I feel like I have a light bulb hovering over my head this week. Things are just really starting to click. I had to make a podcast for my linguistics class (a first for me!), so I downloaded Audacity, recorded a ridiculous conversation about turning an old chicken coop into a sauna (not my idea), and figured out how to convert it from an .aup file to an mp3 (per my instructor’s request). I was sort of worried about the entire process, but it turned out that it wasn’t horrible, it wasn’t impossible. It was actually fun! I felt proud to have successfully created something that I could share with other people, especially in such a short period of time. And now here I am, totally curious about all the features of Audacity that I haven’t even started to explore yet.
This got me thinking more realistically about integrating tools like podcasts, blogs and wikis into my own lessons, specifically within an ESL/EFL context. I mean, if I can do it… First: blog journals. Every foreign language classroom I’ve ever been a part of has involved some sort of journal writing component. You probably know what I’m talking about--the notebook that each student has, where they write a certain number of entries per week, which are subsequently read and commented on by their teacher. Light bulb! Blogs are a modern, interactive version of old fashioned language journals. Students get writing and reading practice from generating their own posts and commenting on their classmates’. While they would gain agency through the process, creating and personalizing their blogs and choosing their own topics, they would still be held responsible for the learning materials covered in class through their incorporation of grammar, vocabulary and language goals into their posts. And what a different relationship they would have with the material! Their journal experience is no longer secretive or private, just them and the teacher’s red pen. They can share their anecdotes or expertise and learn from others doing the same.
And what about a class wiki? This, I’ll admit, is still very much over my head. But I’m curious and would like to explore this tool more with my final project. I like the idea of a class site that any member can edit or update, and where assignments might be accessible to everyone. I also love the idea of portfolios as an assessment tool, both for students and teachers to use. A class wiki seems like an amazing resource for this, making it easy to see each student’s contributions and chart their progress. DING! Now I just have to learn how to do all this…
Yeah! So happy for you that it is finally making sense. Good for you for working with the audacity and getting your file converted. There are a lot of different file converters out there. I like zamzar. Also, if you need some more resources for audacity, check out the resources tutorials page on our class wiki. There are a lot of resources there to help you with it. The possibilities are endless with these tools and lend themselves so well to your field. Voki is also great to use for students. They create avitars and can choose different voices to speak what they have written. It is a fun way to do introductions, etc. and then the code is able to be copied and pasted into a wiki or blog which is great.
ReplyDeleteIt can get overwhelming with all the technology that is available. I think what is important is that if we start realizing how we can use it in our classroom, it will slowly start to grow without us even realizing it. Your suggestion of using a blog instead of having students writing in their notebook and or journal is a great start. This would be great for students that might be out of class on field trips or even if they are out sick. They can still post to their blog and or comment on other students postings.
ReplyDeleteWhat I really like about the wikis is that as a teacher you would not need to make copies of readings and or assignments for your students. Just think, no waiting at the photocopy machine. Just upload all the documents you want your students to have, if they happen to loose a copy, they can go back to the wiki and print and or read it again.
Your idea for the language journal via a blog and/or podcast is incredibly innovative! What a super idea for using technology to show students new tools and how to grab their interest more quickly. I remember how excited I was about my first podcast, like you... I read a children's story to my computer and it was actually a new beginning for "recording" books for students with that accommodation on their IEPs/504s. Technology is opening a whole new world for special needs students as well as regular education students. I can't wait to hear more about your language journals!
ReplyDeleteI was excited to read your post. I feel the same way about podcasts, I was reluctant to try them but I feel they will open a whole new world in my classroom. Can't wait to try it out. :)
ReplyDelete-Kristie