Group items tagged

This is a listing of ways to use social media in the classroom.  

I like what srafuller says about not expecting students to be like we were when we were students. I struggle with that in all the classes I teach, not just the foreign language. I work to be conscious of reaching students "where they are" every day. Not only that, but we need to be conscious (at least older teachers like me) of not teaching the way we were taught!

I really like this article! Simple, to-the-point, useful suggestions for several on-line applications. I tried out Duolingo but was chagrined to find out they don't offer Russian (Ukrainian and Esperanto but not Russian?!). I could, however, study English from Russian, which has several activities (especially translation) that my students can use. Thanks for posting this article!

Discussion on how technology is being used and why we're still struggling to give more control of learning to students. A good read!

"A 2014 paper by researchers at Michigan State University, in East Lansing, provides a tangible example: Teachers and students in the small-scale study were found to be making extensive use of the online word-processing tool Google Docs. The application's power to support collaborative writing and in-depth feedback, however, was not being realized. Teachers were not encouraging group-writing assignments and their feedback focused overwhelmingly on issues such as spelling and grammar, rather than content and organization." This really gets to the heart of the idea of combining education and technology: the technology has to serve the goal and it doesn't sound like the teachers' goals were the same as the stated goals of the assignment. So obviously Google Docs is a fantastic tool, but it has to be utilized appropriately for it to be effective.

I must say I have sat through many workshops in my tenure at my university that included the modification of some practices and even included, to my frustration, the basic structure of a lesson from stating outcomes to assessment. The problem with our particular situation is that usually it is directed to a "one-size-fits-all" use of a given technology that may not apply to many disciplines. I have found them somewhat useful for upper-level courses at times, but the language classes often pose the need for a kind of collaboration and interpersonal technology that isn't presented. Hence my desire to take this course. Another difficulty is the overwhelming number of technological applications presented--I can't tell you how many--and the students really become overwhelmed, since they often have to learn new technologies in almost many courses. Some work and some don't, and since they are the guinea pigs and there are no guarantees that everything will work as planned, and given the astounding changes in tech, the newness never seems to end, neither for the student nor the teacher. So focusing on just 1 or 2 to begin with seems like the only way to deal with it. Finally, I think that, at least in our university, the huge courses found often in the sciences reflect the slowness to adopt meaningful change. Many in these disciplines have simply used the tech to deliver more lectures on topics students must memorize, perhaps adding clickers for comprehension checks. There seems to be a great disconnect between what happens in the classroom and the amazing advances in tech they have made for their hands-on work--labs, collaborative work, etc.

"Stephen Hersh outlines six steps for how you can create a community of active learning online if you 'use the medium.' "

Yes,Greg, Agreed, great resource!!! Will use often.

Zoom! I'm pretty sure Stephen Hersch is my neighbor! Teaches at Northwestern. "Stop talking so much!" Yes. Great take away. I saw this video when I looked up to see what TEACHx is since he's involved. Started in 2016. But this linked video https://vimeo.com/249442007 is 4 Northwestern students and how they use technology. Evidently they use Canvas as well. I want to look up want one student said about his Spanish class. But what I liked is one of the students talks about when she doesn't use technology. After having said that all her life she had never used her laptop so much, but still in class the expectation is to arrive prepared and be ready to discuss. Hersch says the same for the what is one of the best uses of Zoom... time for students to discuss. Now! How to really get them all to prepare!?

"Abstract Despite its obvious importance, it appears that in many foreign language programs, oral practice is not given as much time and attention as it deserves. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that foreign language professionals recognize the need for more oral practice, but do not have at their disposal a convenient means to provide it. An online oral practice/assessment platform, Speak Everywhere, has been developed to fill this void. It allows instructors without special computer knowledge to quickly create video-based speaking exercises and quizzes for their students to work on outside the classroom. The instructor can access the oral productions that the students submit to the system, and grade them or give individual feedback on them either in text or audio or both. Using its flexible and easy-to-use authoring sub-system, it is possible to create exercises of various formats (e.g. Q&A, repeat after the model, structure drills, role-play, and oral reading)."

There has been some discussion about introverts' comfort level with online comments. Here's another take on the introvert/extrovert classification!

"they" would say no without even reading/listening to my reasons. Better to ask forgiveness than permission but it may not be worth your job and it's definitely not worth the safety of students.

It bothers me that they still talk about not having someone to talk with...  I really would like to see more of these online courses as cohort modeled courses and have synchronous voiced/video conversations as part of the curriculum.  Or if not a cohort, with other online voiced alternatives for practice.  

interesting information about using social media at all grade levels

A school district in Florida is advising teachers not to "friend" students on social networking sites, claiming that teacher-student communication through this medium is "inappropriate."

