Voicethread vs Voxopop

I think that both tools are really good because they have different options that we can use in order to develop a different class for our students. I can say that in my case at the beginning they represented a headache because I had never worked with these kind of tools, so it was really difficult for me to develop my tasks. But once you learn how to use them, they are an advantage because you can present a new experience to your students.  They can enjoy using these kind of programs as long as you bring clearly instructions on how to use them.

In my opinion about Voicethread I have to say that I really enjoyed using this program because it brings a variety of options that you can use in order to share a topic, an opinion or a story through audio, images, videos or text.  Also another important option is that allows you to make it public or just for a closed group. They can comment or give their opinion using the option they prefer to use for example they have the option to record their voice, a video or just typing. I think it would be a great tool for us as future teachers to incorporate  this kind of technology to make learning interesting and fun for our students.

Regarding Voxopop I found that is a useful tool but as in Voicethread you have to know how to use it because in my special case I continue having some doubts about how to use it even though I think Voxopop is a good way to generate in students more speaking opportunities. 

INTERVIEW

I interviewed Connie and she told me that the skill that took her more time to develop was the speaking skill because at the beginning of the major she did not know too much vocabulary so that it was difficult for her to express her ideas or to share opinions with her classmates and teachers. In my opinion I think that at the beginning of the major the speaking skill is always one of the main problems that learners of a new language face and everyone have pass through that problem because we are not native speakers, we are students and we are in a process so we have to be patience because we do not manage an extended vocabulary since the beginning, but we are going to improve this weak through the pass of time and by practicing a lot. She also explained me what were some of the strategies she put in practice in order to learn more vocabulary to not have too many problems at the time to express herself. First of all, she started to read as many articles in English as was possible. In this way she added new words to her vocabulary. Additionally, she found that T.V. programs and listening to music in English was really useful to enhance her vocabulary. I also asked her what kind of activities did she like her teacher to develop in regards to her weak skill and she answered that she really liked to participate in role plays and impromptu speeches because those activities  gave her the opportunity to express her thoughts. Debates were another type of activities which helped her a lot because they involve the students in the use of language. At the present time she considers she has improved her speaking skill, but of course she knows that she has to continue with the learning process because learning is an endless process.