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From #CLIL to CSI?

23 May

I was quite impressed to spot, as a student in my class took an interminable amount of time to remove a pencil from her bag, that the science book she’s currently using was called “CSI“.  An inspired piece of textbook titling, though I do wonder whether they should have used a slightly different font…

Anyway, also leading on from Dave Cosby’s latest post, there are a few science based web resources I’ve been meaning to share, but haven’t quite got round to yet.

What you might do with them in an EFL context, I leave up to you!

An Illustrated Visualisation of what can happen in a single second:  a Maria Popova “Brain Pickings” post that reviews and contains illustrated excerpts from Steve Jenkins’ book “Just a Second”.

Leading on from what can happen in a single second, to “How far is a single second?” – from the MinutePhysics You Tube Channel.  Some great RSA Animate style illustrated examples of aspects and issues within physics (and by extension the world).  Somewhat fast paced and maybe not quite suitable for the lower level learner…

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Here’s a BBC infographic on the history of cloning, another recent BBC article of note looks at colour perceptions and tries to work out why it might actually be imnpossible to agree what colour to paint the spare room…

If infographics are your thing, then take a look at the Nik Peachey curated “Pinterest” on Infographics.

But finally…  two truly jaw dropping tools that are really the reasons for this post, both of which try to put a bit of perspective on humanity’s place in the universe:

ChronoZoom looks at the scale of time involved in the history of the universe – you can zoom in and out from the earliest known events to present day, or at least events from the modern human era.  It’s a fantastic tool – if you can actually find the modern human era, it’s a bit small in comparison!  (It’s easier to find if you navigate via the “threshold” markers in the scale across the top).

Size, physical size in this case, is what is compared at “The Scale of the Universe“.  Your starting point is humanity and using your mouse or trackpad, you can zoom in to the see the smaller stuff – or out to see the larger stuff.  Click on any image you see to get more information about it.

UPDATE EXTRA:

Two late additions to this post:

Larry Ferlazzo has just posted about “Pearls of the Planet” live webcams - these are webcams that are set up in various locations around the world, some wild places and some zoos, aquariums etc, where you and your classes can watch live streams of polar bears, pandas and the northern lights.

Richard Byrne has also just posted about Learners TV - a vast collection of video lectures on a wide range of subjects from psychology to dentistry to accounting from what appears to be a range of Universities and colleges, mostly from the USA.  Well worth checking out for your ESP students.

#APPI 2012: Nicky Hockly – Digital Literacies

27 Apr

This blog post reports from the APPI 2012 conference in Coimbra, Portugal.  The theme of the conference is “Motivated Teachers make a difference” – I’m updating as I go, so apologies for any typos, I’ll try and clear those up later.

Plenary Session:  Nicky Hockly – Digital Literacies

Again – some quotes from the abstract:  ”Digital Literacies are key 21st century skills … we look at some of the theory underpinning them and some practical classroom activities that can make a difference to students”.

(Editor’s note: I’ve spotted the telltale “prezi” navigation buttons in the bottom right hand corner of the screen, so I’m expecting lots of looping and whirling!  Fair play to Nicky who’s still hobbling around on crutches after breaking her leg some weeks ago!)

So here we go:

With a completely straight face,  Nicky Hockly’s trying to get the entire audience to dress up in a lumberjack outfits and march in support of the Pacific North West tree octopus.  She’s almost got everyone convinced…. and has now come clean!

Essentially, we’ve just had a fairly typical reading lesson: prediction, schema raising, etc – but with the spoof website (as above).  The point being that one of the skills learners need is to be able to assess the veracity of websites on the internet, in particular by examining the different features of websites and analysing them:  e.g.  news / blog / hyperlinks / links to official orgs / other research / content tabs / url / layout, font, colours / images & maps / style of language / quotes.  The website is a parody, so it does contain most of these features, but as it is a parody, they don’t match our expectations of authenticity.  Learners need to think about these things and use them to approach websites critically – in other words we need to develop learners’ digital literacies.

Digital Literacies (after Mark Pegrum):

  • Focus on Language:  texting / hypertext / multi-media / mobile / gaming / tech & coding / print
  • Focus on Connections: personal / network / cultural & inter-cultural / participatory
  • Focus on Information: search / tagging / info
  • Focus on (re) design:  remix

See: http://e-language.wikispaces.com/mr3 for more information.

Focus on remix literacy:

Taking original information, re-presenting it and adding something new and original.  Similar to the idea of remixing music, but extended into an approach to accessing and processing information, possibly with the idea of provoking thought or subverting convention.

