ESL Podcast

I found a very useful podcast for ESL class, that is ESL Podcast. I listen to ESL Podcast 885 Talking to a Bank Teller and I think it would be used in ESL class. This podcast is a great practice for students who go to bank and do business. The scene of this conversation is like what happen in students real life. And also it provides script for students who does not understand this conversation. This speaker in the podcast speak in a slow speed so that every student might follow up. More over, after the conversation, the host offers a detailed explanation to this conversation, which I believe it help students to learn English and understand English.

I can use this podcast in my future class when I am teaching listening or sometimes, speaking. For listening class, this could be a very useful material that students could work on. For example, I can play the conversation first, and ask students to remember the conversation. Second, I will put forward some questions according to this conversation, and ask student to comprehend them. For instance, in this conversation, it gives students many verbs which meaning are not the same as what we learn in class, like "cash", in this conversation, cash is used as a verb instead of a noun form. I can also ask students to download it and listen to the podcast after class. They can use it for a dictation material and listen it for three time. The most important thing is that the speed of this podcast is very slow, it's quite suitable for beginners or students whose level is not that high. Last but not the least, the explanation the host gives is very clear and students can learn alone, which means they can use it for after school material. I would recommend this podcast to my students in the future.

Global Community

I spent a lot of time on Epals in the past week to explore and find out how can I benefit from this site. One of the programs I really like in this site is Global Community. This website allows educators to match classrooms by languages and ages of the students. After searching for what you really want to know, you will find some cases which post by other teachers, and experiences are shared by this means. They provide three kinds of collaborations: email exchange, project workshop and Skype or video chat. Global Community also offers teacher to create projects or view others' projects. The subjects of the project deal with different topics like writing, reading, language learning, math and so on. After viewing other teachers projects, I am inspired because some projects are so good in details that provide you with lots of ideas that you might be able to use in your future teaching.

Another feature of this site I really appreciate is that the Teacher Resources. You can find  three types of resources, namely, instructional resources, videos and audios. And also you can narrow down by age, subject, and topics. You can even download some of them for free!! I download What is a Tall Tale and I think it is quite useful for future teaching. With picture and words showed in each page, students would like to read  and motivated by it. I think teachers would definitely benefit from this feature.

Overall, for my future teaching, I would like to incorporate Global Community in teaching. I want to create a profile and connect globally so that I can share thoughts with other experts in my field. The teachers resources center would also help me to find materials that I can use for my teaching.

GO ANIMATE!

GOANIMATE is a cloud-based platform for users to create and distribute animated videos. It allows users to develop narrative video with two characters speak in the dialogue. At first, I thought it was too complex to create a video dialogue, however, after I made one, I was surprised that the video is so user friendly!
I want to use the tool in my future teaching because students would definitely interest in the video. I would like to make the dialogue in accordance with  the topics we work on, and display to students first. After they watch the video, I would like to invite students to have a role-play to imitate the scene. I would also want to assign students to make one and post online, sharing with others. If someone is interested  in their video, they might comment it. Through the whole process, students not only learn the dialogue, enhance their comprehension of the scene, but also get thoughts from others, which would make them motivate in learning a language.
  On the street by xiaoleiw on GoAnimate

Animoto

Animoto is a cloud-based video creation that produce videos from photos, music, and video clips into video slideshows. It is easy to use and very creative for both teachers and students. Here is what I made by using Animoto.


Clothes
I want to use this creative tool into my teaching in the future. Students might be interested in making their own stories by using Animoto. I can ask them to tell us about their favorite book or movie. They can introduce books or movies by showing pictures or video clip into it and add music in accordance with the theme. I think this would really stimulate students to DIY. Also, as a teacher, instead of showing my students powerpoint, I can show them my photo story and make it a video slideshow. I can stop whenever I want them to pay attention to.

I first heard of this tool from my professor who showed us a book review made by her son. She said that when her son was making this video clip, he was very enjoyable and very excited about his video. Even though I never use it in my real teaching, but I want to try it and see how the students respond to it and then decide  whether I will continue to use it or not.

How can we incorporate digital storytelling in teaching

What is digital storytelling? According to 7 things you should know about digital storytelling, "digital storytelling is the practice of combining narrative digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component." Compared with traditional storytelling, digital storytelling usually contains some "mixture of computer-based images, texts, recorded- audio narration, video clip and/ or music."(The Educational use of Digital Storytelling). There are seven elements in creating a digital storytelling:

1. Point of View 
 What is the main point of the story and what is the perspective of the author?

2. A Dramatic Question 

 A key question that keeps the viewer's attention and will be answered by the end of the story.

