SECOND LIFE

Virtual world  is  really entertaining and before being introduced to Second Life during our Technology Class I was a little familiar with it. However I had n’t  thought of using this technological tool at EFL classes with others such as gaming, blogging and so on. Seems  interesting.  Form a group, include your learners  into it and simply enjoy teaching English. During our class discussions we came up with really interesting ideas how to integrate SL in EFL classes. Most  of all I liked the idea of interacting with different communities all over the world and also having  classes  in  different settings such as : 

                                                                                  OR

BUT NOT ALL THE TIME 

                     
                                                                              OR

The learners can learn words by touching them, watching them and using them. I was personally   very exited about opening my account and using the Second Life chance to communicate and create my Second World. I still encourage my peers to form a group together and build our lives. However my  view is optimistic from the point of view of a student. But I would hardly risk integrating my own students into the  SL as a teacher. First of all it’s  public-access  and  as  mentioned in Welche’s article the designer s don’t know what you’re doing there as they want  you  to be creative http://moodle.aua.am/file.php/28/Course_Materials/Virtual_World_/VirtualWorlds_InterviewWelch_2008.pdf  

In the same way teachers are not  safe as students can go beyond the limits of the class requirements.  On the other hand,  I consider it useless to forbid pupils to go to certain places and not to do things which they think are more entertaining.It’s like  discouraging your own learners to be creative. So, I will fail to have successful virtual classes because  I lack risk management mentioned in Cinthia M. Calongne’s article as  one of the features  leading to successful  virtual classes . http://moodle.aua.am/file.php/28/Course_Materials/Virtual_World_/VirtualWorlds_Calogne_2008.pdf

Sources of pictures:

http://www.google.am/search?hl=hy&biw=1280&bih=709&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=Photos+of+avatars+in+second+life+who+do+lessons&oq=Photos+of+avatars+in+second+life+who+do+lessons&gs_l=img.3...33862.40054.0.40245.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c.1.z-wbGa8VCTM

http://www.google.am/#hl=hy&site=&source=hp&q=photo+of+learners+during+the+class&oq=photo+of+learners+during+the+class&gs_l=hp.3...3810.17374.0.18103.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c.1.GW0jgJ7HbIg&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=7138acffcd4c83&bpcl=35466521&biw=1280&bih=665

COMPUTER AND VIDEO GAMES

Computer and Video Games

Marc Prensky introduces the radical technological growth of our  World in his book “How Learners have Changed” http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Ch2-Digital%20Game-Based%20Learning.pdf

 Following him  I would like to refer to  the Armenian environment and see how this developing country has grown technologically during the recent years and how it is reflected in the TEFL environment. Our younger generation is quite handy with technologies.  During these last two days for example I was watching on TV how Armenian young learners created various computer games http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93_7COJi9sw . All of them were rewarded by Orange Company. Or let me take my own children. They are all the time busy exploring new things on the computer. If I want to play a game on Ipad or any other device I need to know the instructions, read about it, see how it works. It  certainly takes time. But my children  try them out immediately and easily find how to play, how to win and boast. This is one side of the picture. The other side is quite disappointing. Most teachers at Armenian schools are still unable to integrate technologies into  their classes because they are technologically illiterate. Also, I have heard them complaining a lot that technologies, especially games only harm the learners.They say, games are always noisy and disturb their classes.  There is always the tendency to calm the learners down. I agree that children may sometimes try to play threatening games which  makes  them become psychologically depressed or simply very aggressive as  my son usually does when he imagines himself to be the hero of the game he plays. But on the other hand  he learns a lot. These games are quite useful. Learners learn a lot by  playing. They do not have to sit and follow the classes nervously to learn something. I have such students at EEC that become motivated only because they hear  that they are going to use a computer.  For such students especially it is a requirement to offer computer or video games as a learning tool. Our task is to keep our children and learners away from dangerous games but with the same time integrate many other useful games into our reality to make the English Language classes more  and more interesting.  I can hardly create any computer game by myself to introduce it to my learners but I’m quite capable of choosing the games my learners need and use it to meet their requirements.

