Podcasts in ESL/EFL classrooms

Digital learning tools can no longer be ignored by ESL/EFL instructors. A lot of research has been done on the importance of these tools to develop the learners’ skills. One of the most popular tools is the podcast. A podcast is a media file uploaded to the internet by an individual, radio station, or any organization that wishes to disseminate information by audio format. They are usually free and can be downloaded and saved on the computer. So the question is how to use the podcasts in ESL/EFL classrooms? I think using the podcast to develop the students’ listening comprehension is very useful. The teacher should use the podcast that suits his/her students’ interests and level. The learners can also take podcasts home in a USB storage device and listen extensively. To make it more interesting the teacher can create a blog for the whole class, where she posts all the podcasts that the learners need for their assignments. So the students listen and then write some comments under each podcast. Additionally, podcasts are good to support the learning process. Learners can listen to the same podcast more than once, they can replay it many times or pause it to take some notes. 

 
 

 Christopher Shamburg refers to the learners as consumers and creators of the digital media. I agree with him when he says we need to teach our learners how effectively synthesize content, to create original materials. I would definitely enjoy watching my students interviewing each other or participating in other social activities through the podcasts. I think we should teach our students how to connect their interests with popular activities and occupations which are socially and culturally meaningful. The podcast provide good L2 input for the ESL/EFL learners. However, it can easily be transformed into technology task if the teacher doesn’t choose the correct activity. The students may enjoy recording each other’s interview, but it may also be waste of time. Recording/listening each other’s podcast may not be as effective as it should be especially with the young learners. With advance students recording process may work better, if they work in a computer lab. Finally, I believe that podcasting is part of the blended learning approach. I would use it in my classroom to develop my learners’ imagination, to engage them in an authentic experience, and to support their learning. The extensive input of the podcasts will motivate and encourage my learners to overcome L2 listening anxiety.

 Blogging and Micro blogging in ESL/EFL classrooms

Teaching English to ESL students is very challenging. The English language classroom has always been associated with competencies, such as grammar, discourse, sociolinguistic, and strategic competencies, which are practiced through classroom tasks and activities. However, ESL/EFL learners need an authentic chance to use English as a tool of communication. Usually, this latter is not provided in traditional classrooms. So the technology comes to provide opportunities for the students to integrate new ideas with prior knowledge, to make meaning and enable learning through reflection. Blogs and micro blogs have specific pedagogical roles in language learning.

 

 Will Richardson, the author of the highly read blogs refers to the blogs as spaces to share experience, exchange knowledge and achieve communicative competence. We can find people who are passionate about the same things we are. The blogs are more than journaling or writing diaries. They can link and provide more learning, more investigation and more evaluation. Blogging takes some energy and needs intellectual involvement. It trains the learners to think critically and share their ideas in an interesting learning framework. Additionally, Micro blogging tools enable users to post short messages that are distributed within their community. They are also used as active learning tools in ESL/EFL classrooms. For example, twitter can be used as an colloquial communicative tool, where the students exchange short massages using the target language. Blogging and Micro blogging tools can be used safely, securely and easily. As an ESL/EFL teacher, I am ready to implement blogging, Micro blogging and any other tools that motivate my learners’ creativity and improve their language proficiency skills.

As a TEFL professional, I really like the ideas of blogging and twitting. I think our students belong to the digital generation and they are interested in exploring the world through their knowledge, rather than just being passive receptors. Consequently, I can adapt these tools in different learners with different age groups, based on their needs and the course objectives. I can use blogging and twitter in any school that has a computer lab. I think that language lab classes may be very useful to facilitate the students’ learning and develop their proficiency level. In the schools, we can ask the computer teacher to help the learners to solve the technical problems. Additionally, the blogging assignments may be good to develop the students’ reading and writing skills. For example, it would be interesting to create a digital book club by posting a reading article and asking the learners to read it and write some comments. This can be evaluated according to a classroom rubric, which can be only for reading comprehension or for writing accuracy and fluency. Some other tasks can be created by using the twitter. For example, the teacher asks the students to twit each other using past tense verbs, proverbs, or idioms. Finally, I think we need to practice these tools to overcome all the challenges that we may face. Learners may also have some technical problems at home which may prohibit them from doing their homework. As a result, it would be better to do most of the assignments in the language lab classes.

 

 

 I want to provide opportunities for my learners to reflect on their learning and do some interesting writings. Moreover, I think using these tools to create an extensive reading community can be very helpful for my students. We can read educational posts and have a discussion, based on the information presented in the post. I believe that the learners are more interested to read and write in spaces, where they are free of the classroom limitations. Finally, we should practice blog if we want to use it. There is free blogging software available for everyone such as; blogger.com or audblog.com. I want my students to build a community where they can interact with each other, share their ideas and have a lifelong learning.

Blogs are much more than journaling or writing diaries. Kids are more interested to write for real audience. They like the idea of having their own space to express their thoughts.

 

Digital Youth Portraits

All the stories that I've watched were very interesting and inspiring. I was fascinated by the passion of this young generation which leads them to be creative and explore the world. I used to believe in the power of the young generation, but after watching these videos I've realized that the young generation can work  three times harder when they do something they enjoy it. As a TEFL professional, I think that the learner-centeredness can be embraced in ESL classrooms by taking the learners' passion into consideration. Learners are less interested in learning just for the sake of learning, than in learning to achieve their goals. For instance, Cameron, who is a visual learner, he learns by watching videos. He starts to use the green screen at school, and even teaches his teachers some techniques. Moreover, Dylan is another 13 years old teenager, who makes his own podcasts and works on projects with people from all over the world. They collaborate while they are in different countries. Undoubtedly, the passion of the learners to discover the world is the key of their success. We need to support the learners to achieve their goals in all different ways. It is not enough to have the learners think globally, the teachers should also think and act globally.
Additionally, Thomas Friedman in his book "The World is Flat", discusses ten forces that flattened the world. All of them are amazing, but I think the Netscape is one of the basic forces which prepared the platform for all the other forces. Netscape made the internet accessible to everyone from five-year olds to eighty-five-year olds. Besides, Informing is also an important flattening force because Google and other search engines helped millions of people to find so much information about anything they may want to learn. Thinking and acting globally have great impact on the education. Because of all these collaboration, we are able now as teachers and students to work with people from all over the world. We are able to exchange experiences with professions from different countries and share our education without even meeting these people in person. Friedman says, "We need to know the tools of the world to prepare people for that world." This latter inspired me in all aspects of my life.
After watching all the above mentioned videos and reading parts of Friedman's book, I think there is a connection between Sugata Mitra's "The Hole in The Wall" project and the other two sources. They all present the idea of globalization. They also encourage the idea of thinking and acting globally, in a way that people from all over the world collaborate and work together on projects using a shared medium. As Friedman says, "Whatever can be done, will be done." So I think we should work to move forward and support ourselves and our learners to get a life-long learning.