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…
