Pinterest is another online tool I found particularly easy to set up and generate some useful teaching / learning material from.
The idea came to me while covering a class today. We revised some 'films and cinema' vocabulary and ended up talking about our favourite films. It was a very engaging and lively discussion and it was obvious that the students were keen to have a record of films they talked about, so that they could look them up and watch. This gave me an idea for a pinterest board.
I pinned the posters of my top 10 favourite films and added a short comment about each of them. In my commentary I included words and expressions that came up during today's lesson to provide students with a) context and use; b) permanent record of reference.
The link to my board is going to be sent to the students together with the list of instructions:
1. follow the link
2. register with pinterest
3. read my comments and identify vocabulary from today's lesson
4. like / comment on my selection of films
5. create your own board of top 10 favourite films and comment on each of them
6. send a link to your teacher and classmates
My top 10 favourite films
Monday, 22 April 2013
Monday, 25 March 2013
using wikis
It was interesting to find out a bit more about web 2 technology and the teaching potential it may have if used appropriately.
I visited wikispaces.com and was surprised how easily accessible this website is. The registration process is straight forward and literally takes a couple of minutes. The website is very easy to navigate and there is a short tutorial available when you first log in - this makes it even more accessible for someone (like myself) who has never used wiki style websites.
The layout is very clear and you can see straight away that there is a lot of potential there. You can personalise your wiki in terms of its layout, face and content. It allows you to add widgets, pictures, links and RSS feeds to your site as well as upload files and invite other people to join you.
The fact that it's easy to set up, edit (changing font type, colour and size to cater for users with reading difficulties, dyslexia etc) and navigate makes it extremely accessible and therefore suitable to be used as a teaching tool. I can imagine using it as a tool to set my students additional homework and provide materials for autonomous / flipped learning. It would also make a good collaborative tool as it allows memebers to communicate and exchange resources/ideas in a safe, monitored environment.
It would take time to train some of my ESOL learners (language barrier but also limited electronic literacies) to become competent at using wikispaces, but I would definitely give it a go with a group of EFL learners of the intermediate level and above.
I visited wikispaces.com and was surprised how easily accessible this website is. The registration process is straight forward and literally takes a couple of minutes. The website is very easy to navigate and there is a short tutorial available when you first log in - this makes it even more accessible for someone (like myself) who has never used wiki style websites.
The layout is very clear and you can see straight away that there is a lot of potential there. You can personalise your wiki in terms of its layout, face and content. It allows you to add widgets, pictures, links and RSS feeds to your site as well as upload files and invite other people to join you.
The fact that it's easy to set up, edit (changing font type, colour and size to cater for users with reading difficulties, dyslexia etc) and navigate makes it extremely accessible and therefore suitable to be used as a teaching tool. I can imagine using it as a tool to set my students additional homework and provide materials for autonomous / flipped learning. It would also make a good collaborative tool as it allows memebers to communicate and exchange resources/ideas in a safe, monitored environment.
It would take time to train some of my ESOL learners (language barrier but also limited electronic literacies) to become competent at using wikispaces, but I would definitely give it a go with a group of EFL learners of the intermediate level and above.
Monday, 18 March 2013
audioboo
This tool is fantastic! Dead easy to use and gives you this instant opportunity to creat a podcast on the go!
I will definitely use it to make listening recordings to support my lessons, but most of all, I am going to encourage my students to use it themselves. This would be great for speaking and listeninng exams preparation, when students need to give a 1min presentation. This will work great for raising self awareness in terms of grammatical errors and pronunciation.
I will definitely use it to make listening recordings to support my lessons, but most of all, I am going to encourage my students to use it themselves. This would be great for speaking and listeninng exams preparation, when students need to give a 1min presentation. This will work great for raising self awareness in terms of grammatical errors and pronunciation.
Technology - enhancing or inhibiting learning?
Technology is an integral part of our everyday life and therefore should be equally integrated into teaching and learning. It's vital that we use it to enhhance teaching and learning but also to equip our students with essentail life skills, which computer literacy has become a part of.
Enhancing learning
No doubt about it - there are so many different tools out there that can make our lessons more interesting, motivating and efficient. It works both for the teacher - planning, presentation, setting additional work, checking homework, recycling material etc, and for the students - generating interest, making activities interactive and involving, promoting autonomous learning and developing new computer skills.
Inhabiting learning? - this can happen if technology is 1) overused 2) used inappropriately 3) requires skills students lack.
Enhancing learning
No doubt about it - there are so many different tools out there that can make our lessons more interesting, motivating and efficient. It works both for the teacher - planning, presentation, setting additional work, checking homework, recycling material etc, and for the students - generating interest, making activities interactive and involving, promoting autonomous learning and developing new computer skills.
