Why have this site and who made it?

This web site is experimental. It is probably a few years too early, because most people do not have fast internet connections yet. However, some people do, and we can learn a lot about using video and audio in education by researching now.

I made the site - I am Paul Kelly and I work in the Middle East - at the United Arab Emirates University. I have also lived and worked in other parts of Asia and Europe. My home is in the UK.

I first started getting interested in using video and audio for education in 1996-7 when I worked for a distance learning university in Asia. At that time the internet was the new thing, and almost 10 years on the internet is simply taken for granted. I want to explore using rich media for communication, and at the moment this website is one of my projects.

Well, that's a bit about me. THe UAE University hosts this site - thanks to them for the space. Also thanks to the staff who appear in some of the videos for helping to make them - all UGRU staff I think.

So what should you do here - read on a bit ...

Who is it for?

I hope its interesting anyhow (if you have a bit of patience or fast net access), however I'm trying to design sections for:

English language students

English language teachers

People interested in audio and video in education

People interested in linguistics and multimodality

If you are learning and studying English:

• Make sure your computer can play videos - get Quicktime or Windows Media Player (see the software page)
• Look through the menu page for a video you want to watch
• Play the video and practice listening & watching
• Look at the questions too
• Check out all the videos and links
• Send us a message with what kind of practice videos you need - maybe we can make some for you!
• Tell your friends and teachers

If you are teaching English:

• Make sure your computer can play videos - get Quicktime or Windows Media Player (see the software page)
• Look through the menu page for a video you want to watch with your classes
• Alternateively look for links or articles you want to read about using audio and video for teaching and learning
• Play the video and practice with your students
• Draw students attention to the questions, or make your own up
• Look through the site and send us your ideas to make it better
• Send us a message with what kind of practice videos you need - maybe we can make some for you!
• Tell your friends, other teachers and students

If you are interested in audio and video in education:

• Make sure your computer can play videos - get Quicktime or Windows Media Player (see the software page)
• Look through the menu page for videos or articles
• Check out the videos and links
• Get in touch and let us know what you are working on.We want to learn more about using AV materials for communications, and are pleased to offer advice if you have a question
• Tell your friends and others interested in AV and web based learning & teaching

If you are interested in multimodality and linguistics:

• Make sure your computer can play videos - get Quicktime or Windows Media Player (see the software page)
• Look through the menu page for videos or articles of interest
• Offer us advice or links to add to the site to improve it for people working in language acquisition or education, who want to learn more about MM
• Get in touch and share your interests. We would like to contact anyone working with aspects of multi-modality, particularly linguistics and edcuation, setting up research projects, how different "groups" of users react to these materials
• Tell your friends and others interested in these areas.