Eyejot ("Video Mail in a Blink")

The Eyejot website describes the tool as "video email in a blink." You can use it to make a video of yourself from your computer and then email that video to people. All you need is a computer with internet access, a webcam and the email address(es) of the person(s) you want to send the video email to. The best part is it's absolutely free.

I doubt Eyejot was designed with education in mind, but it can certainly have academic applications:

• The teacher could send an email to his/her students introducing him/herself before the class even begins so that the students will come in a little more curious and maybe relaxed about meeting their new teacher. This is called a "premail." 
• The teacher could also send the students video reminders or announcements about the class. 
• The teacher could teach the students how to use the tool, and the students could send the teacher a video for practice and feedback (and a grade?) in oral language use.

Can you think of another academic use for Eyejot in the language classroom?

Welcome to My Blog

As an ESL teacher at a community college, I have an interest in emerging technology concepts and tools that can be used in my teaching and with my students. As an educator, I am interested in emerging technologies that are reshaping the concept of education as we know it. I am constantly learning about new technology as I attend workshops, read articles, and talk to colleagues. More often than not, I find myself scribbling new tech leads onto little pieces of paper that are scattered around my office in one folder or another. The purpose of this blog is to centrally organize these leads on new technology into one place and to share them with others that might be interested in their use in the second or foreign language classroom (or maybe you are using them already). I welcome comments from others who have heard of or are using technologies that are explored in this blog. How are you using them? Who are you using them with? Are they worth the learning curve and time invested in training your students to use them? What impact do they have on your teaching and your students' learning?