Podcasting in language learning

Podcasting is different from traditional broadcasting. It doesn't depend on satellites or radio towers. We don't need to wait for the exact time to watch the shows. All we need is to access to the internet. When new shows are created, they will come straightly to our terminals like computers, pads or cellphones. when we see the shows that we like, simply by subscribing them, then we can watch new episodes right after they come out. I subscribed the TEDTalk on my iPad, and I can watch the new episode whenever I want. It is very convenient for entertainment and personal life. Moreover it can also be very useful in language teaching and learning.

I tried the EdTechTalk. It usually talks about technology and education. I think it is very user-friendly. The webpage is clear and the description as well as the podcasts are salient.

We can watch the podcasts in the past. Also it allows everyone to participate in an ongoing one. Thus provide a great opportunity for language learners to not only listen, but also speak and really apply the language to discuss some serious topics. It is also well linked with other social networks like Twitter and Facebook.
For my future teaching, if I want to have my students listen or even participate in these shows and we will discuss that topic together in class. I think it is a good way to practice listening and speaking. Moreover, they can get access to many interesting topics.

I also tried Learn Japanese Pod. Since I'm a Japanese learner, I want to see how the podcasting works from a learner's perspective. I find it very useful.

First, I can subscribe it on iTunes, which is convenient. Then the topics are practical. They are all life related. Besides, there are transcripts. Thus can help learners better understand the meaning.

Comic Strip

Besides photo stories, comic strip is another interesting type of digital story. I tried the Dvolver, an online comic strip tool which provides ready-made characters who "speak" in text. It also allows you to choose background pictures and music.

Here is my comic.

I would like to use it in my future teaching since it will assist language learners to develop their language comprehensive abilities as well as their creativities. When creating their own dialogues, they need to consider the vocabulary, grammar and textual meaning. Moreover, creating dialogues can enhance the learners' pragmatical skills. I would like to have my students create the comic stories and do a presentation.

Performance Indicator

According to Performance Indicator-ESL.E.2-4.1.1, students convey and organize information, using facts, details, illustrative examples, and a variety of patterns and structures.
Moreover, students will demonstrate cross-culture knowledge and sensitivity in communicating with others of varied social, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. They will develop and use culturally appropriate behaviors, and a knowledge of local and U.S. cultures and practices, in their interaction with others in their new cultural environment.

Assessment  

To assess students' performance, I would like to involve peer assessment. Presenters show the videos and let peers comment on it and rank the favorite one. Thus can assess the creativity and language proficiency. 

If it is a multi-cultural classroom, making stories based on their own cultures will be more interesting and educating. I would like to have students from different cultures work together and comment on each other.

Learning can be fun: playing games in ESL classroom

Playing games doesn't always mean wasting time. It can be entertaining as well as educational especially in learning languages. The purpose of using games in language learning is to put students into more practical environments. Larry Ferlazzo proposes that walkthroughs, instructions written by game players to help others to finish the task step by step, also plays an important role in the learning process.

I played a game called Anna Hospital Recovery. It is a game that helps students to learn surgery vocabularies. Anna is injured and the player needs to be the doctor and gives her treatment. 

There is a list of the steps you need to do. After finishing each step, there will be a check mark on the list. For example, I cleaned her wounds, the fourth step "Disinfect" was then checked.

     

I found this game very interesting. I played three times. The first time I actually didn't pay attention to the words carefully since I was attracted by the pictures and background sounds. I just followed the instruction given by the finger on the screen. The second time, I was aware of the words on the list and tried to make each step with the word. The last time, I made dialogues with Anna. Though seems crazy, it actually is a way of reviewing the words.

Revised Part:

The learning objective of this game is to use meaning clues and language structure to expand vocabulary (pictures,background knowledge,context clues) (According to Michigan State Standards). 

I believe this game helps students focus on vocabulary learning. It not only provides students the connection of physical items and abstract words, but also shows how the words can be applied in practical situations. Moreover, as the game uses the well-known character among children, it is more attractive to students. Teacher can develop more possibilities from this game. If I had a chance of using this game in my future class, I would request my students to make dialogues or tell a story of the steps. 

In this game, I think the walkthrough is embedded in the game. There is a finger pointing at the thing needed to finish this step. After it is completed, this step on the checklist would be marked. It's more direct than other games like treasure searching. It is suitable for lower level learners. 

To examine the extent to which the students actually learn, I can design other forms of assessment such as quizzes or matching questions. 

Why is Gamification? How to apply into language learning?

According to 7 Things You Should Know About Games and Learning, gamification refers to the dynamic games based on content of the courses that benefit future teaching and learning. The aims are to increase engagement, enhance learning and explore new models of education. Gamification means
In this article,  “Just” Playing Games? A Look at the Use of Digital Games for Language Learning , the author discusses the application of digital games in language learning. Digital games can not only overcome difficulties like intercultural competence and pragmatics, but also modify the learning and teaching process and influence many aspects of language acquisition. It mainly focuses on the goal, interaction, feedback, context and motivation. When involving games into classroom, we as teachers need to always keep in mind the purposes like what language point I want my students to practice. Interaction is very important. We need to make sure that students are engaged into the games. Thus we need to make the games challenging while attractive. To increase interaction, we can also have students work in groups so that they can be more confident and more willing to put effort. Another important thing for successfully conducting the digital games in learning is feedback. The digital games are very good and effective at giving feedbacks. Thus the learners can be aware of their abilities.
Also in the video Tom Chatfield: 7 Ways Games Reward the Brain, the speaker also discusses some important aspects for successfully applying games into learning. The speaker mentions the importance of breaking learning process into pieces by establishing long and short-term aims. He also talks about how other people are important during this process. Since engagement is one thing that support learning and games are considered highly involved activities, learning through games definitely will improve learning compare to other traditional classroom activities.