my brainy brainshark

Hello my readers!

Reading week has come to an end but that does not stop me from sharing with one of the website which caught my attention few days ago. This website is called the Brainshark. Brainshark is a tool that enables users to turn their PowerPoint presentation slides into an interactive voice-enriched video presentation.

You can upload not only PowerPoints, but also documents, videos, photos and add audio by phone, microphone or MP3. In terms of audio, you can add voice recording, share and talk about it via voice narration. This is indeed a very user-friendly tool which enables anyone to create, track and SHARE their presentations’ links via Blogger (for example) or any other sharing tools.

Check it out!

Here is the link to the websitre:

http://www.brainshark.com/

:: Is it useful for teaching and learning?

My answer would be an absolute YES. I believe in technologies and how it can change someone's way of life. We are now teaching a 21st century students, so sometimes a new approach is needed to keep up with students' level and knowledge of ICT. In addition, it is sometimes a good way to put traditional methods on hold first and give a new approach a chance to make its way in an education system.

The Brainshark website injects a fresh way of presenting ideas. It is not only for teachers to share their ideas and to make network with other ELT educators, but also for students to do PowerPoint presentation on their own whether at home or in classroom. Students can always record their own voice and re-record them until they have come up with a finalised product. They can present it to the whole class and let the teacher and students to become their audience. Then, there should be FEEDBACK session where teachers may want to correct their student's language or maybe comment on the topics that the students have chosen. This, in a way is very good for language development.

What I love about this website?

• FREE
• Easy to use.
• Accessible. Anyone can view the slides as long as it is made public.
• Fun to use it.

What I dislike about this website?

• Time consuming if it is part of classroom activity.
• Might not be suitable for people without internet connection.
• It's limited to Mp3 audio ONLY. should have variety like for MP4 as well.