Well, I've had a strange, if interesting morning so far. I was interviewed via Skype by Steve Hargadon , a Californian blogger and podcaster who writes about the use of technology in education. We talked about how I use the internet, more specifically blogging when teaching. I look forward to seeing the final result when he's finished editing it. The only problem is that I can't remember where he's going to post it. Oh well, never mind I'll ask him later and let you know.
Also check out his wiki page (Support Blogging) which has loads of links to other educators who use blogging, podcasting etc in their teaching practice.
UPDATE
Steve has just finished editing the interview, so if you go to The Infinite Thinking Machineyou can read about it and you can listen to it here.
"Sure-- this is a Linux commercial, but forget that. Rather look at the real message. The message of information and how this generation of digital learners are being given an advantage over those who do not have access. As I watched this commercial I was taken with the fact that children of parents with digital access have a distinct advantage over children with parents without access."
Her post talks about the responsibility we have as educators in bridging the digital divide, that not to do so will severely disadvantage students in the future;
"In my opinion, we are the last generation of teachers who have the prerogative of deciding whether or not to master technology. Many of us chose not to acquire proficient skills and still have experienced a high level of success in our professions. However, the children we teach today are not going to be afforded that choice."
I came across this Remote Access blog today which really crystallises many of the thoughts I've been having over the last few years;
"I'm getting to the point where I want to be finished with old ways. I truly believe that we are actively harming the kids in our classrooms when we are not preparing them for the society they live in. But more and more I roll around at night, get up early in the mornings and wonder what those new ways look like. Do we even know what we want? What would a classroom that actively supports kids in learning the skills which will best prepare them to be active, informed, concerned citizens in the twenty first century look like? If we could do anything, what would it be?"
As my daughter gets older and has entered the Greek educational system I become more and more worried about the quality of education she's receiving. It's not just the endless strikes and lost days but something much more fundamental. What exactly does this system want to achieve? If you've listened to the various ministers of education over the years, they all say that they want well-rounded individuals able to deal with the challenges of the modern world. Yet, like so many of their pronouncements, the wonderful statements bear little or no relation to the reality I see in schools and in the knowledge and skills that the students acquire.
Whilst the system may not be preparing kids for the demands of the twenty-first century,
"it was the ideal preparation for the Organization Man economy, a highly structured world dominated by large, bureaucratic corporations that routinized the workplace. Compulsory mass schooling equipped generations of future factory workers and middle managers with the basic skills and knowledge they needed on the job. The broader lessons it conveyed were equally crucial. Kids learned how to obey rules, follow orders, and respect authority -- and the penalties that came with refusal."
The problem is that world is fast changing, disappearing even, and still the curriculum, with its heavy emphasis on theory and it's chronic distaste for practical application of knowledge continues to churn out thousands of students with precious few marketable skills, crammed with "facts" like some kind of goose being prepared for the production of liver pate.
I think the most damning indictment of the present situation came from the mouth of an ten year old student I was teaching English to last week. At the end of the lesson she sighed that she now had to study her history homework. When I asked her what she had to do, she replied that she had to learn a page from the book by heart. The passage, which was about the difference between an aristocratic and a democratic form of government in ancient Athens, was way beyond what you could reasonably expect from an ten-year old. She read out the passage and when I asked what she understood, she said, "nothing". But as her sister, who is seventeen said, if she wants a good grade what she had to do was learn it by heart. The saddest thing about this whole story is that her sister is right. As long as she can repeat in class the teacher will be happy.
Forget the numbers, ignore the jargon, pay no heed to mbs or mps, the thing that makes technology so great is the way it allows ordinary people do extraordinary things. I'm now watching my niece's birthday party live on the web. Today Maisie will turn four and she is having her party at her grandmother's house.
Luckily, the room were everything is laid out also has a computer with an internet connection, Skype and a video camera. this means that I, too can follow the event and take part. With the computer connected to the speakers it almost sounds as if I were in the room with them. What was once a science fiction fantasy has become a piece of everyday reality. It's like being there when people saw their first motion picture or made their first phone call.
At no cost, I can chat to my family in England and share with them these special moments. Now that's what the best technology is all about; allowing us to do what would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago.
