Page under development - please come back soon!
Prices are up to date as of June 2018

Web 2.0 tools - speaking tools

​Voice recording
Voice + video/photo
Voice + animation

To assist you with your selection, particularly when there is a choice of tools that appear to be similar, I have attempted to oganise the apps according to a number of categories. Please note that that rankings such as rating and ease of use are subjective. If you do not agree with what I have written please let me know! ​

Web 2.0 tools - speaking tools

Voice Recording Tools	Cost	Age	Rating (1-5)	Ease of use
Audacity is a free, multi-track cross platform audio editor and recorder. You are able to export recorded files in a range of formats and use them to create podcasts or with other software such as Voki (see below). The help tab on the Audacity website provides a range of documentation and support. A search in YouTube would also enable you to locate some tutorials.	Free	Teachers and students	5	Medium difficulty
AudioPal is free web based audio software that enables you to create audio for your own website or to other pages such as Facebook. Click on the microphone option on the tab beneath the 'Add your audio' title or use files that you pre-recorded using software such as Audacity. If you want to practise writing skills, click on the Text-to-Speech button and select a language and gender from the drop down menu.	Free	Teachers and students	4	Easy
SpeakPipe is a free service that enables visitors to your blog, wiki or website to leave a voice message. Look at this website homepage to see how it operates. You can also use SpeakPipe to email voice messages. To do this simply go to your SpeakPipe inbox: http://www.speakpipe.com/messages and click the "Send a voice message to email" button, then enter the recipient's email address and record your message.	Free	Teachers and students	5	Easy
Vocaroo is a basic voice recorder. You can send the sound file to a friend by email obtain the embed code or link the file directly into your website. You can also save the recorded file in mp3 or wav format for use as a podcast or with Voki. There is no time limit to your recording.	Free	Teachers and students	5	Easy
A VoiceThread is a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos and allows people to navigate slides and leave comments. It can be used either within or outside of the lesson, giving everyone a voice or it can be used as a means of communicating with other classes in other schools. Group conversations are collected and shared with contributors. There is also an iPad version of VoiceThread.	US$79 for 1 user + 50 students	All students	5	Easy
SoundCloud is an online or mobile platform that allows collaboration and distribution of audio recordings. Use it to record a spoken track or comment on student recordings as they are playing. To make a comment just play the track, click on it, then type your comment in the comment box. You might like to also use Online Audio Cutter to adjust the length of SoundCloud recordings or to add fade-in and fade-out effects. Just paste the URL of the Sound Cloud clip in order to edit it.	Free	Teachers and secondary students	4	Easy

Voice + Video/Photo Tools	Cost	Age	Rating (1-5)	Ease of use
UtellStory is another online service for creating and sharing audio slideshows. You can upload pictures, drag them into the sequence in which you want them to appear, add text captions, add audio narration to each slide or upload a music soundtrack to support your entire story. Finished stories can be viewed online, embedded into your blog or wiki, emailed to your friends, or shared through social networking sites. The free version of UTellStory allows for thirty seconds per slide with a 2 MB limit on audio per slide. The paid educator account allows you to create and manage accounts for your students. Free for 1 userand a paid plan for educators Teachers and students	Value	Value	5	Easy
​Snagit enables you to capture what is displayed/happening on your screen along with a voiceover. So you could talk about a document, image, video clip etc or show someone step by step what you are talking about. Teachers could use Snagit to create 'flipped classroom" lessons.	A$43.21 Education licence (2 machines) + volume pricing	Teachers and secondary students	5	Easy
Skype allows you to make audio and video phone calls from your computer! You can "skype" to connect with experts, educators and other classrooms all over the world! Skype in the classroom is a free community to help teachers everywhere use Skype to help their students learn. It’s a place for teachers to connect with each other, find partner classes and share inspiration. This is a global initiative that was created in response to the growing number of teachers using Skype in their classrooms. Check out this link which provides helpful tips for getting started with Skype .	Free	All	5	Easy
The Mixxer is a site for language learners hosted by Dickinson College. It is designed to connect language learners around the world so that everyone is both student and teacher. Language exchanges occur via Skype.	Free	Upper primary secondary	5	Easy

Voice + Animation Tools	Cost	Age	Rating (1-5)	Ease of use
Voki enables users to create an avatar with a customisable background reflecting a range of cultures. Vokis are great for practising speaking skills. Creating an animated character and giving it a voice is fun to do and breaks down the inhibitions that students often have when faced with making an oral presentation or recording themselves speaking. There is a free version of Voki but it has limited functionality. Click on this link to see what is available. You can always try before you buy! ​Voki classroom enables your students to access Voki through your account, and you can create and review student assignments and display all students' work on a private assignment page. Have a read about how one languages teacher uses Voki with his classes.  Click on this link for a video step by step guide to creating an avatar with Voki. This screen capture was created using Snagit, described above.	Free + paid annual licences + iPad app	All	5	Easy
GoAnimate is free animation software that lets users quickly generate videos that incorporate a selection of characters, backgrounds and technical effects. While the default program converts typed text to speech (in a range of languages) you can also incorporate a voice over (in the target language) as well. There is a limit to how you can export your finished movie with the free account but you can embed it in a wiki or blog or email the link. You need a paid account to upload to YouTube.	Free to use. Extra services with a paid account.	Primary, junior secondary	5	Easy
Blabberize enables you to upload a photo and animate the mouth so that it speaks. You can try out the program without needing to register first. The program needs a microphone or pre-recorded sound file to work.	Free	Primary, junior secondary	5	Easy