Comments on: Week 4 – Social media in ELT

By: Patricia Glogowski

Patricia Glogowski — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 17:11:08 +0000

Thank you for sharing this with all of us, Ann. “On the positive side was glad to have been directed via Sarah Braxton’s blog to the Beyond School blog where there’s a great posting discussing the Did you know? video. I’ve used this quite a lot as a debating point with my classes on whether education is keeping pace with technology. So, it was salutary to read Clay Burrel’s words and watch the video Did you ever wonder? which looks at things from a very different perspective and makes the key task for educators that of creating awareness of the ways we are misusing our planet.”

I watched both videos and I was blown away by the information/angle of discussion in both. In essence, the both talk about the same thing: technology. Did you Know? seems to have the somewhat, in my opinion, worn out argument that we need to prepare the students for the 21st century (We don’t really know what’s going to happen, so how can we prepare them?) and Did you ever wonder? takes on more of an environmental/developed vs. developing world approach. Both are fascinating. Interestingly, whenever I watch videos on YouTube I always wonder where the information comes from, so I was happy to see references in the Did you ever wonder? video. The weakness of the Did you Know? was the lack of references. This is something that I emphasize when my students do research projects online (who is talking? where does the info come from? can you trust it?). Nonetheless, I think it’s a great idea to use both with students to start a debate. I wonder what they say in response to the argument that we should be preparing them for the 21st century but we are not (school vs. real life)?

By: Gabriela Sellart

Gabriela Sellart — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 17:18:10 +0000

If this is what you do when you’re not motivated, you must be a tornado when you are.
Thanks for the link to “Did you ever wonder?” I’m still moved. Will formal education ever contribute to make this world a better place to live in?

By: Nancy

Nancy — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 02:17:59 +0000

I have joined the wiki and posted a couple sites. I look forward to working with you there.

By: Clay Burell

Clay Burell — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 19:19:59 +0000

Hm. Read your “About” page. You have an interesting history. I hope we follow each other on twitter – do we? I’m cburell. I’d be interested to talk about some “natural” collaboration between your students and mine via whatever networking tools they choose.

Glad you found William Farren’s video worth promoting. It’s more important to me than anything I’ve written all year.

(I got my CELTA certification to teach English at a school in Lisbon, by the way, and spent another summer studying in Mallorca and touring Spain. You are lucky lucky lucky!)