Having your online students recording themselves speaking for an assignment or for the verbal component of their language training is very important. This article explains how students can record themselves reading on Google Classroom.
Yes, students can record themselves reading on Google Classrooms through:
- Assignment Submissions
- Audio
- Video
- Fluency Tutor
- Live Sessions
Now let’s look in depth at what may work best for your students.
Assignment Submissions
Assignments on Google Classroom allow students to upload their work in various formats. The two file types that can be used by your students to record themselves reading are audio and video.
ARTICLE: Google Assignments vs. Google Classroom: What’s the difference?
Audio
Students can use audio files to provide recordings of themselves reading. Before uploading the students must record the audio file in a format that is supported by Google Classroom.
To learn more about how to upload audio files to Google Classroom look at this article.
ARTICLE: Can Students Upload Audio to Google Classroom?
Record Audio Files Separately
There are multiple ways to record an audio file that are available for free or paid for more features. Depending on the level of training you may want to keep it simple or get them to edit it before uploading to show you just a particular skill.
The most used audio recording applications are:
- Offline
- Audacity
- WavePad
- Online
- Vocaroo
- Online Voice Recorder
- Mobile
- Voice Recorder (Rating 4.8)
- Easy Voice Recorder (Rating 4.7)
Audacity
Audacity is one of the most popular audio recording software solutions available on the Internet free of any charge. This software is compatible with Windows, Mac, and Linux. Its minimal requirements are very low and can be used with any computer setup.
WavePad
https://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/index.html
WavePad is a full-featured audio editing software solution. It is compatible with both Windows and Mac. It is free to use for personal use but for business purposes it is a paid for software product. You can find the personal version as a link on their front page.
Vocaroo
Vocaroo is a simple online tool designed for recording audio without any third-party software. All you need is a microphone and an internet connection. It also features a cloud hosting solution for the recordings.
Online Voice Recorder
https://online-voice-recorder.com/
Online Voice Recorder is an online app that allows students to record audio files and download them for free. It does not require any subscription or registration.
Cleaning Up Your Audio
Depending on whether this is for a major assignment or just a quick feedback recording it may be work looking at this article to clean up your audio. You could also use this method if you did a screen cast to submit your work with included audio.
ARTICLE: Editing Audio : Sound Like A Pro In A Screencast
Upload Audio Files
Uploading an audio file to Google Classroom means the students have previously created them using another software program. To upload an audio file the students must perform the following steps:
- Go to https://classroom.google.com
- Access the desired classroom
- Go to the ‘Classwork’ section
- Click on the assignment
- Press the ‘Add or create’ button
- Click the ‘File’ feature
- Upload the audio file
Video
Another way students can record themselves reading is by using video files. The process is similar to the one for audio files except now they will need a camera either on their phone or attached to their computer or laptop.
Record Video Files Separately
The students can record themselves reading using a wide variety of separate software solutions. The most used apps for recording video files are:
- Offline
- CamStudio
- SnagIt
- ShareX
- Open Broadcaster Software
- Online
- WebCamera.io
- Clipchamp
- Cam Recorder
CamStudio
CamStudio is an open-source software solution that allows its users to record both screen and webcam at the same time. It can be successfully used to record webcam videos for educational purposes.
SnagIt
https://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.html
SnagIt is a recording software solution that features audio-video recording capabilities. It is one of the oldest screen recording apps. It was first launched in 1990 but is a paid for program
ShareX
ShareX is an open-source app that includes webcam recording tools as well as an audio recording function. It can be used for free, as it was originally published under the General Public License.
Open Broadcaster Software
This software not only can record your screen for free but also has the ability to add on a green screen effect for you camera. To do this you could still have to have a solid colour background that you are not wearing. It is often used to live stream games and other content to YouTube or Twitch and other streaming platforms.
WebCamera.io
WebCamera.io is an online tool that can be used for free to record videos using your webcam. It features no system requirements. All you need to record a video is a webcam and a stable internet connection.
