Bongo. <www.bongolearn.com>

Abstract

Bongo. <www.bongolearn.com> Frédérique Grim Since the breakout of the pandemic, many of us have been looking for technological tools that will mimic the in-person classroom as much as possible. Within our online, remote, or hyflex courses, we strive to give the best learning experience to our language students. Numerous applications have had a chance to stand out recently, tools that not only support our current teaching, but that will support our future [End Page 257] teaching when we are back to a "normal" classroom environment. One crucial aspect of language learning that can be challenging for students in a remote class is the communication standard, particularly the oral communication. Bongo is a tool you should consider. With the interpersonal, interpretive, and presentational modes of communication in mind, Bongo has been a useful program in language classes, including American Sign Language. It is a complementary tool to any language classes, remote, online or in-person. An array of options can optimize language learning and assessment: (1) Individual projects: learners record their oral production to share with their instructors (especially valuable for repeated practice, self-reflection, and feedback); (2) Question and answer: based on the instructor's short videos, learners can answer orally with a video of their own (especially valuable for high-stakes role plays and on-the-spot demonstration of skills); (3) Group project: students can be grouped and create a video recording of multiple screens (especially valuable for team-based learning, collaboration, and practice); (4) Interactive video: based on a video made by the instructors, learners can read and answer pre-recorded or written questions inserted throughout to check for comprehension (especially valuable for analyzing and consuming videos with built-in assessment); (5) Virtual classroom: this provides a familiar environment for synchronous teaching. As do many other popular conferencing tools, Bongo provides screen sharing, breakout sessions, polling, and can be integrated within assignments to allow students to collaborate in real time. All of this without adding an additional fee in purchasing another conferencing tool. Regarding assessment: instructors can give feedback on learners' video synchronously, meaning, as the student video is playing, the instructor can stop it, insert an oral or written time-stamped comment, and keep playing the video until another comment is necessary. The student can watch the video with the inserted oral or written comments. The oral option allows students to hear the instructor, who might want to provide pronunciation tips. Other students can provide feedback, as well, if the instructor chooses to. This program is low-cost, in comparison to other, similar options. When minimums are met, the cost for an enterprise license can be less than $10/student/year. Cost includes training and ongoing (also very efficient and enthusiastic) support. I have found this tool essential, primarily because of timestamped oral feedback and practice we are able to provide to students. Frédérique Grim Colorado State University Copyright © 2021 American Association of Teachers of French