Group items tagged

I like this article even though it's from 6 years ago because it talks about the benefits to teletandem communication. I hope you are able to read it because it's from the Chronicle of Higher Education and you might need to sign up.

It sounds interesting but I can't read the article because it prompts me to log in or create an account. I've always been interested in what I call "The cultural dimension of FL teaching".

Nice resources. I have not heard of Actively Learning. But I have used screenomatic and Edpuzzle together. It worked well.

Lots of good ideas. I would like to look into Actively Learning. Sounds like a great resource. Pear Deck is another one I would like to try. I agree that the virtual pen pals sounds like fun, as does having students text in Spanish and send you screenshots. They already have tons of personal experience with that already.

Spanish teacher's blog. Author of CI readers. Great resources for free choice reading in class.

From the website:  (and there is a companion website, see below) In spite of the proliferation of online learning in higher education, creating online courses can still evoke a good deal of frustration, negativity, and wariness in those who need to create them. Essentials of Online Course Design takes a fresh, thoughtfully designed, step-by-step approach to online course development. At its core is a set of standards that are based on best practices in the field of online learning and teaching. Pedagogical, organizational and visual design principles are presented and modeled throughout the book and users will quickly learn from the guide's hands-on approach. The course design process begins with the elements of a classroom syllabus which, after a series of guided steps, easily evolve into an online course outline. The guide's key features include: a practical approach informed by theory clean interior design that offers straightforward guidance from page one clear and jargon-free language examples, screen shots, and illustrations to clarify and support the text a Companion Website with examples, adaptable templates, interactive learning features, and online resources a checklist of online course design standards that readers can use to self-evaluate. Essentials of Online Course Design serves as a best-practice model for designing online courses. After reading this book, readers will find that preparing for online teaching is, contrary to popular belief, a satisfying and engaging experience. The core issue is simply good design: pedagogical, organizational, and visual. Companion website:  http://www.marjorievai.com/WEBSITE-CONTENTS.html

"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)."

I started using Storybird last year, and I love it. It is great to teach fantasy writing and to reinforce the elements of fiction. Using the sample stories for ESL students sounds like a great idea!

With CaptionTube you can create captions for your YouTube videos. It's easy to use and it's free. Offer viewers a transcript to read. Improve discoverability and searching for sales and training videos. Create and edit closed captions in multiple languages. Export captions and upload them to your YouTube account. Simple and secure sign in using your Google account.

I liked the idea about adding "conversation" to the book they were reading - through Twitter.

This is a great article about the different uses and meanings of black in German. There are also reading questions at the end. 

I thought this was an interesting way to look at what students can research/read on their own and what class time should be used for - something to keep in mind as we're planning class!

I tried to find a fun reading website and found this blog. It seems like this is one of the very popular websites in Japan for English learning where people can improve their reading skills with a lot of fun.

Hi Jessica, thanks for this article. Actually, I have been reading a lot about error correction lately, so it caught my eye right away. Any special reason why you chose it?

Hi Violeta, When teaching languages I think we need to read a lot about how to correct our students errors, and how to have them self correct. I have used some techniques, but since last week I realized that there is more outside to research. Check this one.. is good! Tarone, E. and Swierzbin, B. (2009). Exploring learner language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hi Jessica, This article makes us think how best we can give students feedback.Thanks for posting it.

IAnnotate (Mac and Android), and a number of other apps for tablet or laptop can help you digitize your grading routine. This article talks about how iAnnotate is used with DropBox for grading, but be sure to read the comments for other ideas and apps, too.

Use the Lingt editor to improve and assess spoken proficiency by making online spoken assignments as integral to your homework schedule as your usual reading and writing assignments.

"This is a step by step guide on how to use Teacher's Pet, a fantastic toolbar for Microsoft Word or Open Office which cleverly uses macros to create language learning exercises in a matter of clicks. A wonderful timesaver for busy teachers, Teacher's Pet is ideal for preparing paper worksheets instantly or for using on the interactive whiteboard as a starter or plenary. By simply highlighting some text and clicking one of the exercise types on the toolbar's dropdown menu, you can produce activities which practice vocabulary revision, grammar, reading comprehension, spelling and dictionary skills."

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.

This blog has information not only on practical things, such as how to use VoiceThread, but also on how to create community in online courses. Seems interesting so far.

Interesting to read about her progression throughout the years using these different sites.

A lot of valuable information here. Thanks for sharing.

potential reading about differences b/w gen x, gen y, and babyboomers and how different generations might respond to teaching styles.