DIGITAL STORYTELLING AND VIDEO PRODUCTION

Our class of New Technologies in Language Teaching  opened before us other useful technological tools which can make English classes in Armenia more interesting and productive. Because  now with wikis, blogs and podcasts we have also been taught to integrate digital storytelling and video production. Sometimes those materials  that are provided do not match to  our needs in this or that way.  

  And we want to create them by ourselves. Handmade stories would not impact the learners motivation in the same way as it is with digital storytelling because I think it’s not only important what you tell to your learners but equally important how you do it.

I was previously used to doing powerpoint presentations but inserting sounds, animations and designing the presentation made me get interested in it so much that I have decided to teach it to my students  too. Also, I was shocked how my classmates made films with a moviemaker and I’ll certainly try that magic tool too.

Storyboarding seems to me a good idea as it allows to organize images, music, text and the motion in advance. Let me find a tutorial and see how I can make a storyboard in Microsoft office Word.  One of them is http://www.microsoft.com/education/enus/teachers/guides/Pages/digital_storytelling.aspx

This is a PDF document which shows everything step by step. Here is what I got:

1.      Text 2.      Music 3.      Narration 4.      Title slide 5.      Interview
This is my daughter. In this picture she is three  years old. She is playing a game and seems to be  very happyJ

When all the pieces of the story is in front of the creator  he can see everything more vividly and the planning of the story will be more detailed. And I completely agree with the statement that “storyboarding transforms video projects from chaos into order” which was mentioned in Sadun’s book.

The lesson following digital storytelling was about video production. In my life I have shot a lot. But film production was something new to me and I was eager to folow the process. At first it seemed to me easier but then too many  details  made my work more and more challenging and interesting. In our group we created the story tutorial. Technological unawereness made us face a hard time. At first we shot in my Ipad. Then we were wondering how to transfer it to the moviemaker. The solution was that we copied it in PC. The next problem was that the video was  of a different category which couldn’t be read. Then that video was transformed to the Mac  and  the video was made in Imovie. As we hadn’t used Imovie before that so it took us a lot to concentrate and find the necessary steps.

While shooting our video we used Sadun’s book as a guide. I especially referred to the second chapter and was finding out the three main shots and POV variations.

Overall these two tools as the other previous ones will  also serve a great deal to Armenian teachers. They can provide our pupils with lots of authentic information such as we created with our peers. It will introduce just what is needed no more no less. Iideos. It’s also a good idea to involve Armenian learners in the process of creating digital stories or   videos. Let them shoot and write stories, make films. As podcasts, blogs, wikis and other tools, these two also require creativity, engagement in the job and peer interaction. This is where our learners  can put their vivid imagination and soul.

WIKIS

When I want to read or write I simply  use my blog to which I have a direct access through my Igoogle page. When I need to listen to obtain the needed information  I go to Itunes  and listen to podcast episodes or just double click on Audacity to create my own podcast episode and make others listen to me. And at last when I want collective discussions or forums with virtual presence of my peers I use Wiki, one of the 20 tidbits that Liza Dabs offers as a teacher supporter.http://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-new-teachers-lisa-dabbs?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29

Is it me to write this paragraph? If I read it last year I would evaluate it as a paragraph full of incomprehensible   terminological  phrases. At least I would only understand them by their definitions. Fortunately I have managed not only to include these terms into my vocabulary but also to use those web tools and I think that  they are excellent means to provide students with. I am getting more and more flatteners  on my way to realize that the world is really flat. Everything changes so fast that I don’t even believe how fast I can acquire certain skills. It’s me-a thirty-year-old woman with two children. And I am sure that young learners develop much faster.  I would offer future teachers get together and collect teacher ideas in Wiki. And I agree with Kevin Carney that teaching “shouldn’t be alone on an island”.  http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-budget-resource-collaboration-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29

Teachers should help each other so that they could help to each other’s students. As a class of future teachers we also  start using wiki and store there our valuable judgements. Go to  this link  http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/2008/05/using-wikis-for-teacher-development.html you will find two videos instructing you how to embed video into wiki pages, how to use hyperlinks to link together text and pages across the wiki.

Always share your thoughts with your peers in  

Podcasts

Before podcasts

After podcasts

PODCASTS

New technologies lead us to great developments and make our academic life extend the borders of boredom and official style. If blogging has come to replace book reading and essay writing then podcasting is here to provide us with various listening materials giving a great chance to speak and share our thoughts.

