Podcasts

Podcast makes your class more interesting!


The teacher can be the host/hostess by holding his/her own "show" with the help of podcast.  It can be a one-man show or deliberately design into an interview form.  Listening to the podcast is just like listening to the radio, it can train students' listening skill.  Moreover, it talks about one specific topic at one time, so students can catch the point easier.

Photo by abrinsky

I just found the podcast, Being Impolite in Conversation, a good material for teaching ESL students.  The host speaks slowly and clearly.  There is also a conversation demonstration between two people.  Both of they two speak in a slow and clear way as well.  Thus, the students can easily catch up what people said in the podcast.  Besides, the intonation displays obviously so that students can learn to follow it after listening to the conversation.  Moreover, the host in the podcast explains the vocabulary in the conversation.  The most common way the learners learn new words is looking up them in the dictionary, now students can change a method learning new words.  This trains their listening skill.


What if I were the teacher, I would ask my students to listen to this podcast carefully and ask them to pair work with their peers to demonstrate the conversation again.  They will be asked to pay attention to the intonation and the tone of speaking.  One thing I like this podcast is that students can learn something related to their daily life and can probably apply it in real life. 


There are a lot useful podcasts for ESL students in ESL Podcast.  Podcast is really a good tool for listening training!

Be open-minded

     The example, given in the beginning of the video, is a great one to explain how huge the influence the Internet poses to this world.  Nevertheless, I am surprised that the Brazilian is the third big population that uses Twitter.  I was shocked about the phenomenon that the world is actually not as global as we thought.  However, when I looked at myself, I suddenly realize that I am one among the people who concern the domestic news only.  The media should take responsibility for the result.

     Living in this high-tech society, people cannot live without the media.  The information we receive every day is mostly from them.  Thus, when they become less global, it shrinks our horizon toward the world as well.  For developing and underdeveloped countries, the media power is relatively weak compare to developed countries.  The world is still dominated by developed countries nowadays.

     With the help of Foko Club, students learn to use the Internet and blog and can then pose their own feeling and opinion of news in their country, Madagarscar.  Once it was published on the Internet, it has a great chance that more people will see, and have a better idea about this country.

     Yeeyan, a Chinese group with 150,000 volunteers, is doing an amazing and huge job.  They translate English articles to Chinese, so that people who are able to read Chinese can understand the articles, even if they don't know English.  This helps them to see the outside world.
I appreciate what these two groups do for this world.  Thanks to the invention of the Internet, we should be more open-minded.  It's time to broaden our horizon!

Make an ePal

     Have you ever had a pen pal?  Waiting for the reply from the pen pal is always exciting, isn't it?
     How about a pen pal from a different country, culture, and background?  ePals makes making a pen pal, or that's say "ePal", a possible thing!

Photo by ihave3kids 

     This is a helpful tool for language learns.  L2 learners can continue learning their target languages out of class as well.  Just click on the Collaborate column, and you will see ePals Classrooms, which are available.  This is a good way to make friends all over the world.  Besides, it is a option to do language exchange.  What if I were the teacher of a language class, I would ask my students to make an ePal on this community website.  I will not require them to show me their mails, which received from their ePals.  However, in order to make sure they are really doing this assignment, I will ask them to ask help from their ePals to send at least one postcard from their countries, so that I can be certain that students do make ePals on-line, and practice using the language.   There is one thing I regard important.  If the teacher plans to make this a task in class, it will be better if the teacher can help the students to check the ePals they choose.  This prevent them from beinig cheated or scammed.


     What is more, I personally like the Storrytelling part of this website.  It provides not only the guideline on how to tell a good story, but also some interesting links for the students to make their own stories.  All of the links are easy to operate, and there are various options for students to choose from.  It can be making an animation cartoon or write a story.  The teacher can take some teaching idea from this website as well.

Do it Differently

In the past, students learn things from the textbook.  Nowadays, it is an old-fashioned way doing that.  With the help of technology, teaching/learning can be more interesting and interactive!


Here is an example, which was made by me on Strip Generator.

What is Your Hobby? by chingwen722


The feature of this tool is that there are many scene, characters, items, and so on, for the user to choose.  Thus, the teacher can create his/her own work based on the need in class.  Besides, not only the teacher, but also the students can find it really easy to use.  Therefore, it is possible that the teacher assigns students to make one by themselves as homework.


