Options in CALL for Materials Development*

Claire Bradin Siskin
cbsiskin@pitt.edu



Word Processing
Resource
URL
Comments
Word Processing-based Activities
for a Language Class
Ideas for communicative classroom activities based on word processing

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Digital Audio

Software
Availability
Platform
File Formats
Comments
Sound Recorder
Comes as part of Windows operating system
PC

wav

Easy to use; wav files are very large

PureVoice
PC & Mac

Purevoice, wav on PC

Purevoice, aiff on Mac

Creates very small files; can insert or overwrite in a file

Audacity
PC & Mac

wav, aiff, mp3

Allows editing;
the most complicated;

version 1.1.1 available in several languages

Audio Recording Options in the Language Media Center Labs

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Blogs

Resource
URL
Comments
TypePad
hosted weblogging service; 30 days' free trial
Live Journal
hosted weblogging service; free and paid versions
Blogger
hosted weblogging service; free and paid versions
Movable Type http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype for more advanced weblog publishing
L*Blog

Test blog at CALPER

Audioblogger http://www.audioblogger.com/ Add audio posts to your blog
Blogs and Wikis: Environments for On-line Collaboration

Overview article by Bob Godwin-Jones

The New Tanuki

Example of a blog for and by EFL learners

Bee Online 2

"A Meeting Place for Students to Share Opinions and Discuss"

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Wikis

Wikipedia
Multilingual encyclopedia to which anyone can contribute
L-Wiki http://calper.la.psu.edu/uniwiki/HomePage Main resource page for wikis at CALPER
About Wikis
Explanation of wikis
CyberWiki
Our very own wiki farm!

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Authoring Tools

Hot Potatoes
No charge for educational purposes, but you must register
Authoring in CALL http://www.edvista.com/claire/author.html Links to other options for materials development

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More

Activities for ESL students
Quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles; project of The Internet TESL Journal with thousands of contributions by many teachers.
Web Resources: English as a Second Language http://www.polyglot.pitt.edu/web/englishlistening.html Resources used by ELI students at the Unversity of Pittsburgh
Claire's home page http://www.edvista.com/claire/ Starting point for CALL-related resouces

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*Session for LING 2143, Materials Development for Second Language Teaching & Testing, July 21, 2005


Robert Henderson Language Media Center, University of Pittsburgh
http://www.polyglot.pitt.edu/events/matdev_options.html
Last revised: July 21, 2005