Nominations are open from 8 November to 30 November 2006. So don't forget to email in your nominations (maximum 2 per category) to the awards email address:
As people who read this blog regularly (hi, mum!) will know I just love using films when teaching as I believe they are a rich source of language opportunities. My only gripe is that the vast majority of EFL/ESL teaching exercises based around movies treat them as little more than listening comprehension tests with visuals (I think I will scream if I see yet another gap-fill exercise). Given the vast range of possibilities the medium offers it seems a shame just to repeat tired, old teaching techniques that were created thirty or forty years ago for use with cassette recorders.
So, once again I've had to look out of the well in order to find fresher, more up - to - date activities. Luckily, today I came across the BFI (The British Film Institute) site (see here) which has a lot of educational material aimed at British students studying for their GCSE's. While, the materials are not tailored for the EFL/ESL learner there are loads of teaching possibilities and activities which could be used with post intermediate classes.
The only drawback is that the exercises are based on short films that you have to be a member of the BFI to access. However, I'm sure that they can be substituted by other film extracts.
As a result of the Blogme case here in Greece, I've decided to join Amnesty's Irrepressible Info campaign. The idea is that bloggers and other internet users can circumvent government censorship;
" Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information.
The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression.
Amnesty International, with the support of The Observer UK newspaper, is launching a campaign to show that online or offline the human voice and human rights are impossible to repress.
Come on, although ya try to discredit Ya still never read it The needle, I'll thread it Radically poetic Standin' with the fury that they had in '66 And like E-Double I'm mad Still knee-deep in the system's shit Hoover, he was a body remover I'll give ya a dose But it can never come close To the rage built up inside of me Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy
Movements come and movements go Leaders speak, movements cease When their heads are flown 'Cause all these punks Got bullets in their heads Departments of police, the judges, the feds Networks at work, keepin' people calm You know they went after King When he spoke out on Vietnam He turned the power to the have-nots And then came the shot
Yeah! Yeah, back in this... Wit' poetry, my mind I flex Flip like Wilson, vocals never lackin' dat finesse Whadda I got to, whadda I got to do to wake ya up To shake ya up, to break the structure up 'Cause blood still flows in the gutter I'm like takin' photos Mad boy kicks open the shutter Set the groove Then stick and move like I was Cassius Rep the stutter step Then bomb a left upon the fascists Yea, the several federal men Who pulled schemes on the dream And put it to an end Ya better beware Of retribution with mind war 20/20 visions and murals with metaphors Networks at work, keepin' people calm Ya know they murdered X And tried to blame it on Islam He turned the power to the have-nots And then came the shot
Uggh! What was the price on his head? What was the price on his head!
I think I heard a shot I think I heard a shot I think I heard a shot I think I heard a shot I think I heard a shot I think I heard, I think I heard a shot
'He may be a real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed obediance to white liberal doctrine of non-violence...and embrace black nationalism' 'Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble-makers... and neutralize them. Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble-makers... and neutralize them and neutralize them, and neutralize them, and neutralize them'
Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!
How long? Not long, cause what you reap is what you sow"
I'm going to use this in my lesson next week, any ideas?
When it comes to home goals I sometimes think that Greece is in a league of its own. This month Athens hosted the Internet Governance Forum's latest meeting at the Divani Apollon Hotel. However, on the eve of the meeting (which amongst other things discussed freedom of speech on the web) we had the case of Antonis Tsiropoulos who was arrested by the authorities for simply linking to a blog that was considered to have libelous content.
If that wasn't enough the venue proved unable to provide internet access to all the delegates. As one reporter present put it;
What on earth am I talking about? The mild insanity of hosting a global, revolutionary Internet conference and then failing to allow anyone to actually access it - the Internet, that is. The wireless access, despite endless complaints yesterday, is still not working at the Internet Governance Forum. This is a mild irritation for most people, but as the mug who is supposed to be officially reporting on what is being discussed online but who is unable to be in the room and online at the same time, it is mind-meltingly annoying.
It isn't helped by the fact that the Greek hosts have assured me - and others far more senior than me - that providing me with a wired connection is "impossible".
All the more galling was to have the prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis (see here for the speech) talking about finding ways to empower the "digitally homeless" when only 27% of Greeks have ever used the internet and the state - run telecommunications organisation (OTE) has failed miserably to provide reasonably priced access, or in many cases any kind of access to vast swathes of the country.
