October 31, 2011
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When Not to Use Video Chat for Language Learning | | Academic Technology Specialists - 0 views
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trying to have a conversation with someone you have never met, over a low quality video connection, in a language you don’t speak very well, is quite challenging socially as well as linguistically.
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Anyone who has used video chat for business purposes knows just how difficult it is to execute turn-taking, interrupting, and politeness.
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Skype and Skype in the Classroom: Options for Language Teaching and Learning - 4 views
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Skype in the classroom Skype in the classroom, launched in March 2011, is a website especially designed for educational purposes. It is a platform where teachers and students can disseminate information about their classes, share educational resources, and find partners to start classroom projects.
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Language teachers and learners may find the “Languages” category especially useful because they can search for Skype language lessons that meet their needs (see Figure 4 for some examples of Skype language lessons). These lessons provide opportunities for learning another language or practicing language via language exchanges.
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Language teachers and learners can enroll in any language lesson according to their needs and interests
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advanced features, such as group video calls, require users to pay a fee and upgrade to a premium account to get the service. Calling fees vary depending on the countries the user calls and the amount of time spent on calls. Subscribing to a premium account, which will allow users to use services such as group video chats, currently costs US$59.88 for 12 months. US$4.99 per month is not very expensive.
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Limitations Although Skype and Skype in the classroom provide an intriguing option for language teaching and learning, there are some limitations as well. First, there are minimum download/upload speeds required for using Skype. For example, video calling and screen sharing require 128kbps/128kbps as the minimum download/upload speed; group video calling requires 4Mbps/128kbps as the minimum download/upload speed. Therefore, Skype users need to check whether their Internet connection meets such requirements to avoid video and audio lag during Skype lessons.
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Second, Skype and Skype in the classroom promote authentic learning. According to Lombardi (2007), authentic learning emphasizes “real-world, complex problems and their solutions, using role-playing exercises, problem-based activities, case studies, and participation in a virtual community of practice” (p.2). Thus, authentic learning happens as learners participate in real-world relevant tasks that require their judgment to distinguish information, patience to participate, ability to adapt themselves to unfamiliar contexts, and flexibility to work with people from different cultures. In this view, Skype and Skype in the classroom allow language teachers and learners to participate in a context of authentic learning.
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The ACTIONS model, proposed by Bates (1995), is a practical guide for educators and policymakers to select and evaluate the use of technologies for teaching and learning. The ACTIONS model involves the following criteria: Access: How accessible is a particular technology for learners? Costs: What is the cost structure of a particular technology? Teaching and learning: How does a particular technology support teaching and learning? Interactivity and user-friendliness: How does a particular technology facilitate interaction among learners? How easy is a particular technology to use? Organizational issues: Are any class organizational changes needed? Novelty: How new is this particular technology? Speed: How quickly can courses be taught and learned via this particular technology?
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Best Practices for an Online Spanish Course - The FLTMAG - 5 views
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anguage instructors need to be convinced that online education presents a responsible learning environment for students,
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tudents must assume greater responsibility and organization for their learning journey than in the face-to-face classroom.
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ongoing guidance and supervision from instructors, with regards to logistical and pedagogical issues.
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Online grammar and vocabulary activities. Students work on their own with input, explanations, and activities from an online textbook.
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istening activities. We created interactive “video lessons” using Adobe Captivate: 5 minutes interviews, accompanied by comprehension questions, vocabulary, grammar exercises, and short writing assignments. For these activities, we interviewed various professionals around Davis
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Speaking asynchronous activities. In Canvas, students record a video message related to a specific communicative task. For example, they compare Davis to a city in the Hispanic world. Also, they have to comment on at least one video from a classmate
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ynchronous speaking activities. They consist of a video chat with the instructor and 2-3 students, working on communicative activities related to the lesson. It is student-centered day and learners tend to receive more feedback than in the traditional face-to-face classroom
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riting activities.
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I love the way UC Davis has the week split up. I'm wondering if they run into students with conflicts with the synchronous schedule? How much coordination does it take? How many hours is the instructor putting in on Thursdays and Fridays meeting with students? I love the idea, just need to see how it works in practice.
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Student preparation: Students need more preparation for the online learning experience. The creation of a mandatory workshop
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mphasizing the pedagogical particularities of online learning, could help with student attrition, which is usually higher in online courses than in traditional courses.
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Transition from a focus on activities to a focus on projects: dynamic assessment, portfolios, self-evaluations, tandems, etc.
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Next up for Google Plus Hangouts: Sign language support - Online Video News - 1 views
gigaom.com/...google-hangouts-asl-support
google plus carla12sn5 language online technology web2.0 carla socialnetworking education LgTT GroupA resources
shared by Abby Bajuniemi on 05 Aug 12
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“I actually cried with joy at reading this post and finding out that Google and the Google+ team actually care about all of their user base. Thank you very much for just thinking about us.”
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This really struck me because, as a hearing person, I take for granted that there might be issues for hearing-impaired people. It's so cool to me that developers are concerned about these users and are working to make their product a good one for them. This could also be relevant to those who wish to chat online with ASL "speakers" when they are trying to learn ASL!
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The Backchannel: Giving Every Student a Voice in the Blended Mobile Classroom | Edutopia - 4 views
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They create a blended environment where teachers and students engage in both physical and online conversations so that learning is no longer confined to a single means of communication or even an arbitrary class perio
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A face-to-face conversation while simultaneously reading might have been a distraction. However, by typing their thoughts, all students contributed their ideas while each having the autonomy to work at his or her own pace.
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Charlie needed an alternative means to participate, and a backchannel would have provided him with that outlet.
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TodaysMeet would have let teachers create private chat rooms so that students could ask questions or leave comments during class. A Padlet wall might have fueled students to share their ideas as text, images, videos, and links posted to a digital bulletin board. The open response questions available in a student response system like Socrative or InfuseLearning could have become discussion prompts to give each student an opportunity to share his or her ideas before engaging in class discussion.
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