I think the tool is ideal for teaching conversation.  Students can take roles in the comic, and practice speaking with their peers.  The teacher can set a goal on specific grammatical structure of phrase that s/he wants to teach, and ask students to practice using it.  Take the comic above, for example.  If I were the teacher, I will focus on the "What is your hobby?" sentence, and ask students to work with a partner to practice using it in the conversation. They also have to take turn playing rold A and B.  In this way, I can make sure that each person knows how to ask and answer this specific phrase.

Let's start using this updated tool in class!

Use Digital Storytelling Tool in a Language Class

Here is my self-made sample of digital storytelling book.




This is how I am going to use this in my class: First, show my students the process of planning a trip.  Second, tell them one of my experiences in planning a trip.  Third, ask them to plan a trip, and to write it down.

By showing them the words and pictures together, I believe that they will have a clearer idea about what the teacher is talking about.  Students can learn some travel-related vocabulary at this part as well.  Besides, for students, it is always good to listen to a lecture with lively material. After showing them the slides on Bookr, I will tell them one of my stories.  It could be either the problem I encountered while planing the trip, or what I have seen during the trip.  I feel that by doing this, the students can feel that they are really learning something useful and can be applied in their daily life.  Last but not least, I will ask them to write down their own trip plan.  This trains their writing skill, too.  What is more, they will be asked to do a presentation with the help of digital storytelling tool.  They can share their ideas with peers, and it makes the presentation much fun!

The objectives of this activity will primarily be improving the students' listening, writing, and speaking skill.  They will have to listen to the teacher's introduction of how to plan a trip first.  Then, to write down their own projects.  Finally, they will be asked to show their ideas with peers on the stage.

Tell a Story in a Digital Way

Digital storytelling, what is it?

Photo by Scottish Libraries


The article, 7 Things You Should Know About Storytelling, states the concept of it: Digital storytelling is the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a sort movie, typically with a strong emotional component.  It is also explained here (Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling) that "Digital Storytelling is the practice of using computer-based tools to tell stories."  Now we have a better idea about what is it, but for whom is the tool can be used?  The answer is "Anyone who has a desire to document life experience, ideas, or feelings through the use of story and digital media" (Center for Digital Storytelling).

     Since it is a computer-based tool, the language teacher has an easy access to it, and can apply it in the class to help the learners.  Through using the digital storytelling tool, students can easily combine what they have seen with what the teacher expects them to learn.  This helps students who learn with visual/spatial intelligence, especially.  Besides, with the help of this tool, it is likely that students will not feel bored because the pictures/photos can catch their attention if the teacher pick the suitable and attractive ones.  It is a tool for every level of language class.

Are you ready?

Let's tell a story!

Let's Tweet!

There are more and more tools, which can be used on teaching and learning, such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and so on.

I’ve heard about Twitter, a kind of microblog, a long time ago, but not until I learned how to use it and read the artile: How Twitter will revolutionise academic research and teaching, do I realize how potentially it can be used in teaching/learning. 

I personally feel that Twitter is suitable for students to turn in vocabulary assignment.  What if I was the teacher, I would upload a new word or phrase, and ask the students to write down its meaning and make a sentence.  Since every tweet is limited to 140 characters, and the answer to the assignment is going to be short, it would be a perfect tool to apply.

Besides, the function of @name of Twitter is a really convenient.  The teacher can directly reply to specific student and give suggestion or make correction, and s/he can make sure that the student sees the reply. This function can save time and make things easier.

What’s more, the hashtag function helps people to search a precise category they are looking for.  Once the students click on the hashtag, they can reply to the particular question directly, which makes it organized and time-saving. 

For teachers, they can receive the latest educational concept since they can follow educators on Twitter.  Also, they can reply to the tweet and have discussion with other education experts.  

You can learn more advantages and ways of using Twitter as a teaching tool by reading 28 Creative Wyas Teachers Are Using Twitter.

Networking Webstie

     I just found this website, EFL Classroom 2.0,  interesting and useful.

     It has over 20,000 members all around the world.  Each one of them can share their thought and experience.  Once one had posted an article, people can share or comment it.  It will make you feel really interacting with each other, and feeling being supported.  Besides, in the Tool column, it has many tools for the teacher to download or use in his/her teaching.  Also, there are many educational videos which the teachers can watch and learn from them.  It provides some teaching method about listening, grammar, phonetics, pronunciation, and so on.  There is one item called “karaoke” raises my interests.  It lists some songs with catchy tune which the teacher can use in class to help students learn in a happily way.  What’s more, there are links of various library websites so that the user can choose whichever website they want to visit.

