Keeping Up With Educational Technology Trends From Your Desktop

Keeping up with Educational Technology Trends from your Desktop Alicia Cundell Qatar University [email_address] http://del.icio.us/acundell http://qutechnews.edublogs.org

Why use technology in Language Learning?

Why Technology?

Today’s youth are growing up with constant digital stimuli

This constant interaction with digital stimuli has lead to different learning processes

These changes have resulted in physiological changes to the brain

We need to prepare them for their futures after their education

Technology: how?

As a solution

To be more productive

To do things we couldn’t do without them

Web 1.0 for professional development

Online journals & magazines

TESL-EJ

The Internet TESL Journal (ITESL)

Teaching English with Technology

Listservs

TESLCA-L

TESL-L

How is learning changing now?

Students “can either be passive receivers of media messages or they can be digital content creators and critical thinkers.”

Source : Retrieved January 18, 2008, from video in the classroom.com : http://www.needleworkspictures.com/vic/

Web 2.0: The Read/Write Web

anyone can be an author

no knowledge of programming necessary

connecting and collaborating with others

Web 2.0 for professional development: Blogs

What are blogs?

Individuals share their knowledge, expertise and experiences in practical applications

Organizational blogs as a means of keeping faculty updated

As a personal tool for internalizing your own experiences

Web 2.0 for professional development: Blogs

Example ELT Technology Blogs

Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day

Technology for QU Faculty

ELT Notes

Language Lab Unleashed

Web 2.0 for professional development: podcasts

What are podcasts?

Like a blog, but in audio format

Often follow interview or talk show formats with guests and experts

Can be downloaded onto mp3 players and played in the car, on the bus, etc.

Examples of ELT podcasts

ELT Podcast – The Teachers’ Lounge

Web 2.0 for professional development: wikis

What are wikis?

Web sites that can be written by a group of people

Facilitate collaborative learning

Draw on knowledge, expertise and experience of many people as opposed to one

Examples of wikis devoted to technology

QU Foundation Classroom Technology

The web 2.0 for EFL teachers

99waystouseapodcast

Web 2.0 for professional development: rss

Technology that works for you by pulling only new information from a blog, wiki or Web site and putting it all in a central location

Video: RSS in Plain English

Web 2.0 for professional development: rss

Aggregators that use RSS technology

Feedblitz - uses email to deliver content

Web-based aggregators

Google Reader

Bloglines

Netvibes

Learn more about RSS

Web 2.0 for professional development: social bookmarking

What is social bookmarking?

Saving your bookmarks online to a Web page and organizing them with tags

Most popular Social Bookmarking tool: del.icio.us

Watch the CommonCraft video

Web 2.0 for professional development: social bookmarking

How can bookmarking be social?

Having bookmarks online makes them public: anyone can see what you save

Follow your favourite professionals through rss to find out what they are bookmarking (use rss!)

http://del.icio.us/acundell

Web 2.0 for professional development: online videos & tutorials

Search the Web for tutorials or info using video search engines in YouTube, Google, Yahoo

Example Sites expressly for tutorials

Teacher Training Videos

Commoncraft – technology in Plain English

Atomic Learning – subscription required, but some free demos available

Web 2.0 for professional development: online conferences, lectures & workshops

Web 2.0 technology has made it possible to broadcast live events over the Web

Examples:

'The Web 2.0 for EFL Teachers: Podcasts , Blogs , Wikis , Virtual Worlds and Digital Games' Web-based conference Nov. 2007

Webheads in Action – regular chats & webcasts

Web 2.0 for professional development: Webquests

WebQuests are guided inquiry-based lessons where research is done on the Internet and then reported and usually applied.

WebQuests always have the same structure:

Introduction

Task

Process

Evaluation

Conclusion

Web 2.0 for professional development: Webquests

Examples of WebQuests as professional development tools

A WebQuest – Blogs and RSS

Digital Natives: Reading, Writing and Learning in the 21 st Century

A WebQuest on WebQuests : An Introductory WebQuest for In-service EFL Teachers

A WebQuest about…Creating WebQuests

Web 2.0 for professional development: Second Life (SL)

What is Second Life?

An Internet-based virtual world where residents where socialize, connect and collaborate with others.

What can you do in SL?

Buy, sell, rent property

Set up a business

Hold a conference

Web 2.0 for professional development: Second Life (SL)

Examples of SL professional development

SLanguages 2007 – hosted by Edunation

Free seminar series – Edunation

Language learning in Second Life – Lancelot & Eucation

Web 2.0 for professional development: other tools

Social Networking: Facebook, My Space, Twitter

Slideshare: online presenations

Yahoo!Groups

Discussion Boards

Online chats

Online paid courses

Example Technology Tools

Mainstream technologies: discussion boards, blogs, wikis, podcasts, multimedia production (PowerPoint, Photo Story 3 , VoiceThread )

Students make comic strips or animated movies with dialogue boxes using Web 2.0 tools, such as make beliefs comix & Dvolver ,

Students send speaking task audio files via email through springdoo as homework

Students share poems, stories online and share with others for commenting with: PowerPoint, VoiceThread , The Sims On Stage ,

Follow up resources

Web 2.0 Tools

http://del.icio.us/acundell/web2.0tools

My blog:

http://qutechnews.edublogs.org

Keeping Up With Educational Technology Trends From Your Desktop

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