Group items tagged

A good reminder that everyone needs positive feedback along with the critiques...

"This article presents some ideas and suggestions to work towards being a more informed digital parent." There is also a list of apps to watch out for on a child's device.

A good, positive way to create community in the classroom! How do you think this would/could work online? How would you make it work?

"More writing courses than ever are being taught online, and effective online writing instruction requires teachers to communicate deliberately and clearly in order to have productive relationships with their students. In The Online Writing Conference: A Guide for Teachers and Tutors, former chair of the CCCC Committee for Effective Practices in Online Writing Instruction Beth L. Hewett articulates the how and why of one-to-one online writing conference pedagogy. Complete with an instructor's study guide and informed by the principles set forth in the CCCC Position Statement of Principles and Example Effective Practices for OWI, her updated text provides examples and transcripts of synchronous and asynchronous instructor-student interaction, targeted lessons, and conferencing action plans that help instructors hone their pedagogical practice, from formatting comments to showing regard for students."

Abstract: In this paper, we examine the use of Facebook (FB) as a social networking tool in an intermediate French class. After reviewing the available studies on FB in language instruction, we analyze surveys that were administered to students as well as student FB posts. We look at the potential benefits of social media, specifically FB, and discuss its impact on foreign language learning. We aim to address how FB is being used in the language classroom, how students respond to the integration of this social networking site in courses, the attitudes of higher education foreign language learners towards FB, as well as the role of FB in new learning spaces and with today's learners. An analysis of survey data suggests that students respond in a positive manner toward the use of FB in education and highlights some differences in the way FB is used in both personal and academic settings.

Why do the terms "nature," "landscape," and "wilderness" have such positive connotations in German? Why do humans yearn for nature and protect it? How does this differ from culture to culture? Dossier article from the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung

Abstract from publisher - The difficulty for teachers is in understanding how to integrate, use and maintain course blogs so that they are a strong and positive educational force in the classroom. At the core of using blogs is the development of blog management strategies. Based on the authors' use of blogs in undergraduate courses, the current paper outlines an approach to blog management.

Fabulous Class Comic in French. Another brilliant activity that can be conducted over a number of months and allows a fair bit of freedom to students to be creative as well as engage different intelligences in the classroom (visual, verbal, logical, etc.). Plus, it is highly collaborative for all and takes the teacher away from being the knowledge expert to the a more authentic creative position. 

Good pointers on how to organize orientation to online course and how imp it is for successfull learning

Abstract - "Teacher educators have increasingly integrated social media into their education courses with aims including improving instruction and preparing students for a connected world. In this study, the authors sought to better understand the possibilities and challenges of scaffolding 60 pre- and in-service teachers across two universities into professional learning networks (PLNs) through a social media assignment. Participants analyzed educator practices, participated in, and envisioned future uses of teacher Twitter. Consistent with previous studies, education students were positive about the relational and relevant aspects of Twitter use. However, students' participation did not mimic the participatory cultures of affinity spaces often reported by connected educators in the literature. Instead, participants tweeted around deadlines and quit using their accounts for professional education purposes once the class ended. In contrast to recent literature, this article argues that social media integration for education students should focus on relational and relevant engagements and content, as opposed to attempting to build social media augmented PLNs for unknown futures."

I am fascinated by this notion of "lurking" to describe students/ people on-line who do not respond immediately but take time to read and reflect. Interesting research questions whether this impacts their learning positively and how to assess their learning. Maybe someone can find a better name, too?

Hmmm, what do you think of this ban?

It seems like the legislators have not been advised of the many positive attributes of a social networking site in the classroom. At the same time, they are probably acting out of fear and intense need to decrease liability. Unfortunately, as the article also states, such legislation probably won't stop inappropriate communications from happening. If a teacher and student decide to cross that line, they will, undoubtedly, find other ways of communicating.

This article addresses the issue of 'noise' on Twitter, which has come up often in the discussion boards about his weeks experiences. I thought you all might find it interesting!

I've read enough this about Google+ and its positive aspects to make me want to be able to use it. Just waiting for their email... @Alyssa - thanks, since I wrote this, I got in. Now I just need time to explore.

Jan- send me your email and I can "invite" you.

Here is a great example of students using social networking to promote positive change in their world.

This looks like a great project. Thanks for sharing.

This empirical study indicates the positive effect on synchronous communication between students in Japan who learn English and students in US who learn Japanese, using Skype.

A little off-topic for Week 5 but overall relevant to this course.

"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.

Fun ideas for Twitter use

I agree that app integrations is the best feature. We are using Canvas for our classes at my institution but we are also using Teams for university wide communication. Both are new but the experience so far has been positive. I may follow up on the advise to start a small project on Teams to learn more about its best features in building a collaborative classroom. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for posting this, Jordan, and reminding me that here at UofL we've got MS Teams as an additional resource! I've just check to see if there's the possibility of integration with Blackboard and it appears there is. (I'm glad to have the option for synchronous class meetings, since I've always found Blackboard Collaborate to be a little baroque in its layout....)

Thanks for the tip @greghutcheson ! It hadn't occurred to me to look for Teams/Blackboard compatibility. I'm not sure yet if I prefer Teams over Blackboard Collaborate, but if one runs more smoothly than the other, that would be my pick!