January 31st-February 4th
| Classroom Audio Podcasting |
| "Education in the twenty-first century should focus on the development of authentic literacy skills for students. Learning to read, write, listen, speak, critically analyze information and communicate ideas using a variety of modalities is vital for children of all ages. ...." (Fryer, Wesly). Read more |
| Using podcast in the EFL classroom |
| "Many of those teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL), when they learn about talk radio-style podcasts, feel instinctively that they must be a good idea, but perhaps only for advanced learners, as extended listening practice which can be done as homework.." (Fox, 2008). Read more |
Answer the following Quiz on the required Readings for this week.
Great readings. I like the one about the intercultural podcast. I think it's important that students get content and not only language-focused practice when listening to audio segments. As language is immersed in culture and culture stereotypes are frequent when language learning, the possibility to interact with podcasts producers is crucial to clarify content or add to what is said in an episode.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Yuly. A dose of language-focused podcasts might be all right. But content-focused podcasts provide students with not only grammar and vocabulary (e.g. incidental learning), but culture and some other aspects related to the people who speak the target language they are learning.
ReplyDeleteHi!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI loved the readings & was delighted to learn more about Absolutely-Intercultural (I've alreday shared some of the podcasts with my trainee students, oincluding this one).
I particularly appreciated the last reading (n°4) which provided so much information & so many links to podcasts.
generally speaking I learned from all the readings.
THNKS SO MUCH for taking the time to find such fabulous activities for us!!!! :)
I do appreciate very much your efforts & kindness!!!:)
Cheers!
Marie
(PS: I was happy to be able to copy-paste the report! It is neat to be able to keep it! )
I'm beginning to wonder how I've ever managed to work in EFL without podcasting.
ReplyDeleteParticularly interesting to me is the idea of radio drama and a quick web search gave this list of related resources - http://www.freeeslmaterials.com/drama.html
The intercultural podcast sounds very interesting, and I agree with Yuly and Miguel here.
It seems there's a trade-off at work between content-focused podcasts having a flexibility regarding audience in contrast to a more rigidly determined audience for podcasts which address a specific language focus.
From a purely practical point of view of never having enough time, I like the potential for re-using the one resource in so many different ways, and allowing it to be accessible for different level abilities.
Reading 1, Tools for the TEKS: I had not thought of podcasting as a no-frills activity until I read Wes Fryer's article! The fact that students need not identify themselves or post their photos on the web is another plus I had not really thought about.
ReplyDeleteReading 2, Using Podcasts in the EFl Classroom, was of course a special pleasure for me because I know Anne virtually (thru Webheads in Action) and because I so recently interviewed her for our Skype assignment! She had many great suggestions about how to use her podcast, Absolutely Intercultural, with different levels in the classroom.
#3 Developing Students' Listening and Speaking Skills Through ELT Podcasts, I noted that several of the recommended sites seem to have been abandoned years ago. The domain of phoneticpodcast.com, for example, is for sale, nd I found no podcasts on the site. I imagine that these have been replaced, possible with even better sites. Still, it offers many good ideas for student-created podcasts in particular. I love the idea of producing a radio drama. And I like the thought that students may be less stressed by producing a podcast than they would be with actual f2f interaction in English. A nice long list of resources, but I suspect many have gone offline since the article was written. I did not check them all out though.
I took the quiz and got #9 wrong because I said students should use only first names when creating a podcast. In Wes Fryer's section on privacy concerns, he writes, " Students speaking during a podcast do not have to identify themselves by name at all, but if they do they can use only their first name." Is my answer incorrect because "should" is not the same as "do not have to"?
ReplyDeleteYou are right Nina...Oops...We just corrected the quiz...If you want to take it again you will see that the right answer is "Only use first name"...Thanks a lot, Nina!!!!
ReplyDeleteInteresting readings! Good to learn about podcasts being used to get to know about other cultures. I like the last readng since it is concise and it enumerates main points to take into account when creating and using podcasts.
ReplyDeleteThe Fryer article had some interesting points about the use of podcasting to motivate students in EFL writing classes. We use class discussions to trigger ideas for writing, but podcasting can change students' perceptions of their audience. I'd never thought of that. The activities we've been doing in this course are, as Fryer says, creative and fun, and I can see how they would enhance a writing course.
ReplyDeleteBefore this week's readings I was only thinking about how to produce podcasts for my students. I couldn't imagine my students wanting to record their voices!These readings and all the ideas given in the Google doc sheet are helping me reflect more on other ways I could integrate podcasts in my practice. Thanks a lot!!!
ReplyDeleteI am almost certain your students will have a lot of fun recording their own podcasts!!!
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Man-Man's article, I think the students from Literary Apreciation (they have to read Shakespeare and other English authors) can produce a video cast based on one of the dramas they read. As their product will be "published", I think they'll be motivated to study harder and get better productions.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow, I'll share this information with my colleagues at the University of Carabobo; I'll let you know about this.
Looking forward to reading what your colleagues think about this!:)
ReplyDelete