Sophie Adamson, assistant professor of French, and David Neville, director of language learning technologies and assistant professor of German, presented on “Language Instruction to Go: Best Practices for Student-Centered Podcasting in the L2 Classroom” at the 2009 Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching at Greensboro. Lilly Conferences are retreats that combine workshops, discussion sessions, and major addresses, with opportunities for informal discussion about excellence in college and university teaching and learning.
Adamson and Neville described several user-friendly and easy-to-learn software platforms that allow language instructors to create audio (.mp3) and video (.m4v) podcasts. Drawing upon their own experience in French and German language classes, they demonstrated the use of Audacity and Camtasia as a means to create portable, project-based language instruction. Discussion during the presentation was centered on best podcasting practices within an instructional context.