My personal technology goal

Personal Technology Goal

While doing this course I feel like a child who has been left in a candy store and then asked to choose, reading about the various tools through the book web 2.0 and the article by David Warlick “A Day in the life of  Web 2.0”, I want to start integrating so many tools which  would help students learn better but like that child I cannot be greedy and need to take smalls steps and later  graduate to using multi tools.

One particular tool I definitely want to use is the class blog. My aim would be to use the class blog to help the students and parent community to be better informed, use the class blog for writing assignments especially persuasive writing and also help students to become better collaborators to be able to comment on each other entries. As mentioned by Solonon G & Schrum L in their chapter in blogging – “blogging helps the students to enhance their creativity, collaboration, communication, connections and crucial thinking”.  The blog ideally will be syndicated through RSS feeds, I need to use an aggregation software like Google reader or Netvibes  so that students can further read on the topics of their interest. I see this tool particularly useful in the IB classes especially aligning with the new thematic curriculum. This would also give me another platform for formative assessments and will allow the students to seek a bigger audience for their writings which will act as a motivating tool for them to write more.

Another tool which I would like to investigate and use is electronic portfolios, I see this tool having a definite advantage in a foreign language classroom as it makes the student body of work more organized,  reflective, helps students to make connections outside the classroom, use different means to display their learning( audio, video & writing). These can be a showcase for the four different skills needed in a language classroom that are reading, writing, listening and speaking.  As I have mentioned before this will involve some more research to find the ideal format for my classes.

I already have a twitter account, which I want to use more often to connect with other educators in my field for advice and information. I can use these in my classroom to get instant feedbacks on some of the message and can also use the twitter as reminders for students who are working on different projects.

References:

Solomon G. & Schrum L. (2010) “Web 2.0 how-to for educators” c 2010 International Society for Technology in Education

E textbooks and open source books

E-textbooks and open source books- the new resources for a new generation

In one of my discussions on the 21^st century learning module, I asked my professor Dr. Shabbi Luthra a question about why, e books in spite of their obvious advantages e.g. inbuilt interactivity etc, are not more widely used. I found her argument that  our generation, the digital immigrants are so emotionally attached to the what we have grown up with that we choose not to see these obvious advantages compelling and agreeable. I am glad that some of the reputed publishing companies are going ahead and focusing on publishing these textbooks in the digital format.

I can see some obvious advantages of e textbooks:

-e books are delivered immediately and specially in this case textbooks the students can buy them anywhere and anytime, they do not have to wait for them anymore

-the students do not have to carry many different textbooks, any electronic tool can help them download these books

-students do not have to worry about damaged and lost books

-as e textbooks have more often than not have hyperlinks, it can help the students to access more information and related websites

- e textbooks can have audio and animations which are embedded and can further help the students who learn differently (Adapted from www.successconsciousness.com)

As far as the open sources books, the article by David Warlick “Six reasons why textbooks should stop being textbooks” is quite convincing as to the reasons behind why these should be the new resources for the 21^st century learning. A few of them as mentioned by Sarah Kessler in the article the power which the students would have over the content and the interactivity of the document, the books can be tailored according to the needs of the student. Above all it gives the teacher’s flexibility to present the content and build upon the knowledge of their students rather than follow the pattern described y traditional textbooks.

Though its advantages seem obvious I have doubts about the availability of technology tools in places which are economically backward and also the consistency vis a vis the difference in teaching styles. While posing this question I think I already have the answer, it calls for more collaboration amongst the educators through Skype, twitter through collaboration and discussion, teachers in different countries can help each other to align their curriculums in the same disciplines.

In the beginning of the post I had mentioned that I am a digital immigrant, it would probably take time to accept these as the new resources but I am already convinced that these are the right resources for 21^st century learning. I cannot resist but post a link to a YouTube video which may be considered ironic in the next few years. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwPj0qgvfIs (although the video is in Spanish, it has English subtitles)

References:

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/

http://www.successconsciousness.com/ebooks-benefit.htm

Teaching Strategies in the foreign language classroom

While going through Marzano’s instructional strategies, I realized that I actually have used and continue to use quite a few of these strategies in my class albeit with a different name. Foreign language classrooms needs a whole range of strategies as students not only need to know the content but also have to be able to apply the knowledge and skills in real life situations. There are many strategies I use to teach the different skills needed in a foreign language classroom. The skills are reading, writing, speaking and listening.

A combination of all of them or some of them is integrated into different units and topics learnt. An example could be of a unit on Health & Welfare.(The essential question could be the importance of health in the youth in the Hispanic World). The students are typically asked to think about the words and what comes to their mind when they see those words. Different students make different connections with these words. After these connections are made, I ask them either to make concept maps or diagrams on their computers or use inspiration 8 to connect the ideas. These are then used to reinforce vocabulary.

The second step is to read a text relating to the topic or see a YouTube video which talks about this  topic. Reading comprehension involves:

·         Skimming- The students are asked to read over the text and look for clues which would indicate the meaning of the text; these would be the title, photographs style etc. The students are asked to underline the keywords and guess the meaning of the words through: type of word (i.e., part of speech),surrounding words, inflection, Relationship with other words, context, word families, cognates and morphological features.

·         Scanning- A list of guiding questions is provided to the students covering the six Ws (Who?What? Where? When? How? Why? ) which students write on the word document or can be discussed orally in class

·         After a set of guiding questions, the students are asked to go into detailed reading and do some exercises like matching similar words, true or false and justification.

If they see a video related to the topic, then the exercises are more oral where the students discuss the important aspects.

