Using ePals in L2 classroom

When you first visit ePals website, you can see it, “ePals is the leading provider of safe collaborative technology for schools to connect and learn in a protected, project-based learning network. With classrooms in 200 countries and territories, ePals makes it easy to connect learners locally, nationally or internationally.” Students who are learning foreign language in their countries might have difficulty in practicing the target language with native speakers, and it is hard to focus on learning slang or idioms in classroom with teachers.

Even though the teacher prepares many activities for language learning, if the students do not have a chance to speak in real field – talking with native speakers or using the TL in the country – they may be less motivated in learning the language.

ePals give chance for students not only use their Target Language with native speakers but also experience its culture directly with people in the world.

In my classroom, I would ask students in different countries work collaboratively as team projects. I can give them various cultural topics such as food, leisure, and manner in each country. So, they can compare and find similarities and differences by themselves. this will definitely be really interesting for students to know new culture and to make friends in different countries.

Photoshows for ESL/EFL classroom teaching.

I made this video by using Animoto which I can create a digital story using photos, texts, and music. This video is about American holidays. Especially in EFL class, many students might not be familiar with American culture.

Through this tool, teachers can discuss holidays in the U.S and compare the U.S culture and students’ one. After this activity, teachers can divide students into groups and ask them to choose one country and make video about the culture of the country.

Teaching language using video tool can be really helpful not only learn language communication skills but also understand different culture and broaden their view points. They can also feel interested in learning with pictures and music. Teachers can teach music as well.

Digital Storytelling (2)

Understanding different culture _

This digital storytelling I created is for teaching language in ESL/EFL classroom. Learning language is totally related to learning culture which requires learners to have open-minded. In this sense, I would give them different topics of culture such as clothes, food, etc. And, each group of students can search pictures and videos and make their own digital storytelling. This activity can not only help them to understand other cultures but also broaden their view point.

Digital Storytelling

Digital story telling is also very interesting source for second language teaching. As stated in the article 7 things you should know about Digital Storytelling, “Digital story telling is the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound and video to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component.” As students learn language through many different ways actively, they could be more motivated and attentive in language learning.

It is also mentioned in the article that “creating and watching digital stories has the potential to increase the information literacy of a wide range of students.”

According to the article The Educational Uses of Digital Setting, “the topics that are used in digital storytelling range from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one’s own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between.” This implies that students can learn a lot of resources practicing through digital storytelling by themselves.

In this sense, in my future EFL/ESL class, I would teach my students to learn different culture and life style comparing between their culture and the American culture. I can divide them into small group, ask them to choose the culture topic and make digital story telling using pictures and videos. After that, each group can share the different resources which make them feel interesting since it is not just reading comprehension or listening without any visual aid.  

Another site Center for Digital Story Telling defines digital story as a short, first person video-narrative created by combining recorded voice, still and moving images, and music or other sounds. Thus, digital storytelling makes language learners feel fun, active and boosting to learn language without thinking ‘studying’, but ‘playing’.

Photo by : Jill Clardy

 

Twitter in the classroom .

WHAT IF you teach more that 100 students in one class?

When i was in college, 7 years ago, I took some courses in which more than 100 students attended. Especially, when i took English literature class, I haven't had a chance talk with my professor, but share my thinking only with classmates who sat around me. Before the lesson, I read the textbook by myself. During the class, I listen professor's lecture about such as the summary and the background of the novel. After the class, I have to write a paper about my opinion and thinking of the book to professor. I did not have a chance to share my idea about the person in the novel, or the author with my classmate who may have different opinion as mine.

Now, very smart and attractive one came up to me, Twitter !
Many articles and blogs explained how to use twitter in the classroom,  and I realized there has  been
a lot of ways to use it in teaching and learning. First of all, 'quick information'. Even in the large size of the class, every students can express their opinion and share ideas through twitter. As an example, when a teacher give one topic to 100 students at the same time, they all can twitt even at the same time without any voice. Do you think the classroom may be very silent? No. No passive, no silent in Twitter.. And teachers will not just stand in front of them. Teachers can  check and ask students what they have done/doing.

According to Jane Hart's comprehensive guide How to Use Twitter for Social Learning,

there is an specific example how to use twitter in classroom.

Pre-class: give students question so that they tweets to keep the discussion going.

During class: keep the students communicating with one another. Sharing links to relevant resources, websites. Sharing students experiences of what they have done/doing.

Post-class: sending out reminders about upcoming tests, project duedates, class-related news. 