Clipchamp
Clipchamp is a browser-based app that allows its users to record, edit, and store video files. All the features are available without any registration or fee.
Cam Recorder
Cam Recorder is an online tool that can be used to record video files with your webcam. Being a web-based tool, it does not require anything else than a working webcam and an internet connection.
Record Using Google Classroom
Students can record themselves using the integrated recording function of Google Classroom. However, this feature is available only on the mobile app. To record a video of themselves and upload it as an assignment submission the students must perform the following steps:
- Install the Google Classroom mobile app
- Open the app
- Access the classroom
- Go to the assignment
- Click the ‘Add or create’ button
- Select ‘Record a video’
Upload Video Files
To upload video files perform the same steps mentioned at the ‘Upload Audio Files’ section.
Fluency Tutor
Fluency Tutor is a tool for improving online literacy. It is designed as a Chrome app that helps students improve reading fluency while saving valuable time throughout the process. It is compatible with Google Classroom and any classroom can be imported into the platform. The teacher can create assignments from within the Fluency Tutor software.
The teachers can either choose or create reading passages. Moreover, the students can also create reading passages using the content on any website. All the passages are saved on Google Drive.
It is a time-saving tool that allows teachers with a busy schedule to tutor literacy online. The plugin allows students to record themselves reading the passages. They can either receive a grade, based on the Quick Score function or share their recording with the teacher for an in-depth assessment.
The grading process is very simple. The teacher accesses the grading tool and listens to every recording. At the same time they are given a copy of the passage. All they have to do is to click on a word in the passage to mark it as an error. Errors can be marked in different ways: omission, insertion, substitution, etc.
To finish this process the teacher must mark the last read word. Fluency Tutor will automatically calculate the words correct per minute and will issue a grade for the submission. After the grading process ends the teacher can download a spreadsheet that lists all the scores.
Here are two articles about some more useful Chrome Extensions to use with Google Classroom:
ARTICLE: Top 15 Google Classroom Chrome Extensions For Students
ARTICLE: Top 14 Google Classroom Extensions For Teachers
Dashboard
Fluency Tutor features an intuitive dashboard. After importing your classroom you have access to statistics based on the reading activities conducted by your students. You can compare two different classes you have previously imported.
The ‘Assessments’ section allows you to edit, compare, and export students’ reading grades. Apart from the total score generated by the software you can see the Lexile level of your students.
Fluency Tutor is designed for K-4 students that are having trouble developing their reading competencies. It can be used for any struggling readers regardless of their educational level. Teachers can use this tool as an aid when teaching a foreign language online. For example, if you are running an online French course you might want to try out this powerful software to improve your students’ pronunciation of different words.
It is great for early readers and individuals learning English as a second language. If you are planning on creating an online language course this is the right tool for you!
One of its greatest functions is the Quick Score tool. The students can record themselves reading and submit the recording. The Quick Score tool will immediately issue an overall score based on different aspects of their reading.
This way, the teacher does not have to manually grade every submission. It is a great feature to use when dealing with practice assignments. However, during exams or important assignments all the submissions must be manually verified to ensure effective grading.
The submission can be graded using the Google Classroom API. To learn more about how grading works on Google Classroom check this article.
ARTICLE: Grading In Google Classroom: What Teachers Should Know
Live Sessions
Live sessions are a very important part of online courses. This type of activity can be used to allow students to develop their reading skills.
The live session should include all the students. This way everyone will benefit and learn from others’ mistakes. If one student makes an error in reading and the teacher corrects it immediately during the live session, all the students that are present will understand the situation.
All the Google Classroom live sessions are done using the integrated Google Meet tool. There are various functions that can be used to improve students’ reading skills. For example, you can use the screen share function to provide reading passages for your students.
If you do not know how to conduct a live video session using Google Classroom, you should check out this article.
ARTICLE: Step-By-Step: How To Do a Live Video With Google Classroom
