SoundCloud is something that I have been using for the past year or so. I have found it invaluable as a way of recording speaking practice to track progress and assess students. Speaking can be really difficult to monitor and give constructive feedback on; when you have a larger class-size, the time and resources are just impossible to manage all at once. SoundCloud is a free application that has a rich resource of audio material, it also has a simple mobile phone application that allows students to record and upload to a private and secure location.

Student Benefits

Record audio on phone or laptop
Upload, store and listen later
Evaluate and perfect
Monitor long-term progress

Teacher Benefits

‘Follow’ students
Give comments and feedback
Set homework tasks
Record audio for listening practice
Encourage independence

Here is an example of a student who has recorded himself practising the speaking coursework, which he then uploaded onto my SoundCloud page where I could listen and leave him comments.

Speaking example

I urge you to give it a go. My students were sceptical at first but they have really taken to it.