I was first introduced to podcasts during our English for Language teachers course. The opportunity to listen to  podcast episodes for different purposes and of various areas seemed to me fascinating. I felt that I was gaining a lot more new information with podcasts than if I were without them. I really agree with Professor Daniel Foster “to weed out class papers in favor of podcasts” because they are more practical and closer to real-life situations.

And this year our New technologies in TEFL course offered us to become  podcast creators. I was shocked. I didn’t expect such a great shift in my life. Previously I was in the opinion that people who created podcasts were real professionals but it turned to be an easy task: I only followed some instructions, downloaded Audacity and……

Podcast creation is very useful as it develops creative skills, contributes to mastering the whole material to be able to express your thoughts. Background music creates harmony and makes you feel relaxed.

I’m impressed and as a future TEFL professional I’ll use this tool to have student-creators. I liked the suggested activities when the students create recipes in dyads, exchange their recipes, critique and put their critiques into podcasts. Here the learners are not only creators but they also review their peers’ jobs.  

                                    

LEARNERS DO WONDERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      When I listened to Sugata’s speech my impression was that he was speaking about the remote village in Armenia which I happened to visit  this summer in Ijevan.

 It was really disappointing to hear that young generation  wants to move to Yerevan and  teachers there are also very ignorant towards their work because they know for sure that there is no future in that village.  Really when I walked through the village I was in the same opinion: no other work to do except for farming, no place to go except for fields, no motivation to learn and no tool to use. I was sure then that children there wouldn’t have the same amount of intelligence as children living in cities have. However, I was wrong in m judgments. As I had to stay there with my family for some days I took my laptop with me. The two children aged 8-10 had the luck to sit in front of my computer during  those days and as Sugata mentioned they acquired the necessary skills to use it very quickly. The desire to conduct the computer made them learn lots of English words by themselves. Here again I agree with Sugata that children are very self-organized, especially those who are more or less unprivileged.  When I was returning home they said they had two great wishes. First they wanted to have a laptop and then desired to know English well to use it. I doubt  if any child living in the city and obtaining a computer could digest so much information for such a short time.

And the same refers to blogging. There is no point in saying that it’s impossible or just quite difficult to use blogs in language teaching. If given the tool, if given the opportunity our learners can really do a lot. And I quite agree with a “snob blogger” Will Richardson that “through blogs more learning happens” and that “students become network creators”.

I will do my best to become a teacher-blogger, making blogs a part of my practice because blogging is what we need for technology access. With blogging I will promote collaboration among my students, their parents and myself. I do agree with Will Richardson in that by blogging students do a metacognitive thinking and improve their reading and writing skills. I will mostly ask my students to read their peers’ blogs and those of famous bloggers.  By the way, RSS has made the reading process faster by means of which they can collect lots of blogs in one place and save time. Also I will ask the learners to synthesize their ideas and write their stream of thoughts in their blogs. It would also be great to motivate the students with positive feedback and high grades.

THE WORLD IS FLAT

 I have always been taught that  "The world is round". And the the assumption that it would turn to be flat was far too far from my understanding. However, Thomas Friedman's lecture proved to be quite promising.

The World is really flat meaning  that there are no walls, no boundaries. New technological flattenners such as: the Berlin Wall,The Netscape, Workflow, Outsourcing, Fiber-optics and many others contributed to the creation of  the  completely new Universal World which is an open platform where people can collaborate and  work in manyfold ways connecting each others' applications.
Do you imagine what it means to be a TEFL professional at this New technologically developed age with such advanced geniuses as Cameron,Dylan, Dana, Nafiza and Olivia.What struck me most is that those children use their technological skills to do useful jobs: animal protection, movie making, helping peers and professors with their problems etc.

Children,children.....

They really deserve great attention. I am sure that all the children are skillful enough only to  be given the right tools to use. In my turn  I shall encourage  my own children and students  to sit in front of the computer,why not help me with my problems as those children's professors did.  We future teachers should make our classes technologically biased, our students should be guided through the Flat World where technological knowledge is the key core.