Podcasting in the ESL Classroom

Podcasting is something very new to me. I imagine it is a tool new to other people as well (I hope!). But after reading a bit about what podcasts are and how to create them, I'm more open to the possibility of using them in my ESL classroom. I started at the Englishcaster website, where teachers can find English lesson podcasts of all types. From there I found another site, http://www.manythings.org/jokes/ , with ESL podcasts of jokes and songs. Since I'm always thinking of ways to incorporate fun into the classroom, to better motivate my students, I was exploring the various podcasts on this site and thinking of ways to incorporate podcasts of jokes and songs into a lesson.

I would love to try creating podcasts with my students and using the podcasts to monitor the progress of their oral proficiency. First, I would create an activity in which all of my students would be able to listen to podcasts of jokes and songs. Then, I would create an assignment where, with my help, the students would record their own podcasts. They could write a joke in English, or if they are very brave, could choose to sing a song. I could incorporate podcasting activities in the classroom every few weeks to track students' progess. I remember when I was a student in the second language classroom and we had to speak into a tape recorder for the teacher to later listen to and rate our speaking proficiency. Podcasting would have been a lot more fun!

ePals + Flickr in Global Cooperation

In my last post I compared two tools for global cooperation in the classroom, ePals and iEARN. I decided that I preferred ePals over iEARN and could see myself utilizing ePals in my ESL classroom. Thinking about the different ways in which to incorporate a global cooperation project in my class, I decided that the most interesting project currently available on the ePals site is something called "The Way We Are." It is a project based on the different cultural backgrounds of students. This would be perfect in an ESL classroom!

I would also incorporate another online tool in the same project, to further enhance students' cultural experiences. Flickr is an online tool which allows you to upload and share your photos. I think this tool would really come in handy in a global cooperation project. Sharing photos with a classroom from another part of the world would allow students to get to know each other better, and actually see who they are communicating with. I would create an account for my classroom and maintain control over the site, and would help students pick photos of themselves and other culturally relevant pictures to share with another class as part of the culture project.

Even if I did not have time to complete a project from the ePals site, I could still take advantage of ePals and Flickr in my classroom. Since ePals allows students to e-mail each other and/or blog, I could have them do that instead of a full project, to allow them to practice their reading and writing skills. And they could still use Flickr to share photos of themselves with other classes around the world, and maybe those classes could share their pictures with my class as well!

Global Cooperation in the Classroom

For the past few days I have been exploring various sites dedicated to global cooperation between students in the classroom. These websites link students and teachers from around the world, allowing them to communicate and work together on classroom projects over the internet. Two such sites which I would like to compare are ePals and iEARN.

According to the website, ePals is a "global community of collaborative learners, teachers, and academic experts in 200 countries and territories." The features of this global cooperation tool include e-mail service for students and teachers (SchoolMail), ePals SchoolBlog, a Classroom Match service where teachers can search for classrooms around the world to collaborate with, and an Instant Translation tool, which allows students to communicate with other students from different language backgrounds. Besides the e-mail and blog features on the ePals site, there are many classroom projects to choose from. Some current projects include The U.S. Presidential Election, Global Warming, Maps, and something called "The Way We Are," which is a culture-based project. ePals is intended for use by students from primary school to secondary school.

One benefit of ePals is that it is free, unlike some other global cooperation sites. And, as safety is always a concern for teachers and parents when dealing with children and the internet, ePals is serious about safety. According to the site, ePals is "managed by teachers and administrators. All interactions are policy managed by school districts and teachers, including emails, blogs, and forums, and can be monitored and filtered according to any standard. And ePals blocks SPAM, pornography, and curse words."

iEARN, or International Education and Resource Network, is another site dedicated to global cooperation among teachers and students in the classroom. According to the iEARN website, it is the "world's largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and youth to use the internet and other technologies to collaborate on projects that enhance learning and make a difference in the world." iEARN is intended for use by students of basically all ages, or as they put it, from first grade to senior high school. Some features of iEARN include over 150 online projects and an online discussion forum. Teachers can also submit new projects if they like, though it is recommended that they first try an already existing project. Some examples of current projects include one on UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and a Christmas/Holiday Card Exchange.

While there are some neat features of iEARN, such as interesting sounding projects, like the one on the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, there didn't seem to be as many features as ePals has, like e-mail and blogging. And while ePals is free, I could not locate the cost to join iEARN. Though they are a non-profit organization, I did not see the word "free" anywhere on the site. I looked at the site's FAQ section and saw a question about how much it costs to join, but their answer was that it varies by country. So I clicked on the Join iEARN link to see what it would cost to join here in the U.S., but it still did not show an amount. In order to find out, you first have to register and put in all of your personal information, which I did not want to do. Another problem I had with the iEARN site was in finding projects. While they claim to have over 150, as they may, I could only locate 4. I clicked on the link for Projects, but only 4 showed up. Perhaps only registered users are able to view all of the available projects. I also didn't see any note about safety on the site, while ePals puts a safety note right on their Overview page.

Based on my research on these two global cooperation sites, I can see myself utilizing ePals in my ESL classroom. I think the SchoolMail and SchoolBlog features would be useful for my English language learners in practicing reading and writing. And doing so with students from around the world would also teach them cultural awareness. I would also be interested in connecting with classrooms from the different countries where my students are from. One ePals project I would be interested in completing would be the one called "The Way We Are." This is a description of the project, according to the ePals site: "What makes me who I am? In this project, students will engage in a collaborative learning experience. Through email exchanges, students learn about the daily lives, cultures, climates and geography of children who live in other regions of the world."

I think global cooperation is a great tool for teachers and students, and I would bet on seeing more and more global cooperation projects implemented in classrooms around the world in the near future...Can't wait to try it!