Interesting that these regulations are listed in the teachers' handbook. I live within walking distance from the school I work at, and often see neighborhood kids. One in particular is my student, in fact I was standing outside my home last night talking with two friends of mine and he walked by. He's a great kid and we always say hi and chat a little, but it's in the back of my mind that even that could be used against me by someone who is twisted. The weird thing about the inappropriate internet stuff is that there is always a paper trail, so it seems so obvious to not do certain things. I'm surprised FL advises teachers to not even use a "professional" user account with students, but apparently they feel the risks outweigh the advantages.

There's so much on this Blog site. I saw this post about Doodling and thought it's worth sharing. Not that the 80 hats around the world are not worth sharing! ;-) There's a vast variety of topics here

"Abstract Currently, language educators experience difficulties in facilitating oral practice effectively in the foreign language classroom. Regularly, they face introverted and passive learners who fail to embrace speaking opportunities (Poza, 2011), or simply do not find the time to promote speaking practice in the classroom (Meddings & Thornbury, 2009). In this light, many asynchronous computer mediated communication (ACMC) technologies have emerged to confront this situation. However, central research studies do not seem to acknowledge ACMC as viable in accommodating oral development but, rather, frequently attribute this merit to synchronous CMC (Levy & Stockwell, 2006; Kervin & Derewianka, 2011). By employing a mixed-methods approach, this small-scale case study examines, firstly, the extent to which ACMC speaking practices are suitable for language learners' speaking development. Secondly, and by extension, it investigates the salient characteristics of the ACMC tool myBrainshark, that makes it appropriate for fostering linguistic growth. The data is obtained from post-beginner Spanish language learners by means of an online questionnaire and an online structured stimulated recall. The findings show, on the one hand, that ACMC oral practices can be beneficial in developing speaking aspects in lower-proficiency language learners and, on the other hand, that myBrainshark has characteristics that can potentially promote linguistic development. Finally, this paper calls for experimental research on the improvement of oral competency in post-beginner and higher-proficiency learners."

This is a great interpersonal activity, although I would imagine student reactions to it may vary. For instance, some students (like me) may find it stressful not to write things down. On the other hand, not writing things down takes the pressure off for being "perfect" and puts the attention on the spontaneous nature of the interpersonal mode.

I came across this blog looking for communicative activities to do with students online. They have an online immersion program for several different languages but also maintain different blogs for certain audiences. This one is the "General Educator Blog." I found their content helpful and really informative.

I found it very relevant. Would like to try FluentU but not sure if there are free resources. The subcription is $20/mo, not cheap...

This looks like a good resource for new classroom activities for any language.

I really like the idea of doing an email activity with my students! Thank you for posting this article! Great ideas!

Now I have another question: what role does a textbook play in our instruction? Do we need to get rid of materials written for language learners?

An article written by the founder and CEO of ThingLink in which she discusses the main arguments for interactive visual media in online learning, examples and best practices for creating visual learning materials for students, and ways students can use interactive visual media (ThingLink) to document and share their learning. She shares numerous ways teachers and students could use ThingLink with examples.

An article written by the founder and CEO of ThingLink in which she discusses the main arguments for interactive visual media in online learning, examples and best practices for creating visual learning materials for students, and ways students can use interactive visual media (ThingLink) to document and share their learning. She shares numerous ways teachers and students could use ThingLink with examples.

A very complete article about the advantages of using images and learning. I really want to learn how to use thinglink now.

When you see a message, asking if you want to merge the folders from your old account to your new one. You have to click Yes. That is all about, the fixes for Settings App Not Working in Windows 10. You must have known that the Settings app is very important in Windows.

There was a hyperlink to an article about whether we should still teach cursive. Apparently high schools are not doing it any more. My son stopped cursive in about the 5th grade and didn't have to use it and now he is struggling at the university because he can't read when the professor uses cursive in anything, like comments on his papers. I have to print when I leave him a note. Wow, technology is wiping out one of the long-standing activities that took humans decades to develop.

I like the balanced way this piece presents some of the pros and cons of technology in education. Just this week I had a conversation with another educator who has encountered recent studies suggesting a link between handwriting (of any kind) and certain cognitive development. Some schools are now emphasizing handwriting instruction because it helps boost students' academic achievement.

My daughter is 8 years old and she started learning cursive this year. So it must be back! I'm not sure if will help boost her achievement or not, but I'm glad she is learning it. I think the article made a good point about how students today have a short attention span and easily get off track. If they are typing a paper on the computer, for example, they can open a browser and start surfing the web. They don't necessarily stay focused on the task at hand. It is even hard for me sometimes. If I don't ignore email (just put it off until later, I mean), I would never get anything done!

The importance of focusing on "Why technology should be used?" instead of only "How to use technology?" is emphasized - indeed an important aspect teachers should not overlook.

I agree that we need to really access why we want to use technology. Is it really the best option all of the time? I love the checklist of questions one should ask him/herself before deciding to use the technology. I, especially, thought the question "Will students control the technology?. Sometimes, I need to remember that spending hours creating a great powerpoint presentation isn't as great as finding a way for students to engage in an interaction rather than passively listen to a lecture.