PechaKucha, an extraordinary way of making presentations.

The year is reaching to its end and as a nice and funny way to do it, our teacher Leti asked the group to work on a new type of presentation: PechaKucha, twenty slides in twenty seconds.

Therefore, my beloved friend Guille and I came up with the idea of designing the presentation as a tour, telling our classmates what signified the experience to us through the whole year. A journey which represented a challenge, enhanced the acquisition of new knowledge about technology, how to profit from them in order to help learners to success in their future and which serves as a starting point for new reflections.

As a result our PechaKucha included pictures which represent each special moment in our learning process. Since we only had 20 seconds for each slide, was not advisable to include too many special effects as well as long texts. The aim of this type of presentation is to keep the presentation short, engage the audience in the message you desire to transmit while making associations with what they see, but pictures are not ment to distract their attention, just guide them as a visual support.

The entire experience was really a great one. It guided us not only in the learning process about technology but also on how to use it properly to empower learners' autonomy, through deep reflection upon what it means assuming such a compromise as future teachers. 

Here I share some Tips for you to learn a bit more about how to prepare a PechaKucha.

 Will you give it a try for your future presentations?

What is Blended learning?

Lets start by defining Blended learning.

Many of us are used to the traditional schools' setting as the learning environment, but  learning with a computer in different places is an instance of instruction as well. If we think of the combination between both we reach to understand blended learning. As a result, it refers to face-to-face learning and online learning.

This new model represents an innovative and engaging experience of learning, since it makes an effective use of technology and allows students to become active participants of their own process of learning. The advantages are numerous: learners undergo through the process at their own pace, they choose where and when to learn and prepare their personal plans. In order to achieve a successful learning, it is essential to provide them with skills and feedback. As teachers, we need to plan guided practice for students, so as to help them and move on together through the process.

A clear example of Blended learning is the use of online platforms, like Edmodo, which create a safe environment to work in and learners have acces to what they need. Therefore, for instance teachers can post or upload content for learners to read at home and at school altogether reflect upon the reading and go on working. In that way, learning becomes a continuous process which helps learners to become more and more independent. 

Again, as I  commented in previous posts, the only requisite is to have internet connection since most students in Argentina have the netbooks which the programme Conectar Igualdad distributed to work with. All the same, there are lots of places with free wi fi connection.

Would you consider this new way of teaching learning? Why? Why not?

A didactic sequence

Some weeks ago, our teacher of this subject -ECO II- proposed us to work in groups so as to plan a didactic unit taking into account the different options that Web 2.0 offers as valuable resources to work with.

After exploring many of them while having fun, together with my mates Solange and Agus, we decided to design a story using Storybird. We were assigned to teach irregular verbs in the past simple.

Storybrid is an online community where you can read stories created by members of the community and create your own, using a wide variety of works and drawings from different artists. We found this tool a valuable resource since we thought that creating a story was a good way to enhance  learners’ creativity while at the same time, it presented an enjoyable way to deal with past simple. Therefore, we planned a lesson around the topic ‘The Ancient World’ and designed a model based on an Egyptian legend.

As a final task, learners would have the possibility to work in groups as well, to design their own stories and share it with their classmates.

Our didactic unit guided students through the whole process, in order to enable them to come up with ideas and different stories' designs, while learning as regards  old civilizations that lived in the past. As a starting point we decided to present a Video related to these civilizations, created with Movie Maker, and then move on to some activities that would allow learners activate their knowledge and infer the difference between regular and irregular verbs in the past.

It's important to bear in mind that if we want to work with online resources we need to count with good internet conection. Nowadays, many students have access to Internet at home but another option is to work during our regular lessons at the Computer Labs present at schools.

This experience was really a great opportunity to work cooperatively and discover that there are endless possibilities to integrate technology into our traditional classrooms’ lessons and our everyday life. 

I really recommend both resources. They provide an excellent visual support , while giving you the chance to enhance creativity, share beautiful stories with others or create videos with your own photos, texts and music.  

Explore them and tell us your opinión!

The Web 2.0 in our classrooms

The Web 2.0 has revolutionized the way people communicate, create, collaborate and share all kind of information and content online. There are plenty of tools that are accessible and easy to use. As future teachers we may want to explore some of those tools to enhance learners’ development of digital skills. Those applications are available for everyone and each of them offer different opportunities and purposes. 

I am sure all of you are familiarised with some of them such as Blogger, Wikis, Dropbox, Google.docs and social networks like Facebook, Twitter etc. 

