Group items tagged

VoiceThread is a ridiculously simple online program that allows students to comment on authentic materials, whether they be pictures, documents, web pages, or video. Students can provide written feedback to the material presented along with oral feedback via their computer mics, web cams, or cellular phones.

By Natascha Chtena November 22, 2015 5 Comments   .blog-spacer { display: none; } @media (max-width: 420px) { .blog-spacer { display: block; height:1px; clear:both; } }   googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display("dfp-ad-story_level_pages"); }); Natascha Chtena is a PhD student in Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. You can follow her on Twitter @nataschachtena.       One of the challenges I face teaching a daily language class is finding novel and creative ways to maintain student interest throughout my lessons. One of my favorite teaching “tricks” is using music to motivate learning, improve concentration, create a sense of community and help my students absorb material.   Music is a wonderful tool to integrate into your teaching repertoire, especially if you are a foreign language teacher. It has a

The key is to not be too ambitious (unless of course you are teaching a language AND culture class) and to set realistic goals: one song one major point! I usually keep it to seven minutes max, which includes a song, a very short “lecture” and some time for student questions at the end.

This article focuses on the use, potential benefits, and best practices of interactive visual media in online education and remote learning. We will discuss: What are the main arguments for interactive visual media in online learning? What are some examples and best practices for creating visual learning materials for students? How can students use interactive visual media for documenting and sharing their learning?

Interactive images, videos, and virtual tours can support online learning by providing an alternative to text-based communication. Here are three arguments for why this is the case.

Humans remember pictures better than words (the “picture superiority effect”)

MovieTalk works because it links meaning between the language used by the teacher to the images on the screen. In other words, it makes the linguistic input comprehensible to the student. “Comprehensible” of course, is a bit of a gray term—meaning that something is reasonably able to be understood by the audience—and it is up to the teacher to employ skills such as teaching to the eyes and using comprehension checks to guarantee that the comprehensible language is actually comprehended.

Sometimes, I select MovieTalks because of their topic: the content relates to something that we are studying or discussing in class. Other times, I select MovieTalks because of the vocabulary: I know that I can talk about the video using the same words that I am working with in class with my students. And still other times, I select MovieTalks because they are just so dang fun and easy and I plop them into the middle of a unit for no reason at all!

The book is an excellent summative text for the course because it brings together the historical, ideological, philosophical, and artistic viewpoints that students had engaged with throughout the semester. 

At first glance, this might seem like a simple assignment, but it requires higher order thinking. It required students not just to understand the story of the character in question, but also to apply this understanding by retelling the story in their own (German) words. Students did not just demonstrate reading comprehension; the assignment forced them to identify key details in the story in order to make the story fit the limited number of panels available.

Students collaborate with guests on projects to gain diverse expertise.

If a participant has a comment or question, he/she should type "!" for a comment or "?" for a question.

f a participant wishes to change the topic of conversation, this is signaled by typing "new?" or "new!". If no one objects by typing "!" or "?" and proceeding with the present topic

social media can also be used to enhance teaching and learning and it includes varied online technology tools that allow people to communicate easily via the internet to share information and resources.

demonstrations focused on contrasting cases help students achieve expert-like differentiation

Start small. Find one movie, song, or news source and incorporate it into your class. Expand once you are comfortable. Provide a clear link between what you want your students to learn and the media. Care must be taken provide the proper learning context. It takes time to integrate media effectively into a course. This is not edutainment, it is the conscious use of media to enable students to learn more. Use the subtitles feature for visual media. This is especially useful in focusing student attention on the words being said. Be prepared. Technology does not work 100% of the time so have a back up plan. If the media equipment does not work, go to plan B and continue on with your class without missing a beat. Evaluate student understanding. Students respond to incentives. If you require them to write a reaction paper, take a quiz, or place questions on your exams that relate to the media content they will pay more attention and learn more in the process. Stay legal. View the copyright information on the cautions page.

1. Class Intros/Icebreakers

1. Class Intros/Icebreakers

. End of year memories