Someone twittered about using wiffiti (which basically pulls together messages from twitter etc). It looked interesting so played around using EFL /ESL tags and it produced this. Now to think how I can use it in class 
Playing with wiffiti
This week’s lesson – the Polish Dog
This week’s lesson for my class is based on the polish dog story on the bbc website. You can download the ppt slides , video (for the listening (it’s embedded in to the ppt)) and materials by clicking on the appropriate link.
Simple plan for it – use the “hilarious” headline and picture to get the students thinking about the story, use the wordsift ‘words’ to help them hone their predictions now either give them the text to confirm or go to the listening and do that. Follow it up with the prepositions cloze. I also looked on line at what else we could do – animal noises often go down well, quick google of animal noise + IWBS activities threw up loads to use and the bbc site has a dog quiz to accompany the story. However I am going to get them to subtitle the video using one of the many subtitling tools you can find online.
As usual technology helped prepare the lesson, for this one I used Jing, wordsift and a nifty little cloze text maker I happened upon yesterday afternoon. The classroom I have is still not connected to the schools wifi network so I have to save everything to do offline. Hence the jing – bbc website had a video clip – couldn’t find it on youtube, can’t download it from the bbc – jing, which is free, captured the video so that’s a listening ready made. Drop the text into wordsift and we are given the key words from the text –that’s great for a prediction exercise (though not as pretty as wordle). Small text, not too challenging, great for a cloze text – ok could copy into word and delete the words I want, but this does it all for me. So in less than 15 minutes all the lesson ready, varied activities and all neatly fitting onto a powerpoint so even my boardwork is done.
IH DoS conference – a reflection
Finally back at my desk long enough to reflect on the DoS conference last week. Holding a conference on a landmark seems to work for publicity and it certainly made for a unique conference. This is especially true when you add in the torrid weather that also hit the UK. The weather put pay to some of our speakers and delegates. I am especially sad @heikephilp couldn’t make it, was really looking forward to finally meeting her in person – maybe next year Heike
This year we wanted to try and be a bit new – new venue, new direction (we held SIGS, we videoed, we twittered when we could). And I think that really worked. The videos are being watched (though next year it would be good to go live online), the twitter got replies and followers. And this led to an Internet spoof video being made. Lastly, the venue was a hit with everyone (apart from perhaps, the cold corridors).
In terms of what was said about teaching there seemed to be a theme of eschewing some of the creative practices that the communicative approach has brought to teaching. With Hugh Deller talking about the virtues of repetition over artificial role-plays and Jeremy Harmer asking us to consider improv instead, as he explored how students become fluent in a language.
From the managerial side there were some great tips on time management (so much so we’ll turn one of the sessions into an online workshop) and from the tech side of things we had @shiv53 ‘s insightful talk on how languagelab was developed based on gaming not traditional EFL methodologies. As usual @russell1955 gave a talk on his ‘gems of the web‘ amongst them were ideas for using the screen recording program jing. These included some innovative uses of screen recording to give students feedback on work. We also had the accidental but nevertheless excellent juxtaposition of a technophobe’s journey into the world of IWBs against my perhaps over-enthusiastic talk on building PLNS. The former included a video recording of a relatively newly-qualified teacher talking about how an IWB had added to her lessons.
Am pleased both of these had their desired affects. Diana’s talk led to a great discussion on how to train teachers on IWBS – hopefully we’re drawing up some simple ‘getting started check-lists that can be used for training days. Think simple ‘can-do’ statements for using an IWB. From mine, this week has seen a number of IH people join twitter and some of them have already emailed me to talk about the positive side of their joining.
So all in all a successful conference, if you want to see Hugh and Shiv’s talks then click here. The slides from my talk are in the tabs at above. Watch the twitterfeed for more on the free workshop and to all the IHDoSes see you in London next January
The IH DoS conference – you can watch online
I am really looking forward to the IH DoS conference, which starts tomorrow (the 7th) and runs until the 10th. As conferences go it may seem a little low key with usually about 100 people attending but for me it is one of the most enjoyable I get to speak at every year. One of the reasons for that (apart from catching up with friends) is that it is always a constant reminder of the part IH plays in the ELT profession. The DoS conference is one of four internal conferences we run in a year – in fact it is a little bit of a misnomer as it not just for directors of studies, it is also for teacher trainers but its focus is very much about the academic management side of things and what we can do to help teachers.
