Using the iPod for Oral Fluency

In this short interview, Literacy teacher, Marion Ahrens describes the learning benefits of using iPods and Belkin Voice Recorders to allow her students to listen to themselves reading unfamiliar texts and assess their own and other's work based on agreed success criteria.

"Because they were able to hear themselves read, they realised what they were and weren't doing. When it's just a teacher telling them, "Read like this", "Pause at the periods" or "You need to add more expression", "Read it like this" and they are just trying to copy it, they have no sense of what they are trying to see. So, by recording their reading, it made it visible for students. Their reading behaviour became visible to them and then they were conscious and aware of it and able to change it".

In addition, she says how listening back to her students' recordings gives her a greater insight on what they need to work on to improve further.

Marion explains how she structures her guided reading sessions so that over time her students are able to work more independantly recording and peer assessing each other. By transfering the recordings on to her students' mp3 players, they are also able to practise at home.

If you have used voice recorders in this way, please leave a comment and share your experiences/successes too.