For a subtopic the students read through two to three texts and some videos. Typically after the activity the students are asked to write down a journal/essay/article relating to the topic. The students are asked to prepare the drafts and share it with their classmates through google docs where they can get peer feedback. All the above strategies can come under Marzano’s Identifying Similarities and differences/summarizing and note taking.

Writing as mentioned above, automatically follows after the students have an understanding of the vocabulary. Google docs has been recently introduced in my class to encourage collaborative learning and also providing continuous feedback. I recently did a survey and realized that the students really enjoy using this tool. Another technology tool which  I have started using with the class to reinforce vocabulary learnt is “quizlet” which allows them to play a game with the new vocabulary and also helps them to reinforce it. Again this could be one of the strategies under Marzano’s Homework and Practice, because foreign languages like mathematics require constant practice and reinforcement. Writing also is done in form of writing stories through discussion boards on the portal. Typically I start the story which the students complete. Each student is given a set of rules and time limit to add to the story, At the end of it I collate the whole story and project it and students are allowed to correct the grammatical or style errors. One of the tools I do want to use for this part is the social networking sites to see how they can be used for this activity to improve their writing.

Speaking is incorporated through impromptu discussions on a certain topic or through audacity. Audacity is used in my classroom to do homework assignments and also for collaborative work. It is a great tool for improving pronunciation and oral expression. Additionally as mentioned in Marzano’s instructional strategies, kinesthic activities such as role plays are used very often in my classroom. As Scarcellea and Crookall(1990) point out three merits of learning through simulations: 1) learners are exposed to large quantities of comprehensive input; 2) learners are actively involved; and 3) learners have positive effect. As role play is often done in pairs or groups this particular activity reinforces the effect of correcting pronunciation and timing. Another strategy which I apply often is: to ask the students the choose how they would like to express themselves and more often than not results have been amazing as students have chosen role plays, movie making or song writing for their presentations.

While I reflect on the various strategies that I use in my classroom, I am convinced that technology integration and self learning plays an important part in a foreign language classroom. I would like to work more on setting personalized objectives for the students as I feel that will make them more responsible for their learning. Another area of development for me would be incorporate self assessment as an essential tool. I think one of the good ways to do it would be to have electronic portfolios. I know that there are some existing lingua portfolios like the European Language Portfolio but I need to do more investigation to use this tool in all my classes.

References:

Crookall, D. (1990). Simulation. Gaming, and Language Learning in www.park.itc.u.-tokyo.ac.jp/eigo/KJEE/001/031-058.pdf

Miller S. ( 2008) Putting the Pieces Together based on research from Classroom Instruction that works

Content change in a foreign language classroom

There is no doubt that one of the important 21^st century skills is to learn modern languages, as stated by Vivian Stewart “States need to create a long term plan to expand their capacity in world languages and build on effective approaches to language learning, including starting early and creating longer sequences of study or using more immersion like experiences” (Stewart V. p. 111, 20101)

As mentioned by Vivian Stewart, there is a need for the students to study at least one if not two foreign languages. However, the teaching method needs to be carefully examined. Languages in most American or international schools have content which is divided into various units according to grammatical progression ( from simple present tense to past for future tense). While it is an important part in learning a language, it is not the best. The students learn the language and may be able to express themselves, but this will only be in a very shallow manner. For example, the students may be able to make simple sentences to express  present , past or future tense, but they may struggle when it comes to doing in depth study or speaking, writing or discussing about a topic that requires a higher level of thinking. I remember during one of the courses I attended in Granada, my professor used to tell us “if you are lost in a foreign country you could survive with some vocabulary,  but it is almost impossible to survive with only knowledge of grammar”.

This brings us to the question of vocabulary, where the traditional method which has been adopted earlier is that the students are given a title of the chapter which is either name of a place or  a topic like going to the market or vacations etc. Then the students are supplied with a list of vocabulary words in both the native as well as the foreign language. After a couple of videos which are often based on imposed or artificial situations  that are ,totally unnatural for the students who are asked to work on  a project.  The students reemploy the vocabulary in the project or use the technology provided for an interesting project, but it results in  a very superficial understanding. They cannot learn just the language in isolation, they need to know about the culture studied as mentioned by Heidi Jacobs “how critical language instruction is as a direct means of connecting with the culture of others. There is arguable no more direct route for understanding another country or understanding someone else’s perspective than working at using the language”. ( Jacobs, H. -.52, 2010). The dilemma is successfully  integrating culture in the foreign language classroom. It cannot be done in a way such that it is propagated in the traditional foreign language books, where the culture serves as a foot note or an additional note. The best way to integrate is with thematic teaching and integration.

 Integrating thematic teaching can be seen in the following example: the students need to learn about global issues and they start with the problem on pollution in Mexico and while they are learning about the problems the country is facing due to high pollution, they could look into the socio economic impact of pollution and contamination and as to why a particular section of the community, it could be the poor American Indians are more effected than the others. The grammar and vocabulary is integrated through authentic texts and videos on you tube. The students could compile a list of vocabulary words from an authentic text and share it with their class through google docs. Furthermore they can see grammar being used as a living example.

In conclusion the foreign language content needs to go through a massive overhaul from being  a word focus and grammatical focus to thematic focus which would automatically include geography, sociology, history, economics and culture of a place.

References:

Jacobs H. p.52, 2010 Curriculum 21, Essential Educationfor a Changing World

Stewart V, p.111, 2010  A Classroom as Wide as the World in Curriculum 21, Essential Education for a Changing  World