Yale Connection
The Good
Ben Lerude ’17, who took Cultural Studies of Peru (SPAN s247), liked the interactive aspect of Adobe Voice saying, “I thought the app was a fun way to practice speaking Spanish, and it’s a really creative and cool app.”
Many students found the app’s simplic, one-touch recording an advantage. “It was very easy to use, had great sound quality and very good transition in between slides'” said Amen Jalal ’17, who took Elemenary Italian (ITAL s110 02). Her classmate, Lily Hahn ’17, had similar sentiments. “It took very little time to make each slide because there are only a few layout options in addition to the sound component, making it easy to work with.”
Adobe Voice Demo
The Bad
Adobe Voice’s simplistic nature may, however, be its one downfall, as it has limiting functionality. While Kira Tebbe ’17 (ITAL s110) found the app recorded her voice clearly and she was able to add Ken Burns effects to her photos, she points out there are some limiting attributes. “One downside of the app was that we couldn’t add our own video. I wanted to throw in little clips I had recorded, but the app wouldn’t allow it.” Jalal had similar comments about the app who added, “The only limitations are that they don’t allow you to add more than 2 photos or to add video clips and that may inhibit your project depending on its scope.” While Bowie Xu ’17 from Span s247 liked the theme and music choices offered by the app, he found Adobe Voice could add improvements to the post-production features which are nonexistent. “It’s frustrating not being able to edit or crop a recording. If you messed up, you would have to redo it.” Said Xu.
The Results
While the verdict is still out, and the app has some shortcomings, most of the aforementioned students who used the app found it helpful for their classes. According to anonymous survey feedback, 72% of the students in both classes replied the app was helpful for their language studies, with may comments highlighting ease-of-use and an active way to practice speaking the language.
Here are few examples of Adobe Voice in action.
Lily Hahn – ITAL S110
“It took very little time to make each slide because there are only a few layout options in addition to the sound component, making it easy to work with.”
Amen Jalal – ITAL S110
“[Adobe Voice is] an app I would recommend to anyone undertaking projects similar to mine.”
Ben Lerude – SPAN S247
“…[Adobe Voice] definitely mixes things up a bit and makes for more exciting projects than simply writing about a topic by hand.”
Stephanie Rogers – SPAN S247
“I definitely became more analytical using the app because I began to dig deeper into the story behind the images I was showing.”
Kira Tebbe – ITAL S110
“…the main learning aspect [is] hearing my own voice to hear the accent and pronunciation…”
Howie Xu – SPAN S247
“Using the program allowed us to practice our speaking skills for Spanish, whereas a written response would not.”
