Advantages:
uses RealPlayer audio & video
**** Excellent resource. Searchable database of DVD collection and documentary
interviews with scientists, musicians, & authors; search window located in left
frame.
Other clips include Network (good for anger management!).
Mostly film
clips interspersed with interviews of directors (Spielberg,
Mike
Leigh) or actors.
NOTE: The
director doesn't always appear in a clip with his name.
Disadvantages:
Interviews are high resolution, but the film clips are presented in low
resolution; not great for large screen projection.
Recommended:
Stephen Hawking's lecture
(with voice synthesizer);direct link to ram file:
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Books a - z: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/a-z/
Poetry Outloud:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/poetry/outloud/index.shtml
Advantages:
uses RealPlayer audio & video
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**** Good resource. |
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Less comprehensive than other BBC archives but offers some clips that don't appear elsewhere. |
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Recommendations: Maya Angelou on video -- 7 min. lecture (see icon on far upper right). | |
Choose to listen alone or read the poem while listening; audio/video opens in separate window. |
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Source: http://www.soundportraits.org
Advantages: uses RealPlayer audio
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******* The Best! |
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A short text summary is supplied with each story. Several stories represent first-person recollections of historical moments. |
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Mostly produced by NPR's award-winning David Isay; his handiwork converts the material into gritty, engrossing vignettes. | |
Under-represented in US society, this site gives ex-convicts, flophouse patrons, and a civil-rights activist/luncheonette waitress (among others) a voice. |
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Transcripts available but do not appear unless requested; additional links to historical photos and background info supplied with each story. | |
Click
on scroll bar at bottom to access archives. |
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Advantages:
uses MP3 audio (Quicktime Player)
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Source: http://www.1stperson.org
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Interesting selection of first-person narratives from the US. Many
focus on the 9/11 tragedy. |
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Self-described 'narratives from the "I"' these vignettes re-live personal moments related to historical and sociocultural events. |
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Audio pieces vary in length from 5 mins. (excerpt) to 1 hour. | |
Use of BBS (click'DISCUSS') allows listeners to read the opinions of others and/or post their own. |
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Disadvantages: Speakers read from written text, creating unnatural spoken rhythms and syntax. Also, transcripts are always visible. | |
Advantage:
Slow speech offers easy listening for beginning-level learners. |
Advantages:
uses QuickTime Audio and Video 5.2 or higher
Target Audience: Educators
Interviews & documentaries about U.S. (mostly K-12) education &
techniques for the classroom.
Additional
links to text articles and steps for implementation (e.g., "Take Action")
accompany videos.
Front page offers
a selections of the newest videos; archives (under "Topics"
in left frame) categorize videos by subject matter.
The "Video
Gallery" displays the archived material with additional information
including length of video and date recorded.
Interviews can
be heard alone or viewed with video; documentaries allow viewers to choose
files according to internet connection (dial-up or broadband).
Sample
topics: Assessment, Emotional Intelligence, Project-based
Learning, Technology Integration, Mentoring, and Professional Development.
Advantages:
uses
RealPlayer audio
Series of lectures on U.S. History by visiting professors; recorded
at Ashland University (Ohio, USA) in 2002.
Files
are supported by a wealth of printed material (listed as 'readings') including
historic and legal documents.
Target Audience:
Advanced academically-bound students. Material offers good opportunities
for high-level notetaking tasks while listening to real college lectures
and learning about US history.
Topics include
discussions and lectures about: the Declaration of Independence, the Bill
of Rights, George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Theodore Roosevelt, and
Woodrow Wilson.
Disadvantages:
Audio has some static and echo, making
the sound quality ‘rough’ but understandable. Audio files are
unwieldy at 40 - 80 minutes, making them difficult to organize.
Caveat:
Material is
extremely difficult due to rate of speech, level of vocabulary and poor
sound quality. No transcripts are available.
BONUS:
For additional documents (text only) on Am. History from "Colonial
America" to "the Great Depression" and LESSON
PLANS (PDF format) visit the Hudson River Valley Institute.
Advantages:
uses
RealPlayer audio
Academic lectures on the Principles of Macroeconomics, by Professor
Ingram of the University of Iowa (U.S.); recorded in 1997.
Lectures
offer great introduction to this topic, (try “Let’s
Make a Deal”).
Lecturer (U.S.,
female) speaks clearly, at a normal rate of speed. Vocabulary is not overly
difficult, though some is field specific. Good material for high-intermediate
to advanced students.
Advantage:
Audio supported by synchronized text and graphics, highlighting important
lecture points. Visuals are html documents, opening in any web browser
(PowerPoint is NOT needed). Visuals include buttons for manual advancement.
Advantages: uses
Quicktime audio
!!!!!Challenging!!!! Only for the truly advanced
(or those who want to train their listening for the advanced native-speaker
levels).
Authentic
voiceover demos containing bits of 4 or 5 advertisements spliced together.
Speech is lightening fast and truly authentic.
Good test for advanced
listening students, or a method of exposing students to popular American
culture regarding radio advertisements.
Disadvantages:
The combination of multiple ads
on one track (each 10-15 seconds long) makes this material difficult to
use; must choose wisely.
Advantage:
Over 100 choices in many
different styles and ages, mostly American.
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Must use the "Back" button to return to list.
Advantages:
uses
RealPlayer audio
Academic lectures in Computer Science from the online course, "Functional
Programming in Scheme". Lectures and support materials by
Professor Kurt Normark of Aalborg University (Denmark).
Not
for the "weak of heart", these lectures are chock full of field
specific language; topics include: paradigms, binding constructs, an introduction
to LAML, and 'Hilbert Curves'.
Good for advanced
academically-oriented students. Speaker is clear, but has non-native (Danish)
accent; audio offers mild exposure to non-native English speech, a common
occurrance on US university campuses.
Disadvantages:
Navigation is not intuitive --
most audio files are linked to small text marked "speak".
Document links are available via icons which are also not intuitive.
• Advantages:
uses
RealPlayer audio, iTunes & Mp3 (Quicktime
Player)
Alternative youth-oriented audio pieces, ranging in length from 12-25
minutes. Topics are controversial and great for stimulating discussion.
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Source:
http://www.transom.org/shows/archives.html
Link
is to Transom's archive page; click on the year (2001, 2002, 2003) to
see a photo, title, and brief synopsis. There is also a search window.
Rate of speech
fluctuates according to speaker. Most are interviews with natural speech
and rhythm, but also contain some narration from script. There are links
to Discussion Boards for each presentation.
Advantages
: This is the real world,
and very, very current. Listen to: "Street
Dogs" about the young homeless in Seattle and their dogs,
"My
struggle with Obesity" by a 15 yr. old boy in NY, or "Death
Qualified" about the death penalty.
No transcripts
but audio is supported by written summary and photographs that help the
listener guess the topic; sometimes a slideshow too.
Disadvantages:
Some interviews contain 'foul'
language, as in natural speech. This may not go over well with some
students or teachers.
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