Session 5: The use of online tools to make listening exercises

In the latest session, two different tools that help making listening exercises are reviewed. They are Edpuzzle and TED Ed. These two tools provide an easy and user-friendly way to make listening exercise easier than ever before. Compared to the conventional methods which teachers have to prepare and record a script first and set questions on a paper, these tools provide a new way for students to do listening exercises.

In my own teaching situation, where students have to do online homework assigned by teachers, using the above two tools certainly makes my life easier. By implementing the tools like Edpuzzle, I can easily make a listening exercise tailored to my students’ level with already existing YouTube videos. For example, the attached exercise below. The main focus of my P.2 class for the current unit is the use of demonstrative pronouns, ‘This’, ‘That’, ‘These’ and ‘Those’. By using a video that explained the use of these pronouns first, students can revise what they have learned in school. After that, by putting some questions right after the examples given by the video, students can check their understandings as they listen to the explanation and look at the pictures. In this way, both students’ listening skills and grammar knowledge can be tested in the same exercise. I find this very interesting and easy to use. I am sure that my students would love it if I put it to use in my class.

However, teachers should carefully review the answers students give. A video is undoubtedly a very interesting tool, but it could also be distracting as students focus too much on the multimedia material. Some students may answer the questions without thinking as they want to continue watching the video.

(Edpuzzle exercise)

(TED Ed exercise for your reference - click on the picture)