#7 MailVU

Update: Link to a Birthday greeting to Russell (27 Jan 2012)

What is it? What does it do?

MailVU is a free, very simple video email tool.  It allows webcam messages, using an in-built flash player, to be sent as easily as normal email.  

With one click you record your message, of up to 10 minutes, with another click you send it, with an optional written message about it.  A link is then created which can also be posted anywhere, such as a virtual learning environment or on a blog such as this.  You have the option to be have a copy sent to your own email address and to be informed when the video has been read by the recipient.   It can be used instead of written submissions for assignments, providing an opportunity to practice speaking skills and maybe some minor presentation skills as well.

To see this message #1 click here!

You can simply send a webcam video email or sign up to a 'free' account, which I recommend.  This enables some additional features, such as setting the video to 'self-destruct' (a la 'Mission Impossible') after a certain number of plays or delete within a certain time period.  You can save and keep track of videos and grab back the link at any time.  You can also move the interface around the screen and position it where you need it.   

Only with the business edition can you embed 
or upload a video or add a promotional template.

There is a widget which can be added to a website or blog – which costs 5 dollars (see left).  There is also an existing App for iPhone and now for Android smartphones, which could have interesting benefits for students submitting homework or teachers providing feedback 'on the move'.

Relevance to language learning?

To see this message #2 click here!

MailVU is relevant for offering speaking submissions for assignments and homework.  It can connect students with teacher outside of class, as these submissions can be made at any time.  It connects the work done in and outside of class time. It is also useful for a teacher to provide feedback. 

This simple tool has real relevance for 'The Connected Classroom'.  University of Warwick 
Principal Lecturer, Russell Stannard* explains thus: 

The idea behind the “Connected Classroom” is simple. When I first started teaching more than 20 years ago I used to feel very frustrated with the limited types of homework assignments offered to students. In class I might do pair work, group work, and lots of collaboration and sharing. But for homework, I would ask the students to do an exercise from the book, read a certain passage or study vocabulary. It seemed to me there was a real contrast between what I achieved in class and what I got students to do for homework.

                                               (taken from Russell's piece about MailVU on the company website)

For full video from ISTEK conference in Turkey - click here

How can it be used?

MailVU offers the possibly intrinsic motivation to send in 'polished' performances of speaking activities from home after the lesson.  Although this isn't ideal, it gives the students plenty of practice speaking.  What does it matter if they spend an hour getting a 5 minute video right, if they are practicing their English all that time?

To see this message #3 click here!

Technology has changed the way we can ask students to submit homework.  Students can speak by themselves or with another student about a topic discussed in class.  We can encourage them to do pair work and joint video submissions.  The students might talk about their friend on-screen or show  photos or an object, describing it or demonstrating a hobby that they do.

Whatever the activity, the students can record themselves at home, or outside of the class, and send them into the teacher before the next lesson.  The teacher can hear their performances, give feedback, play these back in class.

Marks can be awarded more fairly, I believe, than if the marks were given from one performance done in class.

The student can send the resultant recording direct to the teacher.  Feedback can either be providing in the following lesson or 'mailVU' could be used to give that feedback.   Other teachers might choose just to provide general feedback on the overall class performance rather than individual feedback. 

Russell Stannard explains more:

MailVU’s video messaging service totally revolutionizes the types of activities that students can do outside the classroom. Suddenly we can get students to practice speaking outside of class. The key though is the idea of connecting the lesson with the homework, thus the “Connected Classroom.”

 Task-Based Approach to Learning

Follow a task-based approach to learning. The task is to complete and send a recording using mailVU. The idea is to provide the framework and guidance for the students to be able to do the recordings. The recordings don’t have to be done at home. They can be done in the classroom, but it is perhaps more interesting if we ask the students to do the recordings for homework as it allows them more time to complete their video messages and allows us to use the lesson time for preparation.

Exploit mailVU’s visual component. Activities that include the chance to hold up pictures, introduce people onto the webcam, etc. are particularly interesting:

1. Students may talk about their favorite place to visit in their country.2. Students may talk about a member of their family.
3. A student may interview someone in English
4. Students can discuss their typical weekend.
5. Students may talk about a festival they like and its goings-on.
6. Students may discuss a person they admire and look up to.
7. Students can describe a recent holiday or visit.
8. Students may talk about a sport or activity they are interested in.

What are the limitations?

Apart from the limitations if you don't sign up for a 'free' account, there are not many options with recording and editing the video before sending it.  Unlike My Brainshark, the interface is simpler and less versatile.  That could be an attraction for some.  Recordings start as soon as you press the button, there is no 3-2-1 countdown.   Students may be reluctant to use it and teachers may be reluctant to provide feedback using the tool.  There is also the issue of students not wanting to be recorded at all or wider issues related to privacy. 

But anyone with a positive conception of 'the connected classroom' can see that the positive benefits far outweigh any minor drawbacks.

Link to a Birthday greeting to Russell (27 Jan 2012)

*Russell Stannard is a Principal Lecturer at Warwick University in Coventry, United Kingdom. He also runs one of the largest and most successful training sites for language teachers looking to incorporate technology www.teachertrainingvideos.com. In 2008 Russell won the prestigious “Outstanding Initiative in ICT” from the Times Higher and in 2010 his site was awarded the British Council award for Innovation. Russell also writes a regular column in the English Teaching Professional titled “Webwatcher.”