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Hoopingarner.Actfl2008
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Transcript of Hoopingarner.Actfl2008
Technologies that your students use (and that you should, too)
Dennie HoopingarnerMichigan State University
Purpose of this Presentation:
• Show you some technologies that you might not be aware of
• Talk about "banned technologies"• Give some reasons for un-banning them• Raise some topics for discussion• Challenge some assumptions
Before I get to far…
• There are extenuating circumstances• Many of you will say, "yes, but..."• Respecting the “but,” let's think outside the box
Let’s try an experiment
• As we examine technologies, if you have a "good reason" not to use them, offer them up.
• Definition of "good reason?"
On new technology: an historical perspective
" ... the parent or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them...this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external ... and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality."
from The Phaedrus, a dialogue between
Socrates and Phaedrus, on the invention of writing. c 370 BC.
Socrates’ bottom line:Introducing the new invention of
writing to education is bad, because it will change things.
Another perspective:
• "If you open the window, the flies will come in"
• --Deng Xiaoping
Let’s dive right in
Poll: Whose school DOESN’T ban these?
What’s the big deal with cell phones?
They’re powerful!
How far we’ve come in 20 years…
What do students do with their cell phone?
Text!
For the language mavens: yes, it’s a verb now
tr.v. text·ed, text·ing, texts1.To send a text message to: She texted me when she arrived.2.To communicate by text message: He texted that he would be late.
American Heritage Dictionary
Usage patterns have changed
14-year old 70-year old
120 Minutes 220 Minutes
0 Messages2215Messages
What are the implications of texting for learning?
Video on texting and language:“English 101”
Source: YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GliKm-4uTYU
Feel free to chime in…
Why are cell phones banned in your school?
I believe there is a place for cell phones in the language classroom
Why? Because cell phones are
“communicative”
At the appropriate time, the teacher should say, “Now take out your cell
phones and begin this task…”
I know what you’re thinking:
• They will text each other personal messages• They’re just going to goof off• I’m going to lose control of the class
Valid concerns
But…
<soapbox>
Beware the assumption thatEyeballs = Attention = Learning
Best class EVER!They’re eating out of my hand!
Will this be on the test? How long
until lunch?
Big gametonight…
I don’tunderstand
any of this sh*t
</soapbox>
My point: Technology is neither the source of the problem, nor a solution
to all of our problems It’s just another tool
Keeping it pedagogical
• Keep activities task-based• Give students specific instructions• Make students accountable for results• Make it clear that this is class work with
technology, not free time to play with technology
Cell phones can be used in the language classroom for:
• Pair work• Info gap or jigsaw tasks via voice or
text messaging (who needs a language lab?)• Audio Blog (Gcast)
Demo of a cell phone task
Let’s call Russ and play “password”
Done with cell phones
Any “buts” that we need to take care of?
Next topic: Facebook
Who here is “on Facebook?”
What is Facebook?
• “Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected”
• Online community:• Find people• Share photos• Communicate (connect)
Why is Facebook significant?
• Your students are there already• They are logged into the site a LOT• They are passionate about their community• Anything that your students are enthusiastic
about should be seen as a potential way to relate to learning
Why you should use Facebook:
• Communicate with students• Learn more about students• Connect with native speakers• Live chat
Cautions:• Online safety precautions apply• Facebook is still a social tool
– Pedagogy is not built in– Onus is on teacher to structure activities and keep
students on task• Students see Facebook as their territory
– You, as a teacher, are an invasive species in their environment
– Don’t approach them, let them approach you
Demo of Facebook
Let’s talk with Russ
Done with Facebook
Any “buts?”
Online Communication
A Look Back to the Future
Remember these commercials from AT&T?
Skype
• Online telephone• VOIP (Uses your Internet connection as a
telephone line)• Audio, Video• Worldwide calls between computers are free• FREE!
No special equipment needed
Let’s call Russ
How your students are using Skype:
• Call each other• Text (IM)
Skype in the language classroom:
• Telephone-based interaction tasks• Use conference call function to listen in (spy?)• Record phone calls (create a “Skypecast”)• Bring in virtual guest speakers
Done with Skype
Any “buts?”
Next topic: iPods
Whose school DOESN’T ban these?
What do students do with iPods?
• Listen to music• Watch videos
What else can you do with iPods?
• Audio support materials that accompany textbooks
• Podcast– Third-party– Teacher-created– Student-created
Podcast finder: iTunes
• Free• Windows or Mac• Manage your music• Sync with iPod• Listen on computer• Get podcasts
Getting a podcast with iTunes
1
2
3
4
Clarification points on podcasts
• You don’t need an iPod to listen– Listen on computer– Generic MP3 player– Cell phone
• Many tools exist for creating podcasts– Gcast – podcast with your cell phone– CLEAR’s Broadcast tool – podcast from your web
browser
Let’s get pedagogical
• Podcast with Gcast• Podcast with Broadcasts
That’s it for iPods
Any “buts?”
Virtual Worlds
More than video games
What do students do in virtual worlds?
Playing MMORPGs: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games
(e.g., WoW World of Warcraft)
Why should we care?
• Simulations were touted as the “next big thing” since the early 1980s
• Immersive environment• Interact with other people• Lower the affective barrier?
Second Life
Videoshttp://clear.msu.edu/dennie/secondlife/
Virtual Worlds and Language Teaching
• Simulations / Immersive environments• Interactions• Distance learning
Any buts?
Let me put on my body armor…
Online Translators
What are students doing with them?
“Cheating!”
What’s the big deal?
• Falling back on the L1, leaving the L2 environment
• Incorrect assumption that L2 is a translation of L1
Translators can be useful tools
Computer translators can lend valuable insight into the L2
Example: Learn Vocabulary
• 信用卡 另一個金融未爆彈?• Another unexploded ordnance financial credit
card?• “Are credit cards another financial unexploded
ordnance?”
Example: Show L2 loanword conventions
• 花旗集團財務長柯瑞騰( Gary Crittenden)說:「如果失業繼續增加,信用卡淨壞帳率
可能超過歷史水準。」• Citigroup Chief Financial Officer John Kerry
Teng (Gary Crittenden), said: "If unemployment continues to increase, the net credit card default rate is likely to exceed the standard of history."
Let’s get pedagogical• Give students a translation from L2 to L1
– Structure questions– Vocabulary questions– “Recover” the L2 structure
• Show that idioms don’t translate:– “一份錢一份貨 A cargo of a money”
(you get what you pay for)• Show semantic distinctions:
– “run cross country”– “break a record”
Any buts?
In conclusion…
• Technology is here to stay – it isn’t going away• Students see technology as another tool• Students use technology not to “cheat,” but to try
to be more productive• Technology isn’t (necessarily) your enemy• Technology can be a force for good, not evil• If your students are using it, maybe you should,
too
CLEAR’s booth in exhibit hall
Further information, resources, demonstrations of technologies, Q&A
Thanks!