An Online Tool to Help Students Develop World Language Proficiency

In this article in The Language Educator, Bobby Hobgood (University of North Carolina/Charlotte) says that a perennial challenge in world language classrooms is building students’ proficiency and confidence in oral presentation. He recommends Powtoon, a free, web-based application www.powtoon.com that allows students from middle school through university to create short animated videos (five minutes or under) with voiceover. The online platform has a media library, a recording tool, and a timeline for synchronizing visual media with audio. Hobgood mentions videos he and his colleagues have made with students: a marketing video for foreign visitors to a city in North Carolina; short biographical videos of famous Hispanic inventors; a self-introduction for a host family prior to traveling abroad. 

To get the most out of a program like Powtoon, Hobgood suggests that teachers follow these steps:

• Review the concept of digital storytelling.
• Introduce the idea of storyboarding as a way to think through a presentation in a logical sequence. 
• Have students write a script without animations and go through an editing process.
• Record the voiceover. This is students’ opportunity to showcase their oral proficiency.
• Choose visuals. Students tend to get carried away exploring the visual library and Internet, and Hobgood advises teachers to make sure the visuals serve the script and not the other way around.
• Develop a rubric to assess the videos.

“Tech Watch: Tips from Educators” by Bobby Hobgood in The Language Educator, January/February 2016 (Vol. 11, #1, p. 59), no e-link available

From the Marshall Memo #624