myBrainshark- Powerpoint with your own voice.

Here is my self-introduction done by using myBrainshark. It's a good way for students to practice their oral and presentation skills.



http://www.brainshark.com/mybrainshark

What is it about?                                                                   

It's a website to help you create an online and mobile video presentations. The special feature is that you can upload documents, PowerPoint files, pictures, videos, etc, and then add your voice in them to become a presentation with your own voice. The file is easy to share and can be embedded in blogs. You can even track the viewings of your files.

Why is it good to language learning?                                    

• Files created by myBrainshark are easy to access. If it's a presentation from teachers, students can review the content anytime anywhere.
• It's a great tool to help students to improve their speaking skills and presentation skills. 
• It  gives students chance to practice English outside classroom and promote learning autonomy.
• The possible authentic audience can increase students' motivation to refine the presentation.

How can it be used?                                                             

• We teachers can use it to produce some extensive learning materials, lectures for remedy learning, or feedback to students' work. Just share the file and students can view the content. It's also quite useful for distant learning.
• Students can have different tasks related to speaking skills by using myBrainshark to complete. It improves students' learning autonomy because they can complete the task based on their own pace and  make it as good as they want. Students who are nervous and shy to speak English in front of the classmates also have a chance to practice.
• Tasks like presenting a tourist attraction, describing a picture, telling a story, sharing a topic, etc, can be included.
• Students can embed their speaking tasks done by myBrainshark in their blogs, and as a learning portfolio, which helps students to see their progress.

What are the limitations?                                                      

• Each recording is limited in 15 minutes for the free version.
• The files can be viewed and shared online but can't be downloaded.