Using Technology to Enhance Writing: AudioBoo and Spreaker

One of the biggest difficulties students face in their writing today is being able to comprehend what it is they actually put down on paper.  For example, when students are writing, they often make the assumption that their audience knows too much about the topic.  For instance, if in class, we were reading Ray Bradbury’s “Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed” classic short story, and students were to write a literary analysis on it, many would make the assumption that their audience has read the story, and so sufficient background information would not be provided, when in fact, it is absolutely necessary.  For a story such as “Dark They Were and Golden-Eyed”, for example, students might dismiss informing readers that the characters in the story actually turned into the aliens they initially feared to encounter!  So, when audiences go and read the written analysis, they might be confused or have trouble making sense of the main points the student may be trying to make.

One way that I as an educator have strived to overcome this problem, is to have students write on various topics and peer-edit each other’s papers, with specific rubrics of course, that allow for students to look for particular components, based on what is being learned at that point in time.  These rubrics focus not only on the conventional aspects of writing, such as the grammar and spelling, but also the content quality and format as well.  Looking for evidence in one another’s paper that has been inspired from the actual story they are writing about, is something we have been working on strengthening over the course of the year.  Because there are not enough hours in the day for me to individually assist students in the way that is best for them when revising their papers, I have decided to utilize my technological resources and communicate with students via tools such as AudioBoo and Spreaker. 

What I will do is read aloud to the students what they have submitted on paper and make comments vocally on the computer in places they could improve upon, or also acknowledge areas in which they have done well on.  Then, I will hand the papers back to the student where they will see written writing on it, and be able to follow along on their paper with my voice on the AudioBoo or Spreaker.  This will help students make sense of what comments were noted on their drafts, but also hear it, so that necessary changes can be made.

The benefit of doing this not only helps students, but also the teacher, because he/she can create AudioBoo recordings, or Spreaker recordings at a time that is convenient for them.  If they are up grading papers until midnight on a Saturday, that will make no difference to the student, because on Monday morning when the entire class gets their edited drafts back, they will all be able to logon to the computer AT THE SAME TIME, plug in their headphones, and hear what can be done to improve their writing. :)