Podcasting in the ESL Classroom

Today I checked out a podcasting site called CUlips that creates podcast lessons for ESL learners. The site is based out of Canada but is still relevant to students learning American vernacular English because there are a wide variety of podcasts on many subjects that can be used by teachers. I listened to a specific episode titled "Home is Where the Heart is." The format of this podcast included two speakers, Andrew and Maura, who have a discussion about idioms that involve the word and concept of home. Some of the idioms they include are home sweet home, there's no place like home, hometown, house and home, etc.

I think that this podcast could be used in a higher level ESL class where students have a good base of vocabulary and grammar. The podcast itself is rather long, around 20 minutes, so it might be two extensive for students with limited listening abilities. I think that this could be a good at home listening homework assignment where students have a worksheet that requires them to answer questions about the main idea, dialogue details and getting meaning of new words from context. Also, the podcast could be paired with a unit on idioms in general or a unit on the meaning of home and culture. I think that this episode touches on a topic that students in an ESL class in the US could relate to because it talks about the experience of culture shock as well as common idioms. It is always a good idea to incorporate topics that students can relate to and share their experiences with in order to engage student interest and increase motivation.

Communicating World-Wide with ePals

The ePals Global Classroom provides a variety of learning opportunities for the EFL classroom. There is a learning center with many resources that can be adapted to the specific needs of your classroom. For example, if you are conducting a unit with a focus on science there is a Science Center, or for a unit on geography there is McGraw Hill, or students can visit the Smithsonian Museum. These are only a few of the options available. This is a resource that can be utilized by classrooms in the US as there is a center that is common core aligned as well so that the project ideas that are suggested will align with common core objectives. Many of the resources can be utilized abroad as well and provide teachers and students access to award winning materials that can be used on many devices including iPad, Android and Kindle.

One of uses for this tool that I think can be very useful in the classroom is the use of projects for incorporating cultural elements into lesson plans. Classrooms from across the globe can pair up to participate in completing a project together. There are multiple ways to accomplish this. If you have a project in mind you can post your idea and your class info and another teacher can respond if their class would like to partner with you on the project. You can also search the projects that other teachers have posted and choose one that your class could join. The ePals sight provides project ideas for you or you can come up with your own. Some interesting examples are: a scavenger hunt, a documentary of your community, a collaboration on being a green campus and a story-writing project. Really the options are endless which is what makes this such an adaptable tool.

Digital Storytelling with GoAnimate

This time I tried using GoAnimate to create an animated comic strip. In actuality I had never considered using comic strips in an EFL classroom so this was a great opportunity to try something new and see how it could be adapted for educational purposes. Again this is a site that offers a more limited free version but you still have options for picking out many background settings for the comic, as well as characters and props. This tool allows you to incorporate audio to make the characters speak or they can use text bubbles. I would like to have both options so that students could read and hear what is being said by the characters. The characters can move around the scenes as well which makes the comic strip come alive. I will say that this feature is slightly more complicated to incorporate so I think I would need some additional practice to master all the features and see how they can be used.

I chose to create a comic strip with characters modeling how to use modals in a social context. So, the teacher and student used the more formal version of modals to speak to each other and the two students addressed each other using informal modals. This is actually an area that EFL students can struggle with and I think that a comic strip would be helpful to model the correct uses in a way that is more engaging than a list of written examples. I think that comic strips can be quite helpful in the classroom because they can provide a visual reference for students. Comic strips could be used as hooks or lead ins as well, but I also see a role for them as a way to get students discussing what is occurring in the dialogue and giving them an opportunity to analyze and dissect the interaction.

Digital Storytelling with Animoto

Today I tried out Animoto to make a short video that could be used in an EFL classroom. I really liked the site because I found it easy to navigate and making my video was quite simple and quick. Also, the various options for music, styles and text mean that I can customize the videos I create. On the downside is the short length of the free videos, thirty seconds is rather limiting. Depending on how much I would use this tool in class I might consider a paid membership so that I could have even more options.