The question is:  social networks like Facebook, are adequate to be used as learning environments?

 

On one hand, Facebook may be a useful tool to share information and projects that students carry out during their lessons, since it presents an appealing environment  and they may feel motivated to participate. As well as that, that would be possible because it allows you to create a private group for debate, otherwise it would be really difficult to work with certain privacy.

On the other hand, it may represent a challenge to see whether all learners are reading the content uploaded, for instance. What's more, a doubt that comes to my mind whether to use it for educational purposes is that some social networks, like Facebook or Twitter, usually are virtual places designed to chill out and share personal experiences with friends, so many people reject the idea of using it as an environment for study and simply decide not to participate. 


Finally, I would say that If I had to choose, I would work with online platforms that are designed for specific educational purposes. Many of them, like Edmodo, are user friendly and allow you to share as a community and upload all kind of content that learners need to have access.

To end, I would say that it's important to explore the different learning opportunities that each tool provide, but we should ask ourselves whether the tool we want to use  meet our aims and if it is suitable according to the purpose and task in mind, taking into account the way we would assess our learners. Another important aspect is to remember that all learners should be instructed on how to use the applications, not all of them are used to them as we may think. Discussing and establishing rules of usage are important as well.

Discovery Education - Web 2.0

What's your experience? Would you like to share it? 

Voki

Voki is an exceptional resource.  I believe that creating your own speaking avatar to express yourself is an interesting tool to bear in mind when designing tasks. You can desing a task around a certain topic, for instance everyday life and routines, and ask learners to work on a presentation where they have to introduce themselves, to tell about their routines or certain experiences they would like to share. Do you think learners would find it interesting?

Selfies, a teaching tool?

A few weeks ago, I attended a workshop delivered by Mathilde Verillaud, an English language fellow, who presented this technological trend as part of a proyect she carried out with a group of students. Mathilde believes that this tool is a good way to trigger the design of interesting and collaborative tasks to work with in the classroom.
What I liked best about it was that selfies may function as a way to introduce ourselves, to tell others what we really want to share about us while at the same time we may get to know a bit more from others, using the language to communicate those inner thoughts and ideas. We may ask learners to take selfies or choose those ones they would like to share and help them to explore their talents, ambitions, hopes and at the same time work on matters of social relevance such as bullying and our attitudes and respect to others. Besides, it would be important to discuss and reflect as regards the information we upload and share about us in social networks and the internet.

In my opionion, it well worth the time to learn how to take advantage of this trend that seem to be worthless but if we look at the positive side of it, this phenomenon can help us to be creatives and have fun, while  learning. 

 What do you think? 
Would you use selfies to boost learners' motivation and creativity?

 

"A Moving Scene", by Trina

"Walking By", by Monica

Verillaud, Mathilde, "Selfies in the Classroom, Really?", Alicana - Santa Fe, August 2014

GongdaEnglishPhotoClub

Technology into the classroom?

As we have already seen in older posts, students’ digital learning is essential for their future achievements. Therefore, the design and development of experiences integrating technology into the teaching learning should be conceived when planning our lessons.

Personally, I would keep in mind the TPACK and SAMR models to design memorable experiences, since those models consider not only the underlying knowledge of each category , but also the knowledge at the interplay of them.

Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) address to the interplay of these three primary forms of knowledge, emphasizing the new kinds of knowledge that lie at the intersections between them. As you can see, this approach goes beyond seeing these three forms of knowledge in isolation.

The SAMR design is developed following four different levels. This model aims to enable teachers design and develop learning experiences integrating technology in order to transform them by leading to high levels of learning achievement.

Learn more about TPACK and SAMR models and tell me what you think.

TPACK by Punya Mishra y Mattew J. Koehler

SAMR in the Classroom by Ruben Puertadura

Designing effective presentations.

The first question that comes to my mind when I think about the design of a presentation is: What things should be included in it and which ones should be avoided?

There are certain tips which are useful to remember in order to make great presentations.

1)  Don’t forget the basics
 

Consider the time of your presentation. If you are going to use a ppt or other software as visual support, remember that it should be long enough to help you deliver your presentation and engage the audience, but short  in order to avoid boredom.

 

Choose an appropriate font. Fonts communicate subtle messages in and of themselves. Ask yourself if the people at the back of the room will be able to see what you are showing. It is important to assure that everyone would be able to follow the presentation whatever they are standing.

