move fast! they are - or will be - offering ad-free Vokis to educators to start the new school year. Sign-up here if you're interested - they'll notify you when it's ready.
Ooohhhh, just found out that "ad-free" means you have to pay a "small" fee - don't know how much it is yet. I'll report back.
Isis, I wanted to comment on this tool, stating I like the fact that is free and one does not need an account. Anyways, I wanted to add sticky note but I accidentally clicked on Vocaroo and the page popped up on my screen ready for me to provide my voice. Pretty cool!
Vocaroo is a free service that allows
users to create audio recordings without the need to install any
software. You don't even have to create an account to use Vocaroo. All
you need to provide is a microphone. I used the microphone built into
my MacBook to make the recording below. To create a recording just go
to Vocaroo.com, click record, grant Voca
roo access to your mic, and
start talking. After completing your recording, Vocaroo gives you the choice to publish it or to scrap it and try again. Vocaroo provides
the option to embed the recording anywhere.
I now turn to Twitter friends for help in the same way that I turn to the teachers on my hallway. Recently, a friend in my Twitter feed pointed me to a great strategy for structuring classroom discussions, a practice I'd been struggling with (http://angelacunningham.wordpress.com/2009/05/teaching-students-to-dialogue.html).
he primary reason for my inability to embrace differentiation as a teacher was that, until recently, I'd never experienced differentiation as a learner. Like most practitioners, I've spent too much professional development time sitting in lectures delivered to entire faculties. No one offered preassessments, tiered lessons, or learning contracts to my colleagues or me.
In the reading classes I teach in ESOL, we teach academic reading skills to non-native English speakers to get the students ready for college-level textbooks. These tools would be very useful for students if we ever have any digital texts we read for the class.
I agree with the idea about assigning specific tasks for listening activities. There is nothing more confusing than not knowing what to do when listening to an audio in another language. What do you think would be best, to watch the entire movie in the classroom, watch some parts of it or watch all of it each o the students in their houses?
I have struggled pedagogically about showing moves in class. I think that I need to thoughtfully incorporate them because the students enjoy them. I wonder if showing the whole movie, but in parts, depending on the movie, might be the way to go - I always feel that there is so much pressure to get through 'X' amount of curriculum. This has given me food for thought about how I could use them.
very interesting article! I actually like Zoom and its features and agree with Stephen Hersh.
we as teachers will need to look through another lens now and try to adapt to teaching online in a new productive way.
Like the article - when we switched remotely, my advice for the ASL instructors is to keep it simple, to the point and encourage breakaway groups, encourage conversations using new signs, come up with short stories (movies)....most of the students enjoyed it. When the semester ended, we decided we should learn more tech tips and find other features using ZOOM. Its interesting!
Yes!! My main takeaway is that online class is not just a duplication of in-person class. Some things have to be done completely differently.
I like the part about no lectures. One thing I know is that my fall online classes aren't going to have long lectures...
This was really useful! I especially liked how he said he used his mini-lectures as a way to kick start group work. I do think that using Zoom, even though not ideal, can bring us to better ways of doing things with our students. I like how he posits that it forced him to talk less and have students participate more. If this is a benefit of the pandemic, then I welcome it (although all the other stuff --no!).
This post reminded me that InsideHigherEd is a great resource for keeping tabs not only on post-secondary education policy, but also on technology. I'll absolutely be delving into their archive!
Zoom! I'm pretty sure Stephen Hersch is my neighbor! Teaches at Northwestern.
"Stop talking so much!" Yes. Great take away.
I saw this video when I looked up to see what TEACHx is since he's involved. Started in 2016. But this linked video https://vimeo.com/249442007 is 4 Northwestern students and how they use technology. Evidently they use Canvas as well. I want to look up want one student said about his Spanish class. But what I liked is one of the students talks about when she doesn't use technology. After having said that all her life she had never used her laptop so much, but still in class the expectation is to arrive prepared and be ready to discuss. Hersch says the same for the what is one of the best uses of Zoom... time for students to discuss. Now! How to really get them all to prepare!?
This tool can create and add beautiful videos with photos, text and music for presentational or other communicative activities. The user can begin with a template and ready made images or start from scratch with their own images.
have concluded that collaborative and cooperative learning methods improve students' time on tasks and motivation to learn. Language teachers are finding that group activities and conversational pairing have distinct advantages over individualised tasks. Students enjoy interacting with each other, particularly in speaking activities, and opportunities to do so are relished. The prospect of school exchanges, making new social links abroad, and exploring new cultures is another powerful motivator. The pairing of language students with counterparts abroad is the next logical step. Working effectively online with native speakers is a challenging and alluring proposition.
The evidence to show individual progression achieved directly from paired or group interactions is hard to quantify. Monitoring, recording, and properly assessing individuals' performances in collaborative tasks is more difficult to achieve than the correction and grading of individual tests.
The pairing of language students with counterparts abroad is the next logical step. Working effectively online with native speakers is a challenging and alluring proposition.
The article highlights the effectiveness of collaborative and cooperative language learning activities such as school exchanges and pairing students with counterparts abroad. It also bring up the issue of difficult assessment gets in the way and brings to the front solo performances and summative examinations.
I certainly agree with this as being an effective way to language learning. We in the military community use the group/pair work approach for many reasons. Pair work keeps them interested and motivated to learn. It also makes better use of class time. I also think that when the students are ready for the OPI, they generally do better than if they were in a traditional classroom. As for assessment, yes it is more difficult, but it is up to us as instructors to find ways to measure the students' performance based on the interaction. Once the student is in country, it will be up to him/her to communicate with others. That will be the true test.