The video I made is meant teach the simple future tense using the prompt "What will you do this summer?" I think that short thirty second videos can function well in the EFL classroom as "hooks" to grab student interest and attention using visual stimulus rather than just orally stating the topic or question. Also, the video could be used as a lead in to small class discussions as a way to activate students' prior knowledge of the subject that is going to be addressed in class. In these instances a long video is not really necessary so even the free version could be utilized. Another consideration is that depending on the level of the students a short video could be preferable so as not to overwhelm them with too much content. One feature that I think would make this a more education friendly tool is if there was an option for incorporated spoken audio text. Then students would be utilizing both listening and reading skills, besides providing practice in each area this would also aid those students who may different learning styles.

Summer Vacation is Here

Bringing Digital Storytelling to the EFL Classroom

What is digital storytelling? According to the site Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling it "…revolves around the idea of combining the art of telling stories with a variety of multimedia, including graphics, audio, video, and Web publishing." What makes digital storytelling so dynamic is that it can be used to cover any topic from personal experiences to current events, the possibilities are endless. 

Another site, The Center for Digital Storytelling emphasizes the transformative social effect that digital storytelling can have stating that "Whether online, in social media or local communities, or at the institutional/policy level, the sharing of stories has the power to make a real difference." I think this is very true because through sharing people of diverse experiences and backgrounds can come to understand different perspectives. Also, visual imagery can be very powerful. By combining digital imagery with a written or oral narrative it makes the story that is being told that much more vivid and alive to the audience.

There are multiple uses for digital storytelling in the EFL classroom because it is so adaptable to just about any topic. It is a tool that can be used by either teachers or students. I think that as a teacher I might use it to increase student interest in and attention to a topic. For example I could make a video to tell a story or interview someone that tied in with a lesson or unit covered in class. This could make the topic more alive to the students. Also, with the availability of sites such as Skype it is possible to interview and video tape people across the world. Another option for digital storytelling is to have the students work individually or in groups (depending on the availability of equipment) to interview English speakers on a specific topic or to interview each other. This is what I really like about digital storytelling, this element of sharing experiences.

Gamification & Serious Games

I tried out a serious game called 3rd World Farmer. I played the game twice and found it to be easy to navigate. Some of the other serious games I tried out were much more difficult to figure out, had more rules to learn and required a more extensive vocabulary. For this reason I think this game could be good for an EFL classroom. I might employ this in an EFL classroom as an autonomous learning tool for students. I think it could be paired with a unit on finances, the condition of farmers in developing countries and farming vocabulary.

My learning objectives would be for students to recognize farming vocabulary, to practice making financial decisions and to be able to make observations about the life of a farmer in a developing country. The students would be responsible for playing the game on their own. In order to assess that the learning objectives had been met I would ask the students to write two short observational paragraphs about their experience. I would ask them to include details of the game they played utilizing farming vocabulary, details of the financial decisions they had to make and their observations on the life of a farmer in a developing country.

Gamification in the EFL Classroom

According to Educause gamification is the application of game-like elements in non-game situations. The intension is to increase interest, motivation and participation. Stephan J. Franciosi discusses how using games in an educational setting can contribute to students' intrinsic motivation to learn. He defines Flow as a mental state where a person experiences the challenge of a task/game which is neither too easy or too hard. Flow Theory has three components which support the use of games, they are: goals, feedback and skill/difficulty balance. If a game has these three components then it is likely to increase students' experience of Flow and engagement and thereby increase intrinsic motivation.

I played an escape the room game named The Great Kitchen Escape. I played the game three times. If I were to utilize this game in class my learning objectives would be that students would be able to identify kitchen vocabulary items through listening to directions, they would be able to follow commands given by the teacher reading the walkthrough, and they would be able to recognize prepositions for the location of items in the game. I would most likely have the students work in groups of two depending on the size of the class and the number of computers available. I would write out a script for the walkthrough using kitchen vocabulary, command words and prepositions of place/location and read it to the students as they played the game. Throughout the game playing process I would carry out comprehension checks to make sure the students were understanding the vocabulary, commands and prepositions. As a follow-up to the activity I would make a worksheet with screenshot images from the game for the students to identify the vocabulary, commands and prepositions that were used.