     It is really a cool website, which can give the teacher many resources and support, especially when almost all the members are educators.  The teacher can learn and share experience with members.  After the teacher gaining some new knowledge from this website, and apply it in his/her teaching, it can lead to a better educational circumstance in our real life.

A Teacher Is...

     A teacher is like surveillance camera today.

       As the technology is developing in an amazing speed nowadays, the students are able to gain knowledge from various aspects, such as through the Internet, TV programs, etc.  However, in this info-exploded society, students may not know what is right and correct, and will probably take whatever they have seen.  The teacher then plays a crucial role to keep a watchful eye on his/her students.  George Siemens states in his article: New information is continually being acquired. The ability to draw distinctions between important and unimportant information is vital.  It is the educators’ responsibility to oversee the behavior of the students, and to teach them what is true and false on the Internet.  Besides, the students should be taught how to tell what is important and unimportant information among  overwhelmed data.

     Moreover, Siemens, G. stresses, “Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing.”  It truly easy and convenient to gain knowledge now.  With just one click, we can acquire whatever we want to learn and know.  Thus, some people may be fooled around with the fake information, which is posted on the Internet.  For me, the tool should be just the assistant instead of the commander.  It is us who use the tool, instead of being used by the tool.  How to use the tool properly to make it a helpful material for us is insignificant.

     The rise of community websites, for example, Facebook, Twitter, My Space, and so on, has led a dramatically change on the way people communicate.  He also explains in the video, “The software is a tool allows individual to form communication with each other,” and “Our learning today is one of the forming network with each other.”  Since the communication involves in more technology now than before, we should pay attention to this specific communicate way.  It can interfere in a either good or bad way.  That is why the teacher has to supervise his/her students all the time to make sure they are not distracted from the regular route.

What Do You Say?

     Think about this: Does the technology really make your life simpler and easier?

     This question keeps popping out of my mind after reading  the article---Simple (Blog: TeachPaperless).  I found this article interesting, and I ponder a while after reading it.

     We cannot deny that the technology does make our life more convenient and effective in some ways.  Nevertheless, it also brings some troubles such as being hacked, attacked by virus, receiving endless spam, and so on.  The water that bears the boat is the same that swallows it up.

     The general students, who are usually too young to judge what is right or wrong, are the generation of technology.  Most of them are able to use the high-tech devices, for example, the cell phones and computers, without being taught.  Thus, they cannot live without them after they grow up.  Exposing to overloaded information on the Internet may cause some problems to teenagers, who lack the ability to make proper judgment.  It is normal that they take whatever they saw on the Internet serious, even the piece of information is false and wrong.  In this way, the technology seems to become an obstacle.

     Besides, it has become a trend that we are using technology as assist in teaching nowadays.  It helps us most of the time; however, it brings some disadvantages as well. 

     It is true that the technology does us a great help, but it has some drawback.  In my humble opinion, I believe that the factor that the technology makes our life simple or complex is decided by how we make use of it.

Catch Up

It is hard to imagine living without the technology nowadays.

Think about how many hours do you spend on blogging, texting, facebooking, TV-watching, and so on, a day?  

1 hour?

3 hours?

6 hours?

12 hours?

You will be surprised by the answer if you count with scrutiny.

     I am kind of shocked after watching the video Pay Attention.  Even if I have already known that students have heavy reliance on technology in this modern society, the research results still leave a deep impression on my mind. 

     Since we cannot prevent the technology from developing and students from using it, we, the teachers, have to figure out specific teaching methods, which combine with technology, and use it to help students in learning.  The text messaging (SMS) assignment illustrated in the video is a good example.

     Besides, it is well said in the video Educational Change Challenge: Teacher needs to exist in the space students exist.  The space most students exist now is digital and virtual space; thus, the teachers have to follow their pace and get to know what they are doing.  Once the teachers exist in the same space with their students, they can then weave the technology and homework together to help the students to lead an effective learning process.

Technology can be either a harmful or helpful tool in teaching and learning, depends on how you use it!

Don't Be Afraid, Teachers!

    

     After reading the Chapter 1 of Brave New Digital Classroom by Robert J. Blake, I was surprised by one of the myths, Technology Will Replace Teachers, about technology and SLA (Second Language Acquisition).

     Some teachers are afraid of being replaced by high-tech tools such as the use of the Internet.  They fear the school or institution might downsize the number of employees if it starts using technology in teaching considerably. 