An example of remix literacy:  literal videos:  videos that de-construct original content and re-describe the action from a literal, and occasionally subversive point of view.  Exploiting them:  http://www.overstream.net/ or http://www.subtitlehorse.org/ - get learners to redub / subtitle their own videos, using videos from You Tube.  Great examples of this include the parodies of Hitler’s tantrum from the film “The Downfall”.  Apparently copyright laws permit original material to be used for the purposes of parody.

Be careful with the distinction between copyright & fair use.

Implications of Digital Literacies:

  • integration into syllabus, using a web text instead of a paper text.
  • Digital divide – find out who in your classes have the access to the technology.  Technology use does NOT equate to digital literacy.
  • Student learning – use of technology needs to be principled, make sure you aren’t using the tech for the tech’s sake, but that there are clear learning goals involved.
  • Develop and keep up with development via a PLN
Bibliography:
Nicky has links to all the talk resources and videos, plus further reading here:

And I’ve just found her Prezi for this session online:  http://prezi.com/svpcbl8q_aml/digital-literacies-nicky-hockly/

PHRAS.IN – Say this or say that?

22 Apr

This is a quite a neat tool for learners who are trying to find the right way to express something - PHRAS.IN – Say this or say that?.

You type in two choices and it comes back and tells you which of the two is more common:

I wouldn’t recommend it as a grammar checker as it would just take far too long – but it might be useful for learners struggling with phrasal verbs or idiomatic expressions.

Also – it could be a fun research tool to use in class as a way of raising learners awareness of common errors – give the learners a list of pairs of expressions, some of which could be unfortunate utterances taken from past classes or written work, and the learners discuss and choose which they think is more common / correct, before checking on the website.

Getting learners writing: FoldBooks!

19 Apr

It can be difficult to get learners writing, especially young learners who often see writing as an imposition on classroom fun and games – so fun ways to encourage learner writing are always welcome.

At the FoldPlay website, they’ve come up with FoldBooks.  As the name suggests, these are mini-booklets made out of A4 paper, which have been pre-printed with images and text.

If you go to the FoldBooks page you’ll find input boxes there to work with, once you’ve filled everything in, click the “make your book” button, then print and follow the folding and cutting instructions precisely.

There are eight boxes that need text adding to them, and consequently eight pictures that need to be included.  In order to maximise the amount of text that can be put on the page, it’s best to reduce the font size to about 12 and the text margin to about 18, which is roughly the same as the image margins.  Pictures though, can only be uploaded from the computer, so if learners want to use pictures from the internet, they’ll need to download those to the computer, before uploading them again, which is a bit of a hassle, but there you go.

I think with learners, particularly younger learners, I’d ask them to write a first draft in the classroom before adding the excitement of the computers.  All that’s needed is eight smallish – say two or three sentence – paragraphs.  It might fit nicely with some of the circle writing tasks along the lines of “describe a man  / describe a woman  /  the place they met  /  what did they say to each other / what were their dreams  /  what was the problem  /  what did they do  /  how did it end”  (for example).

Once learners have got a set of  accurate texts they’re happy with, they can think about pictures they want to illustrate their books.

That, I think, is the point to take them into the computer room and let them have a go at making their  FoldBooks.

Teacher Development: English Agenda from the British Council

7 Apr

The BC have just launched a new website aimed at language teaching professionals:  English Agenda.  Amongst the many things you can find there, two components  in particular caught my eye:

  • Research and Publications
  • CPD (Continuing Professional Development)

The first is a great resource for anyone working on higher level qualifications (e.g. DELTA or MA) with downloadable BC commissioned documents and reports, as well as directories of ELT related academic research.

The second is approached both from the point of view of teachers wishing to extend or continue their personal professional development, but also includes resources for managers who might need to provide such professional development.  Again, there’s lots to download….

All in all, worth taking a look at!

Online Teaching Resource: Spent

5 Apr

I just came across the game “Spent”, courtesy of the Leoxicon blog.  It’s an excellent, eye opening game that simulates what it’s like to be living near the poverty line in the USA today.

Basically, you’re put in the position of being unemployed and on the breadline and you have to try and make it through a single month without running out of money.  The first time I played this, I made it to Day 27.  The second time only to Day 8.

You should probably play the game yourself before using it with your classes, just for the timings if nothing else, but if you’d like a lesson plan that exploits a lot of the great language that’s included in the game, then you should also check out the “Spent, but enriched” post on the Leoxicon blog.

It also occurred to me that with the winds of “austerity” currently making things chilly for many of us, that this game opens up quite a lot of discussion opportunities – not least in the comparison of the situation presented in the game to the situation that the learners might find themselves in in their own countries.  It opens up a number of issues related to job security, health insurance / healthcare, and personal debt that are worth exploring and exploiting in the classroom.  That said, obviously poverty is an issue that needs to be tackled with some sensitivity and it would be worth making sure you know the backgrounds of all your learners before delving into this topic area.

