Audio Resource Creation for Language Teaching - RIESI

Course background

Regional Institute of English, South India (RIESI) and IT for Change (ITfC) are collaborating to design and conduct an online course on “Audio resources creation for language teaching ” for English language teachers, who are participating in the CELT program of RIESI. The course is based on the National ICT curriculum theme “Creating with ICT”. This note discusses the objectives, approach, requirements of the participants and expected outcomes from the course.

Objectives of the course

1. To understand the connection between the word and the thought (can we communicate abstract ideas without words, i.e., sounds) and to recognize that the combinations of sounds and what they describe is arbitrary
2. To explore new digital methods for language learning. Exploring Audacity FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) tool to create rich language resources for use in a language lesson
3. To learn to record and editing audio using Audacity. Making your audio resource richer by using multiple audio files (background music)
4. To introduce the philosophy of creating and adapting existing audio resources (Open Educational Resources created with FOSS)
5. To publish created audio resource on a public repository for the benefit of all teachers

Approach

The course will be held over 4 webinar sessions and each webinar duration will be for a duration of 90 mins.

1. Session1: Overview of the course. Exploring the role of audio in language learning. Introduction to audio resources/ICT, and identification of audio resource to be created by each participant.
2. Offline activity — Install Audacity on computer. Record an audio clip using Audacity or mobile-based apps.
3. Sessions 2, 3 and 4: These sessions will be hands-on sessions. Here the participants will create the audio resource on the selected topic and will some sound effects to the recorded audio clips. The participants will present their audio files and will upload on an online repository.
4. The webinar is proposed to be held on the following dates November 23rd, 25th, 26th and 28th. The webinar timings will be 3.00 PM to 4.30 PM.

Requirements from the participants

1. All the participants should have a computer (desktop or laptop) along with a good mic + speaker (headphones).
2. Audacity application must be installed on the computer. For installation instructions, refer https://teacher-network.in/OER/index.php/Learn_Audacity#Installation.

Join the webinar sessions

All the 4 webinar sessions will be held on the following dates: November 23rd, 25th, 26th and 28th. The webinar timings will be 3.00 PM to 4.30 PM.

Click here to join the webinar session (to join the session you need to login by using CELT Moodle login details)

Expected Outcomes

It is expected that at the end of the course, each participant would have created an audio resource, on their selected topic (poem or prose or any other resource). This resource would be published on a public repository. Participants who successfully complete the course and upload their resources on the repository will get a certificate of completion from RIESI and IT for Change.

Agenda

Webinars	Particulars	Activities	Resources
Webinar 1 23-November	Role of Audio in Language Teaching Learning	Introduction to the workshop and agenda explanations Helping participants to install Audacity software in their computers Go through audio recording basic options in audacity 4. Save as project file, export recorded audio files Go through a checklist of recording a good quality audio Participants will choose one topic to create audio.	Moodle course page Learn Audacity handout
Webinar 2 25-November	Using different applications for audio recording Understanding the technical specifications for audio headphones, microphone Understanding of Audacity editing tools.	Edit recorded audio files using basic tools as we needed. Get familiar with audacity project files and the audio files. Use "noise removal" to clear background noise To understand what is a track and how tracks can be used mix audios+musics and multiple sound elements.	Learn Audacity
Webinar 3 26-November	Effectiveness of adding audio effects Understanding when and how to use audio effects to the audio's Using an audio editing tool to add sound elements.	Use edit tools to refine audio by removing unwanted part Use multiple tracks to add background music for the audio Use amplification to adjust the output volume of audio files File export as audio files and save as project.	Learn Audacity and www.SoundCloud.com
Webinar 4 28-November	Using an audio editing tool to enhance an audio resource Understanding of using different background music to make more effective of the audio Publish created audio's on the web.	Fade in/out to adjust the audio -voice modulation Use Silence, noise reduction, pitch change and echo features Add different audio elements to the audio in any particular places Use Soundcloud.com to upload and share audio's	Learn Audacity and www.SoundCloud.com SoundCloud handout

Resources

Audio resources created by last batch participants

September CELT batch audio

1. Primary school teachers SoundCloud album
2. Secondary school teachers SoundCloud album

Technology resources

1. Install Audacity application in your computer
2. Download different background music's to your computer
3. Checklist for recording good audio clip
4. Fill this form, with your topic for audio resource creation in the course
5. What is copyright and what is OER - See short video
6. Watch this video to know upload your audio files on SoundCloud audio repository.

Online OER audio repositories

1. WikimediaCommons
2. BenSound
3. Soundible
4. FreeSound
5. SoundCloud

Reading materials on ELT

1. Krashen's hypotheses for SLA (Second Language Acquisition)
2. Multilingualism, education and harmony - Prof Rama Kant Agnihotri (Multilingualism, as a resource for ELT
3. Multi-linguality_and_the_teaching_of_English_in_India - Prof Rama Kant Agnihotri
4. National Curriculum 2005 Framework Position Paper on Teaching English
5. National Curriculum 2005 Framework Position Paper on Teaching of Indian Languages
6. Digital Storytelling, an ICT-based method of co-constructing and transacting curriculum

Additional resources

1. Rich recitations
   1. Karadi tales - Very rich and brilliant audio stories based on Indian stories and using Indian tunes... must listen to all
      1. Karadi tale - Blue Jackal by Naseeruddin Shah
      2. Crickematics with Rahul Dravid
      3. Monkey on a Fast with Sanjay Dutt
   2. https://www.swarasforschools.com/
2. Poetry online
   1. Poems online (10,000 poems) available for download
   2. Access poems and upload your poems All Poetry
   3. Poetry foundation
3. Great speeches
   1. I have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King .Jr

Course feedback

To fill the course feedback form click here