While there are many Web 2.0 tools that I have encountered over the past couple of courses through Full Sail University, I have also uncovered some interesting tools, through recent research, that would be specifically useful to the instruction of my French courses. One such tool is through the web tool Babbel at http://www.babbel.com/.
Babbel is a tool that allows users to learn French vocabulary and grammar through interactions with other learners around the world. Although some features require users to pay, many of the features available for study and practice are completely free. All of these activities are available exclusively on the Web as opposed to a computer based platform. Users create a profile and complete grammar and vocabulary lessons to receive scores. They can also share their completed assignment with other users to receive feedback (Babbel, 2009).
It is appartent, from the way that this tool is designed, that it is very useful to French students but there are some other specific ways that this tool can benefit my instruction in particular. In my French courses, I would use this to have students practice their French when they are outside of the classroom. With block scheduling, students only meet every other day and this schedule format is often not conduicive to the consistent pratice students need to study a foreign language. Babbel will give students the opportunity to study during off days and still receive feedback for their work that they could not otherwise access when they are not in class with me.
Another useful feature of this tool is that is helps to reduce the need to provide students a computer with a specific set of software loaded onto it. Again, students can complete actitivies as homework assignments or even use the computer in my classroom to complete activities during class. This would eliminate the frequent use of the school computer lab. Although that lab would be ideal, a tool like Babbel will make it is possible for me to accomplish more within my classroom and on my own classtime.
It is this feature of mobility in tools like Babbel that I wish to explore more deeply as I begin an Action Research project on the concept of the language lab. A tool like Babbel could illiminate the need for a school to purchase software and additional computers for a school wide language lab and, instead, give teachers the opportunity to do more with just one classroom desktop.
References
Babbel. (2009). Knowledge base. Retrieved from http://support.babbel.com/forums/28238/entries
Babbel (2009). Images Retrieved from http://www.babbel.com
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