Earth Day – Online Teaching Resources

30 Mar

Earth Day 2012, where we consider our impact upon the planet and variously decide (a) to do something about it (b) gee that’s terrible but what can one person do? (c) It was like that when we got here – is almost upon us, falling due as it does on April 22nd of this year.

Predictably, there’s a wealth of teaching resources available to exploit with your students – here are some of the ones I’ve come across:

The Earth Day network website - http://www.earthday.org/ has a wealth of information, of particular interest to educators might be the “Green Schools” initiative (how to make your school greener) and the “Ecological footprint calculator” – though the number of countries the calculator works for is limited.  Their educators network has downloadable lesson plans (native speaker K-12) on most environmentally related topics.

The Great Green Web Game is probably suitable for younger learners (who won’t worry about the relative lack of sophistication) of intermediate level and above.  Learners answer questions to progress around the game board.  (Spotted on CristinaSkyBox).

Another younger learner resource comes via funschool which has various “Earth Day” related resources - though the language element present here is rather limited – check them out before using them in class!

Linda Starr & Gary Hopkins have collated a great range of resources for educators at Education World - these are aimed more at native speaker learners, so might need some adaptation for English Langauge learners, but there’s a lot of interesting looking stuff there that would be suitable across age ranges – and very suitable for anyone into CLiL.

A fantastic option for adults, particularly in the business sector is the Environmental CEO game:  CEO2.  In this one you take on the role of the CEO of a major corporation, working in either the insurance, automotive, chemical or power industries.  You’re presented with certain targets, balancing the needs and wants of a number of stakeholders and given a range of decisions to make in order to achieve these.  A certain amount of text, reading and analysis is required, I’d suggest B2 level learners and above should be fine with it.  (again – thanks to CristinaSkyBox for the spot)


National Geographic have a beta version of their education site up and running at the moment – including a teaching resources section that looks promising.  I found the navigation took a little getting used to, but the content seems spot on.  Again, aimed at native speakers, so probably more useful at higher levels than lower levels and probably better with teenagers rather than the younger learners.

“The Best Earth Day Sites” is Larry Ferlazzo’s collection of Earth Day resources – a list he started work on in 2009 and which he updates annually.  There’s a lot there, all of which is accessible for English language learners.

Michelle Henry’s Earth Day resources is another great collection of lesson plans, interactive games, webquests and printables relating both to Earth Day and also to wider environmental issues.

The “Go Green!” section at Teach Children ESL has fantastic downloadable pdf flashcards, worksheets and activities, including an “Earth Day Poster” lesson plan which might be nice to use in the build up to Earth Day.

If you have, or if you know of, any related resources you think should be included in this list - why not leave a comment and let me know?

Web tool recommendations #eltchat summary « Sandy Millin

9 Mar

Following the #eltchat on 29th February, Sandy Millin has put together a brilliant summary of web tool recommendations for teachers:  Web tool recommendations #eltchat summary

Categories that come up include:

  • Voice Recording / Video capture
  • Bookmarking / Link Organisation
  • Ready-Made materials
  • Online activity/material creation tools
  • Learner creative tools
  • Conglomerating tools
  • Self study tools

Plus Sandy goes on to highlight the why’s and wherefore’s of using tech in the classroom.  A must read piece for any teacher that likes incorporating technology into their classes!  Here’s the link again:  Web tool recommendations #eltchat summary.

FCE online resource directory

27 Feb

For all those of you that teach FCE preparation classes – here’s a list of the best stuff I’ve found online for FCE prep.

Most of the resources can be classified as either “online practice activities” or “teaching ideas” – but if you need somewhere to send your students for self-study or if you’ve run out of interesting ways to work with a key-word transformation – there’ll be something in there for you:

FCE Online Resource Directory

Let me know if there are any problems with links etc – and if you have anything you think should be added to this page?  Definitely let me know!

 

#IHPortugal Training Day: Facebook in the Classroom

7 Feb

This is the second of a series of posts reflecting on seminars I attended at the recent IH Portugal Training Day.  Click the link to read the first post on “Class Management by Carol Crombie“.

FACEBOOK

Robert Dickson & Stephen Wardle

IH Lisbon

For some time now, I’ve been experimenting with a number of web tools, attempting to create an online environment for my learners – an extension of the classroom, an alternative channel of communication, a shared resource….  and the conclusion I came to fairly early on was that facebook was probably the best means of achieving this.  After all, why reinvent the wheel?  Everyone’s already on facebook – so it should be easy!

Robert & Stephen’s seminar looked at the “whys” and the “hows” of using facebook, but perhaps more importantly, it also looked at the “should we-s” – the things to think about before connecting with your learners outside the classroom.

(more…)

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