I recently re-commenced teaching advanced level students 1-1 online, for things like iBT preparation and interview and essay practice for students in the process of applying to universities in the United States. It has been a little while since I did online teaching, and it has been great putting to use all the new gadgets and programs that have developed and become available since the last time I was doing this sort of teaching.
One of these new "toys" has been Eyejot, which basically promotes itself as being browser-based Video Mail. This has been a real boon to my battery of online teaching tools, especially in terms of asynchronous task submissions that add a video angle to the already widely available online audio programs. Basically, using the easy code provided, I am able to place a video mail recorder on my students' web pages that allows them to record and send tasks to me pretty much instantly.
As you can see from the screen shot here (for one of my iBT TOEFL students), I can create a private page for a student that includes an i-frame based online iBT test, and next to it goes the Eyejot video task recorder. For the student, submitting a speaking task is as simple as hitting "reply", then activating the Macromedia Flash plug in, and then recording and sending. The student does not need to download any special programs or software, and is not required to go through the process of signing up for an Eyejot membership. In fact, the web-based recorder here has a 1-minute time limit (with a counter ticking down to zero) for recordings that I find ideal for test-prep style recordings (given they always have time limits of similar duration). Paid up Eyejot members (like myself, but not my students) can record messages of up to 5 minutes duration. In my situation that is ideal for then responding to my students' task submissions, as I can reply with a longer video mail giving them in-depth feedback, and it is delivered direct to their email.
Eyejot recently also added an upgrade that allows video mails to be embedded directly into webpages. This allows me to create an online speaking log for my students where they can scroll through the tasks they have submitted for review purposes. By providing the Eyejot recorder again on the same page, the student has the option of reviewing their own tasks and then re-recording them right there in the one place.
I got my Eyejot membership when their initial offer only cost US$15 per year, and it's since been raised to US$30, but it does represent excellent value considering the ease and reliability of the service. Compared to applications like Sightspeed, this is not only much cheaper, but also more practical. Sightspeed doesn't allow you to embed recordings, costs US$15 per month for any sort of practical functionality, requires membership for anyone to record messages back to you, requires a software download, and unless the person is willing to pay, they are limited to 30 seconds of recording time - which is pretty much useful only in terms of expressing how frustrated you feel. Even with the paid membership in Sightspeed, a member can only record messages of up to 3 minutes in duration. Eyejot, by comparison, allows anyone (with or without an Eyejot membership) to record messages to you directly from your own website for free for up to one minute, is fully browser-based (thus not requiring complicated installations), has the instant versatility of embedded videos, and a paid membership (at a fraction of the cost compared to Sightspeed) allows the option of recording messages of up to 5 minutes in length. From my (and my students') perspective, Eyejot's service absolutely creams things like Sightspeed, and even makes it a better option than things like Skype (which also involves a time-consuming and potentially complicated installation and doesn't have embed functions).
All in all, Eyejot has added a very convenient and stimulating resource to my online teaching options, and my students love it. I can't wait to see what other improvements they have in store in the not too distant future!
If you feel like trying out Eyejot yourself, right here on the blog, check out the video recorder below. So yeah, I forgot to mention - this is also a communication tool for things like blogs as well!