The article, Twitter expanding our classroom- shrinking the world, shows one example how affects to use Twitter with 6th graders in classroom. the author said that twitter shrinks the world. During the class, not only learn a language, but also they learn the culture and happenings in the world.

Twitter can be used not only for teaching in the classroom, but also for professional development. Many resources (video, articles, activities, music, etc.) teachers can keep and share through twitter. Teachers can also have a more chance to intimate with each of the students individually. Easy to get feedback and easy to recognize what their students need now.

I just realized that many educators give a lot of resources through twitter and if I just follow them, I could get many resources they uploaded, I could talk with them and  even ask tips for teaching. A lot of opportunity for professional development are given by Twitter. The thing is I have to get my feet wet eagerly and continuously looking, searching, and trying to develop me.   

Connectivism and Education in our Society.

Today’s teachers are like multi-players. They have to consider develop the new teaching skills following the changing society as well as consider students’ different learning styles.

Not only getting the knowledge of the subject they teach, but also other fields that teachers have to learn and apply them differently.

According to George Siemens in the article,Connectivism:A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, “One of the most persuasive factors is the shrinking half-life of knowledge. The “half-life of knowledge” is the time span from when knowledge is gained to when it becomes obsolete.”

I think the most important thing for teachers to concern is how to deal with network and how to utilize it effectively in classroom. as we all know, online networking community has very strong power to manage our society, especially our students now are more familiar with this system than teachers.

  There are many theories to utilize in the creation of instructional environments. Among them, we need to consider connectivisom as more influencing learning theory for digital age. In a video, titled “theconflict of learning theories with human nature” Siemens argues, “anything we need to reverse the image and look at it from inside were learning is active knowledge. Creation is a function of network.”

Connectivism sees learning as the process of creation connections and developing a network. A notion of “know-where” can supplement to the ones of “know-how” and “know-what” that make the cornerstones of many theories of learning.

Resources:

http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm
Siemens, G.  (2005, January).  Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age.  International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Retrieved November 20, 2005

The Conflict of Learning Theories with Human Nature (4:13 minutes)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTgWt4Uzr54&feature=PlayList&p=3E43054A8703F57A&index=2 Retrieved January 10, 2009.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Connectivism

Do Opposite !

the post from http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/2011/09/do-opposite.html?showComment=1316801867936#c8037091957038925497 is really interesting and fresh to me.

Shelly mentions that teachers need innovation which is from
just deciding NOT to do something.

i am training to be a good teacher for students. but, what it "good" means?
how can we be a "good" teacher?

it cannot be possible only following many teaching theories or practicing the same way every time when teaching.

sometimes, teacher can have an ability to do even opposite way of teaching.

like shelly mentions that " find yourself lecturing too much? don't lecture. having trouble with the wi-fi? take the kids out for a walk.", many different ways teacher can show and i, as a student being a teacher need to keep it in mind.

in our class purpose is how to use internet tools more effectively for second language classroom.

in this sense, we can use different tools which we have never tried in classroom that could be innovation to me who have never experienced using internet tools in my language classroom.

"stop giving the paper-assignment to your students, let them sit in front of the computer and talk with you outside of classroom, on the web, on your classroom blog."



http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com/

New life with Technology.

Through this video, i can realize how quickly the technology came into our life and how strongly affect to our life in it.

Technology changed a lot of new ways of living in the world from abroad experience indirectly to easily communicate people far from our countries.

However, to live with this new and fast technology, we always have to struggle with it and learn and catch the new skills and information continuously everyday, that happens,since we born.

Albert Einstein said, "we can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

Through technology, it made each person to be special and different more and more but depends on how to struggle with it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch

Why technology in the L2 curriculum?

Mastering language cannot be completed in a short time. Second language learners need to put a lot of effort and time to speak the language fluently.

Especially, in EFL classroom, just a few hour lesson a day can never enough to learn and practice language in each student. Commins(1998) mentions that formal L2 teaching often unsuccessful because learners receive impoverished or insufficient input in the target language.

According to Robert J. Blake's Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning, he asserts that "technology could play a major role in enhancing L2 learners' contact with the target language, especially in the absense of study abroad."  I totally agree with it since i saw many people who try to learn languages through technology without going abroad and get a high score in TOEFL or another official English speaking test. EFL students hardly have a chance to talk with foreigners, so it is difficult for them to practice target language outside of the classroom.

Thus, teachers have to use technology to supply more lessons such as providing reading materials or having discussion in the classroom blogs. Besides, teachers have to help students to practice target language continuously using the internet tools by themselves.

Blake, Robert J.  & Dorothy M. Chun.  (2008)  Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning.  Washington, D.C. :Georgetown University Press