Uses in the Classroom: There are many possible uses for Fotobabble in any classroom, especially an English classroom. It is obviously a great to use as a get-to-know-you kind of activity, because it gives students a chance to put their best "face" forward with their introductions to each other and allows students to script out what they want to say ahead of time. It could also be used collaboratively by having students work in groups to take and choose photos, and to write, edit, and record the narration.
Not only this, but Fotobabble opens the door wide open to creating digital stories as well. Students could plan out and take a series of photographs and include appropriate narration for each picture. The pictures together would complete the story. This is just one simple way Fotobabble could be used, but there are many more possibilities.
Issues to Consider: Although I've enjoyed using Fotobabble, and I think most students would too, it is really hard to get used to hearing yourself on a recording. Right now I work for a mostly-online high school, and when I train students to use the computers and the software, hardly any want to practice using the program Photobooth for recording videos, and the same goes for practicing the "push to talk" feature on the instant messenger we use. I think teachers would run into similar "foot dragging" with Fotobabble also, at least at first, because of this voice-shyness. This would hopefully only be a temporary problem until students gain confidence. Working collaboratively at first might help with this.
Copyright: The photo included is an original of Angie Burns.
