Week 2 – Social media in ELT
Here are this week’s discussion points:
- What are the benefits/constraints that these open environments may bring in your context?
- What are the pedagogical implications of social media for ELT?
- Are you promoting open participatory skills in ELT? How?
- Can these social media help you? How?
I’ve no doubt about the value of using blogs with my students. I teach English at the British Council in Bilbao, Spain and as a matter of course now set up blogs with all my classes (from teenagers and above) and also use them for teacher training. Call me a born again blogger! I’ve just watched a video that Berta has on her blog which sums up well the positive response I’ve seen them get.
However, I’m not so sure about using the whole range of social networking systems that we’ve been discussing. I’m quite shy and only feel comfortable in a group once I’ve established some point of contact, so I don’t tend to use them personally. And when I’m working with young learners, I’m in loco parentis and can’t assume that my students’ parents have the same idea as me about developing their responsible use of the Internet. I identify with Sarah and what she says in her post on these 2 points, and welcome the discussion that Illya has opened up on the issue.
So in the end the web resources I use most with my students are more for encouraging their creative potential than for networking, although, of course, they do lead to interaction between them. Here are my favourites:
- voicethread which I really like because students can choose photos about subjects that interest them and then talk about them. We then listen to what they say together which allows me to help them both with language and pronunciation (see how I’ve used it here)
- voki which is great fun. Students create their own animated character and then put a voice to it – which is great for breaking down inhibitions, allowing them to exaggerate and to capture the natural rhythms and tones of speech (see how I’ve used it here)
- animoto where students can easily make slick videos and then interview each other (see how I’ve used it here)
Filed under: discussion, social media | 5 Comments
Tags: animoto, blogs, reponsible use of Internet, social media, voicethread, voki
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Hi Ann,
I want to ask you something. What you you mean when you say that you “can’t assume that my students’ parents have the same idea as me about developing their responsible use of the Internet”?
Last year I used a blog and a wiki with my students. I wrote notes to parents. Nobody asked me anything, not even in the parents’ meetings when I told them what I thought about safety on the Internet, responsible use of content, etc. It was strange. They didn’t have questions, they weren’t worried. In fact the headmaster and my coordinators had the same attitude. Isn’t it strange? How do parents react in Spain? I’ve never talked about this with the Spanish bloggers I know. Parents are a cause of concern for USA or Canadian bloggers.
I also love that threesome you point out on your post above
I wanted to encourage colleagues to use Voicethread as soon as I discovered it
http://english_studio.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-tools-for-online-interaction-v-o-i.html
I tried it with your learners and they loved it !
http://english_studio.blogspot.com/2007/10/introducing-young-learners-to-new-web.html
Voicethread was also good for my own professional development – and with it I discovered a new way of enjoying online conferences:
http://english_studio.blogspot.com/2007/10/conferences-20-active-participation.html
Regarding Animoto, I will always remember the very 1st time I’ve been amazed at watching a video made with it:
http://animoto.com/play/ab738cbb55e38fbdb55391a0a2a4a466
And regarding Voki, I still haven’t used it with my students but I guess they will get lots of fun while producing stuff . Their creativity will undoubtedly be enhanced as well
I played a bit to have a go:
http://vhss-a.oddcast.com/vhss_editors/voki_player.swf?doc=http%3A%2F%2Fvhss-d.oddcast.com%2Fphp%2Fvhss_editors%2Fgetvoki%2Fchsm%3D185ff4c9ab7695fb9a4e442bdbd0f651%26sc%3D31400%22
Gabriela, It’s true I’ve never had a negative response when I talk to parents about using blogs or any other web publishing resources. However, the climate within the British Council is very nanny-like and it’s taken time for them to accept the idea of teachers setting up student blogs. Thankfully, things are changing and I think if I don’t put my students at risk (by receiving unmoderated comments etc) I’m OK.
Alicia, loved your voki! Great fun aren’t they?