ESL Podcasting

Using podcasting for teaching can be a very beneficial tool for learners. At eslpod.com, many podcasts are uploaded daily to help people understand concepts in English. In this particular episode, the topics of Eleanor Roosevelt, Renaissance fairs, admit versus confess, mix versus blend and chick flicks are covered. If i were to give a lesson on teaching about historical figures while introducing some new vocabulary and/or phrases, this is a great episode to do it. My students would be able to take this lesson on the go and play it over and over if there were some confusion. The author does a great job speaking clear and slow enough for any one to understand. He also gives definitions for more of the difficult terms used in the podcast. Lot's of terms and idioms are also addressed here so it gives the listener a lot of new things to comprehend.

ePals

The ePals program is a great way to incorporate technology in the classroom. It is designed for students and teachers who are more comfortable using technology with instruction. ePals uses digital content designed for self-directed learning and global sharing. Through global sharing, students and teachers can engage in relevant issues while learning, motivating each other, building self confidence and enhancing skills necessary for the future. ePals can help benefit teachers by using technology effectively in classrooms, developing curriculums and helping them professionally. ePals stresses effective learning, global collaboration, safety and security, and a foundation to provide life long learning. ESL wise, this benefits me as well as my students because it allows for social networking around the world. For example- A high school student studying Spanish, might use ePals to connect to a student studying English in Spain. These type of connections can benefit students as well as teachers making language learning more efficient, fun and social.

ePals products are also great for the classroom. They offer Learning Space, Global Community, School Mail and in2Books. Learning Space is a safe virtual workspace for k-12 students where communication and collaboration are emphasized. The Global Community allows the same thing except you can connect world wide with other classrooms and students to share and obtain knowledge. School mail is a great way to keep emails strictly for the classroom. in2Books is a curriculum based e-mentoring program designed for 3rd - 5th graders. 

A helpful resource!

Big Huge Labs is a great website to create objects that can be useful in your teaching. It offers several applications you can link together with Flickr that you can use in the classroom. I recently experimented and made flashcards with personal photos. These flashcards are used to talk about holidays and they give a description about them. This helps ESL students as they can see a live picture as well as read about the picture. The picture can help students develop an image in their head when they hear key words in the description. My most recent creation talks about Halloween. Enjoy!

(thought a black cat was appropriate here because of the mention of Hallowen)......maybe not I dunno haha

photo by:  asrusch

Creative Commons Licensing 101

When talking about creative commons licensing, there are several ways to go about doing so. Creative commons  is described as a non-profit that offers an alternative to copyright. Four ways of doing this are as follows- Attribution, Non Commercial, No derivative works, and Share alike. 


Attribution allows others to copy, distribute, display and perform your copyrighted works,(along with derivative works based upon it) but only if you give credit for it.  Non Commercial allows the same things as attribution, but only for non commercial purposes. No derivative works is when you let others copy, distribute, display, and perform only verbatim copies of your work, not derivative works based upon it. Share alike is when you allow others to distribute derivative works only under a license identical to the license that governs your work.


Here's an example of attribution:




photo by: Linda N.

Tweeting for Teachers

     Recently, I read two interesting articles about Twitter in the classroom. One deals with nine great reasons why teachers should tweet (an article by Laura Walker a director of E-learning in the UK), and the other offers tips and advice for using twitter to teach modern foreign languages (brought to you by Joe Dale, a passionate language teacher).

      In the first article, Walker pretty much states that twitter is a great tool especially with those who do not have time, comparing educational systems globally, self reflection, idea workshopping, news updates, professional developing, info searching, communication and staying up to date. Joe Dale gives a run down on how to use twitter and how it is good for professional development. He provides nice videos to help with the tweeting process.

     These articles provided a good insight on how I could use microblogging for my own professional development. Twitter is great for accessing a wealth of resources instantly. Ideas, opinions and links can all by found from global professionals with a single click. It is also great for sharing ideas and talking about techniques to improve your teaching daily. What's great about twitter is that you can receive constant feedback from anyone around the world, within seconds if needed. Twitter is also a great way to stay current with news, healthy debating and just communication in general. It is easy to search for topics or people that might interest you in your field. This is good for professional development because you an contact those who can give you good advice or search for information that will improve your educational and teaching mindset.

     Overall, if you like to stay up to date and enjoy technology, I highly recommend microblogging or twitter to help you in professional development. It is a great way to stay connected to a network of great minds, countless amounts of information and topics about almost anything.

An interesting find!

I recently stumbled across a blog post that talked about Educators and their use of twitter. I found this interesting because it shows how social networking and technology is increasing through the educational world. More educators are using it and it seems to be vastly increasing daily.

A useful forum!

I recently joined a group called Classroom 2.0.  This group is useful in terms of helping with ways to become a better teacher and learner in the classroom through social media in education. This group provides numerous links to other websites as well as a forum for peer help. Lots of information is shared on this website between educators. Ideas and knowledge are shared with a variety of topics regarding almost anything you can think of when dealing with social media in the classroom. This is indeed helpful as I can get many opinions and suggestions if I need help while experimenting with technology in the classroom setting.