Our first Innovative Instruction Showcase interview with Merissa Ferrara, Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication.

Dr. Ferrara came to Charleston from Michigan State University, where she earned her MA and Ph.D. in Communication, with a specialization in Exercise Physiology. She was a graduate teaching assistant for five years, and was awarded the campus Graduate Teaching Award (2005). She received her bachelor’s (1999) degree from Marquette University where she received the Dean Hellman Communication Scholarship, served as the campus mascot (the Golden Eagle), and participated in several campus organizations including Habitat for Humanity and Student Government.

In this interview Merissa speaks about her experience using VoiceThread in her classes.

Resources:

VoiceThread: http://voicethread.com/

 

 

Do you have the audacity to spice up your instruction?

Tsipi Wagner, assistant professor in the School of Languages, Cultures, and World Affairs, uses the free software, Audacity, to record student dialogues after class. If you would ask one of Tsipi’s Hebrew 101 students what they did for homework, you would get an interesting and innovative response.

The students are instructed to meet once a week with a fellow peer in their class. At this time, they open their book filled with Hebrew characters, sit in front of a computer, and place the microphone in between them. They take turns reading the passage; sharing frustration when they are having trouble with decoding and celebrating when finally the enunciation seems to come with ease. And when they think they have the passage mastered, they hit the red button, record! Once the students are finished, they save their project and easily drop it into an e-mail to Tsipi. Tsipi then opens the attachment, listens to the recording, and writes anecdotal notes in an effort to correct the students’ enunciation.

Almost immediately, the students receive an notification that they have a new e-mail waiting in their inbox. They recognize that the e-mail is from Tsipi and it arrives with an attachment. Once the students click on the attachment they hear their Professor highlighting their strengths and weaknesses in Hebrew. The students take the feedback into consideration, and aim to fix their mistakes the following week.

Tsipi uses this strategy because, first she says that Audacity is very easy to use and more importantly it’s free! Also, this exercise helps students build oral and listening proficiency. In addition, it increases communication among students and between students and the professor. Tsipi can now accurately evaluate her students’ performances because she hears them speak in Hebrew on a regular basis.

If you want to learn more about Audacity and how to infuse it into your classes, contact Monica Harvey, Harveym@cofc.edu. Tsipi also extends the offer to stop by her office on the 2nd Floor in Jewish Studies to see a demonstration!

Technology Tools You’ll Need: Audacity, Internet Access, Microphone, any Media Player

Check out Audacity!