Building Digital Confidence in EFL Teachers

Building Digital
Confidence in
EFL teachers
Yachay Tech University
Yachay/Urcuqui, Ecuador

LET’S TEST YOUR
SOCIAL MEDIA KNOWLEDGE

What is this?
How is it related to social media?

On December 21, 2012,
"Gangnam Style" became the
first YouTube video to reach one
billion views. The song’s music
video has been viewed over 2.3
billion times on YouTube.
-Wikipedia

What are key words
associated with these logos?

What do you know about
these logos?

Let’s chat!
• Why do some EFL
teachers shy away from
using social media and
other technology in
class?
• Why do Ecuadorian
students need to use
social media in English
class?

Ecuadorians, like
much of the world, are
using the Internet, so
why not use social
media in the
classroom?

“Building Digital Confidence” Topics
• Facebook
– Tourism Class
– Conversation Class
– Writing & Reading Class
– Humans of Yachay (HOY)
• YouTube
– Group videos
– Karaoke YouTube
• Google Sites
– Class website
• Slide Share
– PPTs
– Lesson Prep

ESL@Facebook
A Teacher’s Diary on Using Facebook
Monique N. Simpson
Soongsil University
Seoul, South Korea

Loja Lost Paradise FB page
During the academic
year of 2010-11 in a
small tourism class
at UTPL in Loja,
Ecuador, I began
using Facebook.
Students practiced
promotional tourism
by developing the
first English FB page
for Loja, creating a
valuable source of
tourist, cultural and
historical
information.

WHAT OTHER MEDIA PROJECTS CAN
BE USED FOR TOURISM STUDENTS?
Tourism classes &
Digital Media

Conversation Classes:
English is Wonderful @NSU
At NSU in Seonghwan, South Korea, conversation classes were
mandatory for all students, with the majority taking the classes during
their first year of college. Number of students enrolled in each class
ranged from 16 to 23. Each class met once a week for two hours.

3 Assignments
#1 “Bucket List” What do you want to do
before you "kick the bucket" (die)? Post a
photo and write a sentence.
#2 Ask a follow-up question to a classmate.
Remember to use the 5W’s (Who? What?
When? Where?Why?) and 1 H (How?).
Then answer any questions from your
classmates.

Assignments
#3 Watch the three videos posted on this
FB page. Out of the three, which is the best
technological/ Japanese/health-related
achievement? Why? Please vote and write
your answer in the comment section.

THE “BUCKET LIST” ASSIGNMENT
WAS USED TO PRACTICE FUTURE
TENSE. WHAT ARE OTHER FB
ASSIGNMENTS FOR FUTURE TENSE?
Conversation classes &
Digital Media

WRITING
&
READING
CLASSES
Soongsil University
Seoul, South Korea
Writing & Reading classes were required
of all second-year college students.
(During the first year, they took
conversation classes.) As many college
students are obsessed with their cell
phones, I decided to incorporate real-time
FB activities in class.

Assignments
#1 News Headlines: Groups must write a caption
for the news photo. **real-time**
#2 Restaurant Review: Groups write a descriptive
paragraph about a restaurant
#3 Scary Story: Groups write a narrative story for
Halloween .
Voting on stories **real-time**
#4 Christmas Story: Groups write a narrative story
for Christmas

WHAT OTHER REAL-TIME FB
ACTIVITIES COULD BE USED FOR
READING AND/OR WRITING GOALS?
Reading & Writing classes &
Digital Media

Extracurricular Activties
At Yachay, English instructors are required to
provide “fun English” classes/activities. I chose
to copy the popular HONY FB Page with
Humans of Yachay (HOY).

What’s going in students’ lives?
Assignments:
• Interview a classmate
and take a photo
• Take a photo of your
favorite place on campus
and write a photo caption
• Report on a campus
event

HOW DO YOU NORMALLY
INCORPORATE AUDIO/VIDEOS INTO
YOUR CLASS?
EFL classes &
Videos

Communicative classes &
Academic English Classes
At Yachay, I am incorporating
“Speaking Expression,”
“Pronunciation” and “Team Work” into
Group Videos, which are due every 2-
3 weeks.
As for my Academic English class,
students were required to do a news
video, which was posted to YouTube &
FB.

YouTube: Karaoke
“Rather Be” Chorus:
• If you gave me a chance I
would take it
• It's a shot in the dark but
I'll make it
• Know with all of your
heart, you can't shake me
• When I am with you,
there's no place I'd rather
be

Google Sites as Class Sites
A way of distributing materials

Reading &
Writing
Classes
Soongsil
University
My first Google
Site was very
basic. I didn’t
know how to
make it look
appealing nor did
I understand all
the possibilities
for it.

Yachay classes
After speaking with a
colleague and
playing around with
the Google Sites
template, I am now
able to better utilize
the site and its
functions. However,
some students still
prefer D2L computer
system of Yachay.

Main Function:
HOmework
• Homework Assignments
are easy to distribute.
• Yachay is supposed to
be a “paperless” institute
• However, there is often
problems with D2L, the
main computer system
for class Websites.
• Good points: You can
link assignment
documents, videos and
secondary sites
• Bad points: It’s not easy
to manage multiple
classes on a single site.

WHAT WAYS HAVE YOU DISTRIBUTED
MATERIALS DIGITALLY TO
STUDENTS?
Class Material&
Digital Media

Create an Assignment
• Form a small group (3-5 people)
• Pick a grammar point or discussion topic
to teach.
• Create a lesson assignment that uses
YouTube or Facebook.
» If time, groups will share lesson assignments.

Building Digital Confidence in EFL Teachers

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