I decided to do my first ever vlog to describe my major project experience so far. I haven’t done a vlog before with the exception of the little Flipgrid videos we have done for class. I have recorded my voice over screencasts before and am pretty comfortable with that, but I have never liked the sound of my voice and didn’t think I would like my face being recorded very much. But it turns out it wasn’t so bad. Seemingly talking to myself and recording myself seems a little awkward at first but I actually think I might like it better than writing a blog post. I felt like I could explain things in a little more detail with the vlog. It’s nice because you just kinda have to go with the flow. When I write a blog I am CONSTANTLY going back and deleting things. With a vlog, unless you want to make 10 videos before finally finishing one, you just have to keep going. I did redo this video a couple of times but I decided to keep this last version and consider it a successful first vlog. Check it out and bare with me at times (apparently I can easily get distracted and lose my train of thought). I am hoping to get better as the semester goes on.
In this first video I provide a summary of my experiences so far with Duolingo and my Italian learning progress. I also discuss how I feel I have been doing and where I plan to go from here.
This next video is a bit of a tutorial. I show you some of the features of Duolingo that help me when I get an answer wrong. Some of the features collaborate with others using Duolingo.
And last but not least, here is a video of my first experience with Mango. I did a placement test for Italian last week and recorded it. I will be working more with Mango this week so stay tuned for more videos.
Ciao!
Ashley Murray 
Your first attempt at vlogging has motivated me to give it a try. I have never done it and since I want to use YouTube for my project with students, I think do a vlog for this course is a good first step to get acquainted with documenting my own learning.
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I, too, love that you have started to vlog, particularly because they are so simple and well done. I think I’m going to give it a shot for my next blog post. (I’m also using Duolingo). Nathan, would you consider having your students vlog? Is that part of your project?
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Good question Vanessa….I’m not sure yet. Might be a good idea.
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Glad I’ve motivated you to try it out. After having done it myself I highly recommend it. It’s also nice to be able to put a face/voice to my project as opposed to just written text. Looking forward to seeing your first vlog!
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Congrats on learning so much so soon, Ashley! I, too, am trying to learn Italian for this major project. Perhaps we could Tweet in Italian later on in the semester, or leave vlogs for each other to communicate with back and forth, to practice our new learned skills? I am a technological rookie so if you have any other ideas and want to practice together, let me know!
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Wow! What great growth you have already documented. I had no idea that anything like duolingo was even accessible. Thank you for sharing your tutorial videos. I really enjoyed your vlog as well and think I will attempt one throughout my project.
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