Inhabiting learning? - this can happen if technology is 1) overused 2) used inappropriately 3) requires skills students lack.
RSS technology
RSS is a term I have heard about but wasn't really aware of what it was. It was interesting to find out that it stands for Really Simple Sindication and is commonly referred to as Push Technology.
I think it would be useful to make students aware of the fact that they can keep up to date with certain websites and web 2.0 tools by subscribing to them or setting up RSS feeds. I could encourage them to subscribe to my youtube account so that they are instantly notified of any new videos I add/recommend. Social media networks such as twitter or facebook also use this kind of 'push' services in a form of notifying followers/friends of any changes to the user's timeline.
I think it would be useful to make students aware of the fact that they can keep up to date with certain websites and web 2.0 tools by subscribing to them or setting up RSS feeds. I could encourage them to subscribe to my youtube account so that they are instantly notified of any new videos I add/recommend. Social media networks such as twitter or facebook also use this kind of 'push' services in a form of notifying followers/friends of any changes to the user's timeline.
Monday, 11 March 2013
staying safe online - PiratePad
e-safety?
Is the process of understanding and carrying out safety measures while using technology, in order to protect individuals from abuse or exposure to inappropriate materials
How important is it to police your students use of the internet?
its important to monitor and safeguard learners and ensure they don't become victims of cyber bullying, trolling, scam or are exposed to inapropriate material
The five most important points summised from the video are as follows;
1. The child's Act 2004 developed the ECM (Every Child Matters) framework that covers the welfare of a child up to the age of 19.
2. Each local area has the responsibility to set up a Local Safeguarding Childrens Board which can offer support and training to colleges. However, this is not obligatory so would need to be asked for.
3. OFSTED are the regulatory body responsible for assesing and monitoring the e-safety and safeguarding procedures, policies and impact within colleges. This came as a result of the Byron Review which recommended that OFSTED investigated the level of e-safety within colleges.
4. There are self-evaluation forms that colleges can complete in order to assess their current e-safety and safeguarding mechanisms and see if improvements need to be made in accordance with OFSTED's framework.
5. If OFSTED visit a college and deem that it has inadequate e-safety and safeguarding procedures, policies and impact then it can result in the overall grade being lowered.
Extension:
More information can be found on OFSTED's website http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/search/apachesolr_search/esafety
Also the department of education's website http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/pupilsupport/pastoralcare/b00198456/principles-of-e-safety
Read more: http://eteaching.hyperboards.com/action/view_topic/topic_id/3/post_id/47#47#ixzz2NEi05ReA
Monday, 4 March 2013
Monday, 25 February 2013
teaching and learning potential of twitter
As part of the treasure hunt we had to familiarise ourselves with different web 2.0 tools that can be used for teaching and learning purposes. I have never used Twitter before and it was interesting to watch a tutorial about how it can be in incorporated into teaching.
Twitter is what some refer to as micro-blogging or text message style of communication. Creating an account and allowing students to access it can be benefitial in many ways. It's easily accessible (computers, smart phones) and enables a fairly instant communication. It can be used to contact the tutor about assignments, homework or other lesson related queries, as well as to contact other classmates and share ideas about a given topic or issue.
It can also be used to share links and online resources and therefore increases learners autonomy, engagement and interaction outside the class time which is particularly important for foreign students and students of English as a second language, whose social circles are often quite limited.
There are however some limitations. Firstly, both the teacher and the students need to be able to use this tool with certain confidence, it is therefore important that training and support are provided. There is also an issue of monitoring the content of what's being 'twitted' and ensuring that no bullying or harassment takes place.
Twitter is what some refer to as micro-blogging or text message style of communication. Creating an account and allowing students to access it can be benefitial in many ways. It's easily accessible (computers, smart phones) and enables a fairly instant communication. It can be used to contact the tutor about assignments, homework or other lesson related queries, as well as to contact other classmates and share ideas about a given topic or issue.
It can also be used to share links and online resources and therefore increases learners autonomy, engagement and interaction outside the class time which is particularly important for foreign students and students of English as a second language, whose social circles are often quite limited.
There are however some limitations. Firstly, both the teacher and the students need to be able to use this tool with certain confidence, it is therefore important that training and support are provided. There is also an issue of monitoring the content of what's being 'twitted' and ensuring that no bullying or harassment takes place.
Monday, 4 February 2013
Monday, 28 January 2013
Monday, 21 January 2013
Climbing a ladder of technological awareness...
And this is what I learnt today ;-)
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