Virtual Misadventures: Technical Problems and Student Satisfaction When Implementing Multimedia in an Advanced French Listening Comprehension Course

What are the advantages and problems related to using multimedia technology in an advanced French listening comprehension course? What are some of the typical vicissitudes, trials and tribulations encountered when teachers decide to introduce multimedia activities in their classes? This article illustrates the advantages and difficulties of using multimedia from the point of view of both the teacher and the learners. We first give a brief presentation of the context in which our experiment took place. We outline the difficulties encountered by the professor who had to select material, create activities, and administer the daily management of the course, touching on hardware and support issues. We then investigate the reaction of the students to the new media and the teaching approach.

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