Twitter VS. Pownce

Just a week ago, I had no idea what "microblogging was," and had never visited any microblogging sites like Twitter, Pownce, Spoink, Plurk, etc. I joined both Twitter and Pownce and have been experimenting with them for about a week now. And while they're both essentially microblogging programs, I've noticed some major differences between the two.

While Twitter is the most popular of these sites, I found it to be a bit limiting in what I can actually do, compared to Pownce...basically you can post messages (of about 60 characters or less) and you can also paste links in the text box to post as well. It took me a while to figure out the Twitter site. The Pownce site was much easier for me to figure out, even though there are more features. With Pownce you can post messages, links, files, and events. I like that I can post pictures on Pownce. I don't think that's possible on Twitter. Pownce also has a page called Pownce B, which is a profile page (which users are automatically "fans" of and can access from their own pages) containing useful tips on how to use the various features of Pownce. That is quite helpful.

As far as finding people on both sites, each has a way of allowing you to search for friends, with Twitter allowing you to search your e-mail contacts right from their site, or invite people to join by sending them an e-mail. Pownce allows you to link all of your other pages to your profile. For example, I linked my Facebook page, my MySpace, delicious, and my blog to my Pownce page. There is also a search option, where you can just search by a person's name, and, like Twitter, you can find your e-mail contacts as well.

One important thing to take into account, especially if you are considering using either of these sites for educational purposes in the classroom, is security. Twitter has a "protecting updates" option, where only people approved by you can follow and see your updates. You also have the option of making all of your posts public. Pownce allows you to send messages which are visible to the public, visible only to your friends, or you can also send private messages to individuals.

All in all, I think both programs are useful and may have a place in the classroom. But, based on my limited experience with both Twitter and Pownce so far, I think Pownce is definitely more useful to me...personally and professionally. Mostly, I like the ability to post more than just messages, but files and pictures, and events as well. Also, Pownce profiles look more professional to me, and have nicer looking backgrounds...

Using Microblogging in Education

A recent article from Education Week's Digital Directions, called "Educators Test the Limits of Twitter Microblogging Tool," discusses the use of microblogging, specifically Twitter, in the classroom, and provides some insight into the benefits and drawbacks of using such tools. For those who aren't yet familiar with Twitter, author Katie Ash provides an introduction into the history of Twitter and its uses.

Probably the number one concern of educators and administrators who are reluctant to implement the use of microblogging tools like Twitter in the classroom is safety. This has caused many schools to block the website altogether. The article mentions a teacher in New York City, Paul Allison, who was intrigued by Twitter, but had serious concerns about letting students set up their own accounts. Uncomfortable with the lack of control teachers would have over them, he set up a site called Youth Twitter. This allows teachers to have some control over their students' postings by granting them "administrator" status. Says Allison, “What we’re trying to create here is a space that looks like Twitter and acts like Twitter, but you’ll be able to make the argument that it’s safe for kids.”

After overcoming some of the challenges in integrating Twitter in the curriculum, teachers will be able to use the site to their advantage. Some ideas mentioned in the article are to use Twitter to provide feedback to students' online projects, to post questions online for the students to answer, and to allow the students to interact with each other. The author also mentions a teacher from Maryland, George Mayo, who used Twitter to create a collaborative story written by his students. He created an account called "Many Voices" and invited his students and students around the world to add to the ongoing story through "tweets." "It was incredibly simple and really amazing," says Mayo. "My students and I would come in, and suddenly kids in China had written a chapter for the book."

Click the link to read Katie Ash's article for yourself..."Educators Test the Limits of Twitter Microblogging Tool"

Great Feed from The English Blog

As I began exploring the RSS feeds I just subscribed to, I saw a feed from The English Blog about English idioms. As a second, third, and fourth language learner (eek!) myself, I know that idioms are some of the trickiest things that language learners encounter. You can't really translate them, but they are used so frequently that they are a very important thing to learn...I bet you don't even realize when you are using an idiom...but if you are speaking to a non-native English speaker, they may not understand your use of an idiom, and you may get a very confused look!

This feed from The English Blog talks about another blog-called Mad Dogs and English, which illustrates (literally) the idioms of the English language. Each blog post shows a cartoon which ilustrates a particular idiom as it would literally be understood and probably translated by a non-native speaker.

The English Blog suggests incorporating idioms into lesson plans, and having students come up with their own cartoons based on English idioms. I think it's a brilliant idea! I would love to implement this in my ESL classroom. I think it would introduce students to the concept of idioms and help them understand how to use and comprehend them as well.

Check these cartoons out for yourself at Mad Dogs and English: http://maddogsandenglish.wordpress.com/

And check out The English Blog: http://jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/

A Learner is Like...

To me, a learner is like a piece of modeling clay; Able to take on any shape and serve any purpose, but at the hands of the artist (the teacher). This is what I was thinking as I read Connectivism:A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, by George Siemens. Just as modeling clay can be changed and re-shaped over time, according to Siemens "many learners will move into a variety of different, possibly unrelated fields over the course of their lifetime." While it's obvious that there is a fundamental difference between a human (alive!) and clay (not alive!), certain tangible similarities do exist. The learner has some say in what she or he will become, but as Siemens notes, "Learning is a process that occurs within nebulous environments of shifting core elements – not entirely under the control of the individual."

So while there are limitations to this analogy (the human learner is much more complex than a piece of clay!) overall I do believe that the learner takes on a "shape" based on the different kinds of input she or he receives from various possible sources, mainly the teacher/artist. There are infinite possibilities for the human learner, as there are infinite possibilities as to what a piece of modeling clay can become.