PODcasting in the Classroom

For years now, I have been an avid user of the podcast, Learn French by Podcast. As a student and teacher of French, I have enjoyed using this site for practicing my own French and for integrating various podcasts into French lessons.

In the past, I have used podcasts from this site to teach students important grammar, vocabulary, or communication skills. Likewise, I have chosen a particular podcast to highlight the utility of this amazing site. With or without being a member (you can sign up for a free account), one can access lesson 159, an intermediate lesson, entitled, "Es-tu sur Twitter?", to mean, "Are you on Twitter?" This is a very practical lesson, introducing intermediate-level grammar and vocabulary for using the internet and for communicating with others.

In the high school classroom, I would present this podcast with a worksheet for students to follow along and fill in target grammar and vocabulary words that I previously chose to work on. This listening in particular focuses on question words, negations, and vocabulary words related to social media. The interlocuteurs speak several times, at times in English, and discuss this meaning of the phrases and words, which would be helpful for students to make meaning of the conversation.

As a follow up activity, I would ask students to use these new words and phrases in a group activity, and possibly in their own activity surrounding the idea of Twitter or social media.

Twitter for Classroom and Professional Development

Twitter is no longer a social networking site for following your favorite celebrity; instead you can communicate and share ideas with professional educators and students from all over the world, and even engage students in your own classroom!

Jeff Dunn describes all of the benefits of using Twitter in the classroom in his article, “The Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter in Education.” Dunn writes that students have the ability to communicate through a medium where they feel more comfortable to express themselves freely whereas in the classroom they may feel shy and afraid to speak up.  Dunn writes, “Dr. Monica Rankin of the University of Texas at Dallas was pleasantly surprised when her experiment with Twitter began pulling more students into discussion. ‘It’s been really exciting because, in classes like this, you’ll have three people who talk about the discussion material, and so to actually have 30 or 40 people at the same time talking about it is really interesting,’ said Megan Malone, Teaching Assistant to Dr. Monica Rankin’s United States history course

In a second article, “The Teacher’s Guide to Twitter,” by Edudemic, it shares ideas for connecting to Twitter in the classroom and ideas for professional development. In the classroom, teachers can communicate effectively with students and parents inside and outside of the classroom, students can work collaboratively with in the classroom on projects, and students can practice and learn a foreign language. “Using a service like twitterlearn or just practicing conversation skills with other Twitterers around the globe, students can practice a foreign language.”

Through personal experience with Twitter, it is important to network and communicate with the professionals in your field in order to make the most of the material and knowledge that is available.  The article says, “Follow some of the people you find interesting, exchange ideas and conversations with others using the #hashtag conversations you’re involved in, and when appropriate, take it to the next step: connect with them – either via other social media, email, or at a conference you’re both attending.” After following some educators in my field, I found that they shared links to other resources on sites like Scoop.it!, and I was able to grab additional classroom tools and teaching ideas. 

Social Media Takeover

Let's face it, we live in a time and age where technology and social media are more important than ever, and our students (and maybe us) would be lost without either one. While society has transformed drastically over the last 20 years, becoming tech savvy, the education world is slow to follow. It appears that the younger generations who are being brought up using social media and technology are much more aware of the implications of certain programs or applications, and they also seem to have an awareness for the events that are going on around them (thanks to sites like Twitter or YouTube). Yet, in the classroom, we still rely on textbooks and chalkboards all which seem a little 'old-school' in relation to what students are capable of doing.

After watching two short YouTube films, Social Media Revolution 2011 and The Shift in New Brunswick Public Education, I was both impressed and shocked by the amount of information that is out on the net and how many people are accessing it.

Social Media Revolution 2011 is a catchy film that puts into perspective all of the information that is out there on the internet. A few things made me go, "Wow!" For example, '1 in 5 people meet online', and 'if Facebook were a country, it'd be the 3rd largest country!'These facts tell me just how important the internet-social media in particular-is to people. It connects us; it is a medium for relationships; it is a source of information.

The second film, The Shift in New Brunswick Public Education, shows the importance of technology
and social media within the classroom. This video makes a strong connection between the way that the world has changed, particularly technology, and education. It makes a point that students, teacher and classrooms need to obtain 21st century skills. In other words, the classroom should evolve to match the world around it. I enjoyed this video and learning about the New Brunswick Public School System. I believe that this is how learning should be; students are hands-on, using technology, and acquiring skills that will prepare them for the 21st century. In the video, it displayed a quote that I think sums up the ideas of this post pretty nicely: "Education is about adapting to a changing world."