity.
Do we need a private place to use voice tools?
There is the potential for a speaker who is recording to a voice board or voice email to feel self-conscious or inhibited about recording a posting in public spaces such as shared offices, libraries, computer labs or self-access centres. This self-consciousness may affect the nature and quality of the posting and needs to be taken into account.
Furthermore, there is also the possibility that individuals may feel self-conscious when speaking to a computer with no-one at the other end (as there would be with other voice communications tools such as voice chat or traditional phone calls). Many, especially teachers, are eloquent enough when speaking to a live audience. However, this many not be the case when speaking to an audience that they cannot see. The art of imagining and visualising your audience while composing spoken message is a skill that requires practice.
Re-allocation of teacher time
It takes the teacher longer to listen to learners’ voice postings, but it is quicker to reply in voice?
An advantage of text-based communication is that it allows the teacher to scan a learner's submission for key words before reading the submission in detail. Voice tools do not allow for this process. The teacher has to listen to the whole message because there is no way to quickly scan for key words. Also, the teacher is unable to re-read a section of the work and must listen to the entire posting again to clarify their understanding of the learner’s posting. This process does increase the time required by teachers when correcting learners’ work.
However, where a teacher wishes to respond to a learner’s submission, it is often much quicker to give a spoken response than to draft and refine written feedback.
Organisational policies
Be aware of your organisation’s policy on online third party software and web hosting
Blogs are typically hosted on the web by a third party (ie: not the educational organisation). This type of arrangement may not sit comfortably within the policies and procedures of all educational institutions particularly where training is within an accredited course. Furthermore, where the educational institution has a tight firewall, access to third-party hosted blogs may be difficult. Also, given teachers’ and organisations’ duty-of-care for learners, some organisations may not approve the use of third party software.
Will learner materials such as paper and pens be replaced by prepaid phone cards?
The introduction of voice technologies can require learners to access new technologies that may incur costs (eg: phone calls to audioblogging sites and headsets). Although learner materials such as paper, pens and books are readily recognised costs within educational organisations, headsets and prepaid phone cards are often not yet seen as legitimate learner materials.