Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab

This week we're taking a look at Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab. The lab offers many features and is free to use. We're all about the free stuff here at The Paradigm Shift podcast. I found this site because Robert Diem has a link to it on his site, The Daily Idiom. Way to go, Robert!

I want to give you an overview of the site first. So let's take a quick look at its features. The site includes:

• Streaming audio and video content through Real Player;
• Over 150 original activities and quizzes;
• Activities and quizzes are categorized according to difficulty level;
• Activities contain a variety of tasks and learning opportunities;
• Pre- and post-listening activities.

You will need Real Player to listen to the audio files. No problem--free download and available for Mac and that other operating system that the kids like.

The Interface

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab is easy to navigate around and has a reasonably intuitive interface. The ESL students I have had working in the lab have been able to move around the site with relative ease and success. It's far too early to demonstrate significant growth (about two weeks), but they have found the lessons to be a fun way to improve their listening comprehension.