In addition to the DoS conference we also have one for modern languages, one for YL teachers and then the one for the school directors. Given we are spread over the whole globe and nearly 150 independent schools belong to the network, you can imagine the diversity of the audiences and the sharing of experiences that goes on. On top of that given that many of today’s EFL heavyweights work for or have worked for an IH school the plenary talk program reads like a who’s who of EFL.
This year is no exception with talks from the likes of Jeremy Harmer, Keith Morrow, Russell Stannard and Scott Thornbury to name a few. On top of that in our strand sessions we have experts such as Maureen McGarvey, Shiv Rajendran (and spare a thought for Heike Philip, whose flight was cancelled due to the snow, fingers crossed we can get her with via the Internet) and we’ll tackle everything from time management for managers to developing PLNs to dealing with CLIL. The conference rounds off with special interest groups that help give the network direction for the year.
If you’re still reading then you’re probably at the ‘so what’ point – this is all very nice Shaun but I don’t work for an IH school so…..well this year, weather permitting we are changing…no longer are we in a hotel conference facility but on a ship and also, now this might interest you, we are taking our first steps to widening the audience to those you that can’t attend. We’ll record the plenary sessions and by the end of each day we’ll have them online – so want to see Scott talk about ‘Six Big Ideas and One Little One’, Jeremy on ‘Speak the speech I pray you: where fluency comes from’ or Russell unveiling his web gems then you need to check out ihworld.com or follow the twitter feeds each day #ihdos. I’ll also be using this blog for photos, highlights and sound bites. Now you can join in to, so see you online or if you are attending on the boat.
Enjoy the conference,
Shaun
And the naysayers – part two of the tech post
It wasn’t all positive answers to the question….
Do you believe that using technology in classes / with students is important? Please briefly say why / why not
However there were very few replies that fall into the negative category- six in fact:
The Negative:
- But many of our students come from resource limited environments and often are using computer related technology for the first time when they come to our study abroad school.
- to project the Student Book Materials onto a board and call that ‘interactive’ is a waste of time and money
- It could be answered that it can focus students attention more and is more ‘interactive’, but a gap-fill is a gap fill.
- It is a useful tool to enhance/supplement lessons, but it is no substitute for good teaching skills and language awareness.
- Local students are very conservative – it’s quite a leap using communicative methodology, let alone computers.
- I think it can make lazy teachers
There were also some what I would call ‘middle ground’ responses, strangely there were six of these as well
The middle ground
- It is the STUDENT INTERACTION that is of primary importance, and we need to make sure we use the technology to promote this king of interaction rather than believing the technology itself is a stimulus.
- technology needs to be used judiciously – avoid using technology as a gimmick -the pedagogical reasons behind using it need to be as sound as they would be for any using any Classroom resource / task.
- It very important , but you should consider this fact that countries like mine even have problem with connecting to internet and are deprived from its advantages , let alone other modern facilities.
- It all adds to the repertoire, it depends how you use it. It can be useful, it can also be gimmicky, expensive, and a waste of time.
- It’s important that we do not employ this tool simply because it exists. We need to use it wisely and effectively.
- Only if it’s used properly. Teachers need to know how to use technology and then how to teach with it – two different things in my mind
So 40 positive and 12 not so positive, does that mean tech is becoming more excepted in the IH schools (though you’ve got to admit the middle grounders make some very valid points)…. Well I’ll guess I”ll find out more when we start the conference in the morning, any conclusions that can be drawn will be in part three
40 reasons teachers use technology
The International House Director of Studies Conference always kicks off the New Year for me. As the IH teacher training coordinator, one of my jobs is to help decide what training we can provide to the schools in the network. During 2009, more and more schools were asking for technology based stuff, so towards the end of 2009, I asked the schools to complete a survey (via surveymonkey) with the aim of finding out the state of technology use in the IH network, and also to determine the priorities for training. About half of the schools in the network responded.