3. Emotional Content 

 Serious issues that come alive in a personal and powerful way and connects the audience to the story.

4. The Gift of Your Voice

 A way to personalize the story to help the audience understand the context.

5. The Power of the Soundtrack

 Music or other sounds that support and embellish the story.

6. Economy

 Using just enough content to tell the story without overloading the viewer

7. Pacing 

 The rhythm of the story and how slowly or quickly it progresses. 

 (The Educational use of Digital Storytelling)

How can we incorporate digital storytelling in our teaching? From the perspectives of teacher, digital storytelling is an effective instructional tool. For example, teachers can create a digital story for themselves to introduce the topic that they are going to talk. By so doing, students' attention might be focused on the "new" method of introduction, they might also want to learn how to do it. Teacher can also use digital storytelling method as to present the topic and enhance students' memory of the topic. For students who are visual-learners might learn better through this way. What is the benefit for students who are using digital storytelling? From the scenario that 7 Things You Should Know Digital Storytelling, David learn new skills in carrying out his digital storytelling project. We can see that, if we assign students to create a digital storytelling, they might pick up skills like David did. Students might also enhance their communication skills or ability in the process of participating a digital storytelling project. When the project is post online, like in Facebook or Twitter, even Youtube, students might get comments from different people, which ensure an opportunity for them to share ideas with others.

Can we use serious games outside classroom?

Trace Effects is made by U.S. department of state and it was made to teach students English all around the world. The game is designed for player aged 12-16. It required "gamers interact and solve puzzles in a virtual world filled with diverse English-speaking characters." When you are playing the game, you need to " take a dynamic journey through the United States, traveling to cultural locations like Kansas, New Orleans, the Grand Canyon, New York City...".
I played Chapter One and Two twice to get familiar with the conversations or other knowledge about the game. I found that students will really benefit from the game if they get into playing it. They can learn knowledge about American cultural and make comparison to their own culture as well. The game also provides students with communication strategies that they can use in daily life and they can imitate native American accent when they play it. Moreover, the game is divided into different chapters and each week, students can play one chapter and focus on one at a time. What's more, the vocabulary in the game is quite easy for students to master.
If this game is used for outside classroom,  the language objectives might be SWABT:

• understanding specific American culture
• apply communication skills to daily life (how to ask for help)
• distinguish word meaning in specific context

After students playing the game, I would like to assess them from different aspects. I can employ some communication skills into class, for example, I can set up a theme, ask them to discuss how to ask for help. They can either prepare a presentation or role-play. Another way to assess them is to have them to write a review about this game. I think journal writing would assess how much do students understand the game and how much they learn from the game.
From what I learn from this game, I think some serious games can employ outside classroom and what they teacher needs to do are to get to know the game and set up specific language objectives for the game. More importantly, the game has to match students level.

Can we use strategy games outside classroom?

Big Fish Games is strategy game that students can play outside classroom. This is an online game which is designed for strategy learning. It has a casino in the game, you can choose to play Blackjack, Texas, or other games online. I think by playing this game, students would definitely learn how to make decisions. I played this game for 4 times. It is play-friendly game, because it is easy to start and easy to follow instruction. The challenge in the game would be how to make your strategy work and how to get more money from gambling. Students would find it interesting because it simulates the real-world situation--Casino! You can have your own chips in the game and also, you can choose your bet.There are also some vocabulary in the game, like "stand","hit", "double", which some of them contain different meaning from what students know before.

The language learning objectives for this game would be SWABT:
Distinguish different meanings of one word according to context;
Apply new words in real life learning;
Enhance the ability of strategy-making.
Through this game, I wish to complete the mission that it would help students to make strategy, I would focus on the simulate situation that they play. I think I would assess students by ask them how much money do they win in the game, ask them to make an oral report of how they win or loose money in the game, and also what do they get from the game. If they really are into the game, they might find some rules in play Blackjack, for example, when do you need to hit, when do you need to stand,  when can you double your bet, and when do you need to buy insurance in case of loosing too much money. In addition, I would make a word check-list that they need to finish which contains polysemy on the list. They need to find out the difference in context. And also, there would be a test on Blackjack, like if they get a 12, what will they do to win the bet. I think this activity would test their ability in decision making.

Even though I had fun in play Big Fish Games, I still doubt that if we really can employ this kind of games in teaching. What if students show no interest in the game or what if they are addicted to the game? There are still lots of questions need to be answer about using games for teaching.