ePals Where Learners Connect: An Involvement of Classmates Around the World

Students today are not restricted to collaborating with the students physically beside them in the classroom, they are also given the opportunity to communicate with other students around the world! They can do this through the involvement of projects and activities that other students across the world are participating in. How is this possible?  A recent global community that I have explored, ePals, allows this interaction to effectively take place through their website which is safe, secure, easy to use, and manageable for educators. You are able to manage what children see, whom they speak with, and what they can post. 

Educators across the globe can add their project onto the ePals site to share and collaborate with other classrooms. You are able to read the objectives of the activity, the procedures they completed with their students, pictures of student's work, and the outcomes at the end of the project. Similar to blogging, you are able to filter through projects with tags to find an appropriate lesson to fit the needs of your students. A specific project I read was titled, Collective Detective Story and featured a 'Teacher in the Spotlight'. The following information about the activity was listed as such:

Description:

Students learned the concept of writing a short narrative detective story with twists and turns in collaboration with their foreign friends. The project motivated and engaged students in reading stories in the crime fiction genre. They used logical thinking and reasoning skills to brainstorm the future of their composition. They also learned about the culture of another country and gained an understanding of another countries' education system. .

Outcomes:

1. Students will compose a short narrative story.

2. Students will practice Netiquette skills.

3. Students will create a Wiki page.

4. Students will learn about the culture of another country.

5. Students will develop skills in recognizing relationships.

6. Students will make comparisons and inferences as well as reflect and interpret reading between the lines.

This description allowed me to quickly determine if this was something I would like to use in my future classroom. The format of each project on the site allows for educators to collaborate with other classrooms because of the detailed description and outcomes listed. 
As a future educator, I am excited to see that there are other opportunities for me to involve my students with not only through textbooks. I will be able to now rely on technology to share and reflect the activities I create for my own classroom, collaborate my students with classrooms around the world, and have a solid foundation of networking with other teachers. The more cultural involvement for me as an L2 educator, the better. This website has much more to offer than projects and collaboration.  It has a resource section for teachers that are also filtered through tags. I highly recommend visiting this site and signing up!

What is Digital Storytelling? How Can I Use it in an ESL Classroom?

Digital storytelling is a way in which students or educators can create a story through technology using: audio recording, images, text, music, animation, videos, etc.  A digital story focuses on a specific topic, allowing the creator to reflect and share their work in a creative and unique way.  

According to The EDUCause Learning Initiative Site, they provide 7 things you should know about Digital Storytelling. The most informative part of the article is under the subtopic of 'Why is Digital Storytelling Significant' where they explain how digital storytelling is meaningful for students learning. "Digital stories let students express themselves not only with their own words but also in their own voices, fostering a sense of individuality and of “owning” their creations. At the same time, digital stories give students an opportunity to experiment with self-representation—telling a story that highlights specific characteristics or events—a key part of establishing their identity, a process that for many is an important aspect of the college years." It is crucial for ELL students to hold a sense of individuality and purpose of their learning experiences. Story telling in their L1 and L2 would give them a wonderful opportunity to reflect and share their journey of learning a second language, living in another country, and adapting to an entirely new culture. 

In the next section of this assignment, I will explore first hand how the process of digital storytelling works, and have a better sense on how develop, share, and utilize this tool in my future classroom.  What I read to be the finest aspect of digital storytelling is from a very informative website, Educational Uses of Storytelling. The site provided very convicing information regarding this educational tool in all levels of education. 

According to Bernard Robin, Ph.D., "Today the use of digital storytelling is being practiced in neighborhood community centers, schools, libraries and businesses, by novice technology users to those with advanced skills. In the field of education, teachers and their students, from early childhood classrooms through graduate school, are using digital storytelling in many different content areas and across a wide range of grade levels." The research and information on this site gave me a true understanding on how digital storytelling is used by many different individuals in various fields.  I look forward to creating my own! 

EFL Classroom 2.0!

A Great Home for Learning and Teaching 

Today I have joined a wonderful community on-line.  The community website page is titled EFL Classroom 2.0 !  I couldn't believe the resources before my eyes after joining!  The foremost greatest surprise about this new connection is that I haven't even seen everything it has to offer.  The depth of content materials, videos, blogs and mp3's are endless.  

By creating your own personal profile (which can be private if you chose) you are able to network with other teachers to share ideas of successful lessons and what I also call  "flop" lessons.  

From my past student teaching experiences, I found it absolutely necessary to reflect on each lesson.  Even if it was on a brief post-it note with 5 bullet points, listing what went well and what to change for next time. Reflection is essential to continuously learn as a teacher and building a network to share these reflections, takes it one step higher. You are not only helping yourself as an educator, helping other educators in your field, and you are most importantly, helping your students learn in the most meaningful environments, with the most advanced materials.

EFL Classroom 2.0 also provides monthly newsletters to help keep you informed with the most recent resources added to the site, along with special seminars and training's that are free! The professional development aspect of this website is current and readily available for their members. I am truly very grateful that my professor has provided this site for me to browse and join:)

Any questions?  Please comment! 

L

Technology Transformation

When brought up in a conversation, the term technology can either do two things.  It can scare or intrigue.  Often times, there is a stereotype of what type of individuals are scared by this term.  There is also the stereotype that only the 'educated young adults' could somehow manage to understand this technological transformation.  Although, somehow this transformation has reached nearly everyone, somehow in some way. Today in the 21st century, there are moms, dads, and grandparents on Facebook, on-line bill pay users of the elderly, and young school-aged children creating blogs for literary work and checking their Twitter accounts regarding classwork.  From one end of the world to another, technology is transforming at such rapid rates, it is nearly impossible to steer clear from it.
After watching this stimulating video on YouTube called, Shift Happens, the statistics for future innovative and technological advances sent chills down my spine.  E-paper will one day be cheaper than regular paper?  So you mean to tell me, that paper and pencil that I have been raised to love and the smell of old books in a library will soon not exist?  Scary!  Nevertheless, while taking this on-line class to enhance my knowledge of  technology in the classroom, it truly has intrigued me in numerous areas. One day, I am sure to be 100% accustomed to it.
The video, Shift Happens provided statistics about jobs around the world and how fast they are advancing and improving.  In regards to education according to this video, "for students starting a four year technical degree, this means that half of what they learn their first year of study, will be outdated by their third year of study"!  I do not want to give too much information away, so please watch!  

The second video I would like to reflect upon is called Social Media Revolution which is also found on Youtube.  This video truly conveys the impact social media has on the lives of everyone in the world.  Kindergartners are now using Ipads to learn instead of blackboards, customers now rely on websites such as Yelp.com for recommendations, and most shockingly, 1 in 5 divorces are blamed on the partners use of Facebook.  The largest question I have a concern for, is the impact technology is going to have on future education, how I can be prepared for it, and most importantly, how I can use it effectively.

Throughout this course, I have learned, created and designed countless new ideas to build my knowledge of technology and incorporate it in my future classroom.  This video could be used in my classroom as well if I am working with middle or high-school children.  Secondly, it could be used as a great way to hook my students into learning a different aspect of technology.  However, I do not feel as if my students will ever not be intrigued in technology, and it is a wonderful tool to engage students in all content areas.