Group items tagged

  “Friending” the students raised some privacy concerns for me and for my students. Suddenly, we could see the everyday things that we were posting to Facebook. According to a survey conducted by Tammy Swenson Lepper, students are uncomfortable with authority figures making judgments about them based on their “private” Facebook communications, regardless of the pubic availability of this information (183-184)

Facebook and Twitter are easier to manage on mobile devices and are familiar interfaces.

smartphones, have Vocaroo generate a QR code and your students can unlock the message behind the code with any QR code reader

If your students are in need of extra practice with the past tense, have them email you a Vocaroo recording every Sunday night describing their weekend.

For homework, ask your students to collaboratively author a story in which they elaborate on the details of the previous recordings and then either post or email the recordings to their classmates

no account is needed to use this tool

embedding a Vocaroo recording into a set of instructions

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.

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.

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.

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?

I recommend Edublogs

It is time to officially gamify education. If we make it fun through gaming, our students will be engaged. For language teachers, Duolingo is the route to student involvement when it comes to reviewing grammatical structures. Available in many languages, this app allows students to compete with one another and "level up."

ClassCharts uses html 5 so should run in any modern browser whether it’s a laptop, iPad or Android tablet, so the teacher can use an tablet during the class to instantly update behaviours.

This is quite a complex tool and creates a lot of data, so I think it’s going to take a bit of getting used to for teachers and perhaps a bit of training too.

Managing behaviour in the digital age

When you save to Diigo your saves go anywhere because they are saved to the cloud. Sounds mystical doesn't it?

One of the most powerful features is the tagging. Basically, if I save Google.com and don't tag it, I will have to remember the name of the site or something in the address

So if students are working on a group project they can share their saves together, automatically. Or as a class, if you are working on something everyone can contribute information they find.

hen visit the Educator Area and apply for the Educator upgrade.

communication and new technologies can certainly facilitate this essential aspect through, for example, videoconferencing and blogging. There are also lots of ways of recording and editing audio as a method of improving pronunciation, boosting learner confidence, extending speaking skills and deepening understanding. Filmmaking and animation also draw on a variety of useful skills and promote creativity, collaboration and personalised learning.

Technology is not going away and language teachers need to embrace its full potential to engage our 21st century learners.