This blog post talks about Breakout EDU and how these games "provide fun challenges for students to solve together" where students also learn about each other and build community.
Abstract: In recent years, a sharp increase in the number of academic studies around the use of video games and new media for educational purposes has greatly expanded our understanding of their potential for enhancing learning.
Constantinos, this a great resource of information. Thank you for sharing! I haven't sit down to read it all, but skimming through it I found plenty of interesting information. I was always interested in using video games or educational games for language learning, but never took initiative in reading anything on the topic.
In the beginning of "From "Authentic Materials" to "Live Materials" section, the author mentions that the culture should not be described to students, but rather facilitate a platform for them to actually participate in that culture. I see how we can do that through games, but is there any of you using other means to do it? Is it possible to do it through social networks or second language learning networks? If yes, how exactly? Any thoughts on this?
A fun non-tech game to play is “Who’s who?”. In this game, students privately message the teacher some facts about themselves and then the teacher reveals the clues. Students then write down their guesses as to who the person is based on the clues.
This could be a really fun way to build community during the first half of the semester on Zoom, if you are using it. It would be interesting to also do the Zoom poll option and give students a few options. They select the classmate that they think wrote the information.
Great idea. In another class I'm currently taking synchronously, we did some brainstorming on Padlet during our Zoom session. Will definitely be replicating it in my classes this fall.
I love these ideas, and I agree that they are a great way to build community and have a little fun. I will particularly look forward to using the story progression idea, I think it would be a lot of fun with intermediate level students.
I also love these ideas and think they are a great way to build community. From the more basic, such as "Use the whiteboard feature" and "Create breakout rooms for collaboration" (I was wondering how to do that!) to the more creative and fun like having students go on a scavenger hunt or any of the many games the author describes... there are lots of great ideas. Many could even be adapted for lower level students.
Thanks for sharing this article with so many great ideas to create more opportunities for student interaction and community building. I will try Flippitty.net to create theme based BINGO games (numbers, colors, vegetables, fruits etc)
I really enjoyed this article - lots of great ideas to use in the ZOOM classes. The one was discussed in the FaceBook ASL Teachers Share - a scavenger hunt. I going to implement some of the ideas. I actualy had to copy and save this article in a file. Amazing ideas. Thanks for posting!
It's the perfect time for these tips! I wanted to try the breakout rooms last spring but had some technical issues and couldn't do it. I love the "I spy" and "Scavenger Hunt" ideas and many others. Thanks for sharing!
I have been following Shapiro for a little over a year now. I first became interested in him because as a former video-game player I was always interested in game based learning. Jordan covers the gamification of learning but also how ed-tech is changing the culture of learning in the U.S. and around the world.
You might want to print off the Power Searching quick sheet before starting with this course. "Gaming to learn" - this course is made up of challenges along with tips and tricks and keeping track of how you found things. A good learning challenge!
For young people without a personal connection to an immigration story, these websites, games, multimedia news pieces, and more, can help put a human face on an abstract debate.
For students with first-hand knowledge of the immigrant experience, they can find validation of their stories and/or those of their friends and family.
they can help students step back for a big-picture, historical perspective on U.S. immigration
The foreign born population map information says, "The culture and politics of the US have always been profoundly shaped by the material and emotional ties many of its residents have had to the places where they were born".
analyze migration patterns for the whole country over time
Not free (9.99) but sounds like an amazing learning experience.
Players approve or deny someone entry to a fictional country, basing their decisions on an ever-increasing number of virtual documents they must read and analyze.
The 21st century learner is not wired to memorize; instead, her or she is inclined to create, connect and collaborate. Social media is the perfect medium for us, their teachers, to reach them.
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."
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!
All of these are great ideas for a content-based language classroom!!! I already plan to do a few of them. Now if only our school would unblock these sites, at least for teachers...
Have fun at conferences. If you are attending a conference, give BackChatter a try–a game that uses Twitter and makes attendees interactive participants.
I've done this at conferences - a great way to get notes from one session while you're in another. And a way to plan where to meet up for dinner!
Teachers in lecture classes use Twitter as a "back channel" for students to use to ask questions and discuss while the lecture is in progress. Oh, I see this is mentioned in the "Community" section below...
I think this Blog is rich with possibility for utilizing social media for the teaching of a second language. Students so much into social media and they also get motivated by change in ideas and activities. The variety of possibilities that this blog offers provides a teacher with a good resource that would work for various language levels.
"The use of technology is not a goal in and of itself; rather technology is one tool that supports language learners as they use the target language in culturally appropriate ways to accomplish authentic tasks."
This quote stood out to me and it is so true. sometimes we feel pressured to use technology but we forgot the pedagogy purpose.
Thanks for sharing it. We are using technology for our language lessons. I agree what ACFLT says about having clear that tech is a tool not a goal since the most important aspect is the learning.
List of episodes tagged "technology" on the We Teach Languages podcast. Topics include tech tools, eportfolios, digital games, Google translate, online teaching, and more! I learned about Adobe Spark from episode 103 w Heide Trude.
I would recommend that you sign up with your institutional email to further be able to apply for a free Education Plan (which includes up to 100 users). Students can apply for the Education Plan as well, which allows them to collaborate with up to 10 users for 2 years.
unlimited number of editable boards
Frame. It helps you organize your workspace into sections and allows you to save all the frames as a part of a pdf document.
Comments and Cards (which are basically advanced comments allowing you to add tags, assign people, set deadlines and insert links inside the field of the card) might be essential to communicate feedback and arrange student interaction in an asynchronous mode of work.
In synchronous mode, Miro is a powerful tool for presentation of new material. Y
Miro will help you organize pair and group work
easily and effectively
Virtual dice will help you make the board game experience as close to the physical classroom as possible.
Miro can be used for individual work as well. T
Miro is a great interactive platform which not only makes digital collaboration easy but also provides a number of instruments for individual creative work.