     In my humble opinion, I do not regard the use of technology in teaching pose a threat to teachers.  On the contrary, it can be a great help.  As it has also written in this book, there are three main technological platforms to assist SLA: the web, CD-ROM, and net-work based communication.  Each platform provides different methods to help students to lead an effective and successful language learning process.  The technology has adopted widely in teaching nowadays. 

     Although the computer is considered as smart as human beings, they can never replace the human.  To me, one of the most important aspects in teaching and learning is the teacher-student interaction.  It is true that computer programs are able to respond to some certain questions and make people feel there is “interaction” between it and themselves.  However, the so recognized interaction is all about mouse clicking and keyboard typing.  If the program is not well-constructed, which is impossible for the complicated formation of language, culture, and history, it cannot answer some specific language questions.  Since we are mortals, who possess the ability of thinking and feeling, we are able to “interact” with others, and to deal with elaborate questions, which intervene with “humanities” issues.  Thus, the teacher will never be substituted.

      “Everyone seems to forget to answer the questions of who will teach those distance learning courses, write the curriculum, and train students to work with in this format.” This sentence best described the simplest reason that why the teachers do not have to be afraid of being replaced.  Even if it is true, the teachers cannot be satisfied with the current situation for it is more globalized and technology-using widespread in this modern society and teaching circumstance.  “The technology will not replace teachers in the future, but rather teachers who use technology will probably replace teachers who do not” (Clifford 1987, 13). 

Play Smart on The Internet

1) Never provide personal information to someone you don’t know.

→ Be careful! Since there are hackers and malice virus system on the Internet, it is not even safe to provide your personal data to someone you are familiar with. Not to say to someone you don’t know.

2) Always doubt the truth of things posted on the Internet.

     → Look before you leap. When receiving a mail which tells you that you win a great amount of money, it could be a scam.

3) Do not open the mail if you don’t know who the sender is.

→ Be wise! If you open this kind of mail, your computer may be attacked by virus and secret data could be stolen.

4) Use a difficult-to-guess password.

→ Be cautious! Never use a simple password like your birthday, phone number, etc., which are easy to guess.

5) Be responsible for what you post on the Internet.

→ Be thoughtful! Even if the Internet is a virtual world, the police can still find and arrest you if you try to threaten someone out of fun or spread virus.




Watch the clip on Youtube, and you all realize how important it is to play smart on the Internet!

         


 Here is a recommened article, "Use the InternetProperly and Safely. "


http://www.brighthub.com/internet/security-privacy/articles/8815.aspx

Three Ways to Help Sutdents Through This Blog

1) Chat Room
    Students have various personalities.  Some are outgoing; some are shy.  For those who are shy, it is teacher’s responsibility to encourage them to talk more.  However, some students just cannot feel comfortable speaking in public.  In this case, the technology tool can do a great help.  My idea is to create a “chat room” within my blog.  I will first form students into many groups.  Next, I will post different topics out of students’ interests in my blog.  Then, the students have to reply to the assigned topics.  It is actually a kind of group discussion.  The students’ have to “chat” with their classmates in L2 for 30 minutes at least once a week.  Chatting with classmates on the Internet makes students who are shy more relax and willing to talk.  Even though students seem to be merely “chatting”, they are “learning” at the same time.  They can not only practice using second language but also gain different points of view from peers.

(Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.)

2) Language Background
    Language is a comprehensive concept, so L2 learner cannot focus on “language” aspect only.  They have to work on such as history and culture parts to gain further knowledge of a language.  Take me, an English learner, for example.  I have found out that the logical thinking way is totally different between English and Chinese speakers.  We can easily detect that from articles written by American and Chinese.  I can post articles written by different language speakers toward the same topic to show my students how the writing framework and views of point vary.  Then, they can observe and learn.  Besides, to post some interesting stories about English culture to arise students’ interests.

(Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through the foreign language and its culture.)

3) Supplement
    Most L2 learners are eager to learn more, but they do not have the circumstances after language class.  In this case, the Internet can be a great assistant.  There is a lot of useful information on the Internet.  Students can easily find a website and learn things like grammar, pronunciation, and so on.  L2 teacher can construct a website, and upload beneficial data, such as daily life vocabularies, for extra-curriculum cupplement.  Thus, L2 students can learn not only serious lecture but also casual stuff which they can apply in daily life.

(Standard 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.)