 

2)  Sometime less is more
 

Limit bullet points and text. Take into account the purpose of the visual support included: Why is it that you need them right where they are? The same rule applies if you are thinking of including texts. Large piece of texts to be read may result redundant and you will lose peoples’ interest.

 

Don’t include too many effects on the presentations, they can confuse people and create difficulties to follow it.

 

3)  Are my slides well designed?

Bear in mind the order of the slides and the content to be included in each of them. A great idea is to include an agenda of what you are going to deliver during the presentation, so people know in advance what the presentation will be about.

4)  Use videos or audio when appropriate

 

    Using video clips to illustrate examples promotes active cognitive processing and not only will serve to back you up, it will also serve as a change of pace and thereby, increasing the interest of the audience.

 

 

The link below leads you to an article developing several tips as regards presentations. The site may take a moment to load, but It is worthwhile reading and considering when planning and delivering our own presentations.

 

 Great Presentations: Tips from Great Presenters - Forbes

 

I found it interesting, since it covers several points to be considered, especially number 21. The last time I travel to a convention, I attended a conference hoping to learn something but in the end I realized that the presenter was promoting and trying to sell books. What a deception!

What do you think are the elements that make for good or ineffective presentations?

 

 

Searching for Information sources on the internet? Be cautious!

 

Not everything we may find on the internet  is reliable information to believe in, therefore we should bear in mind some criteria to select those authentic sources of information in order not to be deceived.

Important aspects  to take into account when evaluating a website:

• Design and Updating

Does it provide clear information? Is the site regularly updated?

The website should be well organised and focused, and in the case that it provides links, those links should be viable. 

•  Authority

Who is the owner and sponsor of the website?

Does he provides credits to cover the subject being shared?

Check whether it is an authentic site or a hoax and if there is any form of contact with the autor.

• Bias

A relevant point is to be aware of  is whether the author reflects a bias or a particular political stance, probably he will do it implicitly although it could be explicit as well.

• Purpose

What was the web page created for?

Is it a web which provides information, up to date news or it aims to sell products? Does it refers to an educational site or entertainment?


 WARNINGS!

Most people are tempted to use wikipedia, or any other social site constructed collaboratively by people from all around the world, be carefull! Since those sites may not be updated all the time and  different views on specific subjects could lead you to misunderstandings.

Do not copy and paste information without citing the author; no matter what website you got it from, plagiarism is forbidden.

Keep in mind not to contribute with fake information on the internet as some people do.

Evaluating web sites.pdf

Taking into consideration that learners should become competent in a Digital World, what are the questions we should be asking?

Should we care about Digital Literacy?


Nicky Hockly, published an article about  

Digital Literacies, where she mentions that teachers of English, a language of global communication, must care about the skills learners need in order to be functional  citizens in their future. I believe, that  by promoting digital skills we contribute to the development of critical thinking and creativity allowing learners to communicate and interact with other cultures, in a world where information is available, but requires awareness of the risks which are embedded.

 

 Digital literacies: What are they why should we care?, Nocky Hockly - Teaching English I British Council I BBC

 

 





Do you consider that institutions should support students in developing new digital skills for study?

 





Digital Literacy across Curriculum

Teachers of English, in the following link you will find interesting free .pdf books available to download. I found them newsworthy, a resource that may help us integrate the development of students' digital literacy into our every day lessons.

 

Resources on Digital Literacies - Futurelab at NFER

 

A new generation of learners: Digital Natives.

I have been going through the text "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" by Marc Prensky and I would like to highlight the assertion he makes, that 21st Century learners changed compared to those students of decades ago and as a result, today's students thinking skills have developed as well. It is clear that those changes are closely related to the experiences involved in their learning process, underpinned by the advance of technology. Thus, as Marc states "the biggest problem facing education today is that the Digital Inmigrant Instructors are struggling to teach with a population that speaks a new language". I strongly believe that this problem demands reflection and the need to reconsider the content being taught and our teaching interventions in order to discover new ways, not only to reach students, but also to develop an approach to teaching taking into account the reality that shapes this new generation of learners.

Reconsidering the methology and content is the challenge we face...What do you think?

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants -Marc Prensky

Welcome!

In this journal, I intend to share with you some ideas related to the usage of technology, as a powerful tool in the learning process, especially at schools' clasrooms. 

As a future teacher of English,  I invite you to reflect as regards the relevance of taking advantage that technology offers so as to start exploring on how to contribute to the learner's digital skills development while at the same time it may help innovate our lessons.

           I hope you find it interesting!
                                            Ivana.