Throughout 2009 the technology ‘debate’ raged across twitter, blogs, and so on. Often those doing the debating do not actually do the teaching (or much of it, I myself teach 3 hours a week if I am lucky). As such the survey allowed me to get opinions from those more in the classroom than me. On top of that the schools in the network are spread across the world in differing political and economic climates which does not always aid using technology – e.g. our school in Xian can’t use youtube. One thing that surprised me was the number of positive comment made about technology use in the classroom. It has often been said to me that PLS schools (Private language schools) don’t embrace technology as much as the state sector (one argument being that PLS can’t afford to install IWBs etc) but technology use seems to be quite high (note by technology use I am referring to use of say an IWB, web 2.0 tools and so on). The final question I asked was:
Do you believe that using technology in classes / with students is important? Please briefly say why / why not
There was an overwhelming ‘yes’ answer to this but from the vast number of responses it is clear that there are 6 ‘categories’ of positives for using technology, and within those 40 reasons for using technology (ok naysayers will say some of these are quite similar) so here, without further delay, is the list:
1. Positive effects on a class and materials
- It can be fun and memorable.
- Technology in class helps to switch students’ attention from teacher to the material itself
- It brings variety / It can be an ALTERNATIVE to another page in the coursebook.
- If used creatively as visual prompts to stimulate classroom interaction, as flashcards for teaching vocabulary etc then IWB lessons can be fantastic.
- It livens up the classroom and gives me the chance to explore any suggestion/wishes from the students.
- It really seems to get and hold students’ attention
- Digital books allow teachers to conduct more collaborative lessons.
- Authentic materials are available in the classrooms, which means bbc, youtube and other sites can be utilized in lessons
- It expands the variety of materials you use and can allow you to tailor lessons to meet the classes needs and interests more easily.
10. IWB makes learning memorable, visual reinforcement, something ‘new’
2. Good for the teacher
11. It’s a new exciting dimension to our teaching and we are encouraging all the teachers to update their skills.
12. It gives me as a teacher, much more freedom and possibilities to reach the students than a simple chalkboard.
13. If we don’t make use of technology our lessons risk being regarded as irrelevant
14. Every teacher should go hand in hand with the newest technologies to create interest in learning languages, to represent the teaching institution and to achieve the best results.
15. It is another tool in the teacher’s toolbox that helps provide for more students’ interests and learning styles.
3. Needed for Marketing
16. It’s something our school offers which other schools do not so it’s a big selling point.
17. We would be seriously falling behind the competition if we didn’t
18. It’s our USP.
19. As it adds the feeling that the school is on the cutting edge of everything;
4. Meeting students needs and giving them autonomy
20. it can reflect students ‘real life’ experiences with English and it helps promote learner autonomy
21. It extends communication, and learning beyond classroom.
22. We believe technology is important because it opens up different ways of communicating in our modern world and introduces students to a huge wealth of resources
23. They use it their everyday life; why wouldn’t they in the classroom.
24. It will make them more interested in studying English and achieve more positive results.
25. Technology is so important in modern life it’s important to try and incorporate this into the classroom to keep the skills relevant to real life
5. Time Saving
26. It saves a lot time, which could be spent on other activities.
27. It is portable & reusable.
28. The possibility to store and retrieve previous lectures has been very helpful.
29. It makes the class more interactive and makes the teacher’s job easier.
30. Can be an extremely efficient way of banking and sharing resources.
6. It’s expected
31. It is indispensable for this generation of learners.
32. younger sts are used to using technology more and more
33. students expect it these days and believe that schools that have it are at the cutting edge.
34. They (students) use it their everyday life; why wouldn’t they in the classroom.
35. It makes the school seem with the times and students also seem to enjoy it.
36. our students are generally very connected and expect to use online learning on their courses
37. technology has become part of our daily life.
38. Students are used to it at their ordinary schools.
39. They have technology at work and in their daily life. I think they expect to find it also in the learning environment.
40. Technology is part of everyday life. It should be part of learning, too.
I’ll post the less positive answers later in the week.
Happy New Year
Shaun