Another tiring day over and I was just thinking on the journey back home that I would be lost if I didn't have access to technology. Over the past few years it has crept into my teaching practice, going from an occasional extra to being an integral part of the way I teach English, both in the class room and in private lessons.
For instance, today I found stuff at the British Council site to help with one of my students, updated his blog and next time I'm going to give him some American comics to read which I'll download.
In the next lesson at the school I realised that I'd made a big mistake, as I had prepared for the Wednesday's lesson instead of today's. It only occurred to me when one of my students asked my about what we were going to do in the lesson. With only ten minutes to go I surfed the web to find the lyrics to Nerina Pallott's "Everybody's Going to War (which I have on my pocket pc), printed them out and photocopied them.
In the lesson I used the song as the basis of a listening exercise which was in turn a warm - up activity for a debate on whether there is such a thing as a "good war". I asked the students to post their opinions on their blog. In addition I also asked them to take part in a competition; take a photo connected with leisure which will be posted on the class blog as well.
Finally, in the last lesson of the day I also got my student to post on her blog her latest film review, one which I copied without Greek subtitles, using DVD Shrink. I also asked her to listen to a couple of chapters of the first Harry Potter book audio book , which she has as an mp3 download, and write a summary. Also, as I didn't have any ink in my printer I scanned and emailed her the test from the course book we use.
As you can see access to technology and all that it offers allows me to find materials that my students find interesting and so they make the effort to understand and as a result they learn more effectively. All I have to do is open the door to a place they find fascinating and they'll do all the rest.
This year I decided that I would post all the homework I set on the class blog. One reason behind this (beyond the obvious ones) is that I hope through this to encourage students to view and participate in the blog more often. My problem up till now has been that because students don't really have access to the internet at school I have to rely on them figuring out problems at home. Also since blogging is my own personal initiative, and not really part of the curriculum I'm having a hard time persuading students to contribute.
Next week I'm thinking of having a class photo competition. The basic idea is that the students post one of their photos on the blog with a humourous caption and I choose the best. I still haven't decided on a suitable prize yet, perhaps a week without homework?
The idea is that the competition acts as an incentive for students to figure out how to post photos on the blog. Although many students do not have a dedicated digital camera most have a mobile phone capable of taking digital pictures.
I had some great news from one of my students. Yesterday, he said that he had told the rest of his computer studies class at school that he has a blog and that now all his classmates want him to teach them how to get one of their own. He was as proud as punch that he was in a position to teach others, that he was now an expert and that he could pass on what he'd learnt in our lessons. Collateral learning, perhaps?
Today I decided to use a BBC World Service podcast in my Proficiency lesson. I used my Pocket PC linked up to a set of computer speakers that I borrowed from the secretary's PC.
Lesson Plan
1 Ask students what are the latest international stories in the news. Students discuss this in pairs or groups and then report back to the teacher.
2 Write up four or five words from the first story in the podcast on the board.
E.g. elections, Bush, USA, 15
And ask students to guess what the story is about.
3 Play the section (it is a real help if your mp3 player has a screen on which you can see where in the podcast you are). Ask students to write down as many details as possible. It is very important that you make them understand that no one can take down all the details and that they are going to work together as a group.
4 Students swap notes.
5 Play the section again.
6 Ask the class to tell you what they understood.
7 Repeat steps 2 to 6 for the remainder of the stories, either one by one or all the stories in one go.
8 For homework ask them to follow one of the stories either in the news or on the web.
BTW I just noticed today that Sky TV channel here in Greece has the same BBC news stories that I used in the lesson dubbed into Greek. The next time I do a lesson like this I'm going to ask my students to watch Sky in order to see how much they've understood in the lesson.
"Who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history? Pretty much everyone. Egyptians, Turks, Jews, Romans, Arabs, Persians, Europeans...the list goes on. Who will control the Middle East today? That is a much bigger question."
Did they enjoy it ? Why/why not ? What kind of film was it ?
2 Write the word "genre" on the board and explain what it means. Elicit different kind of film genres and examples.
3 Give out handout (see below) and deal with any language problems in section 1
4 Students match films and categories.
5 Ask students to think of any other not included on the list and examples to go with them.
6 Explain to the students that you're going to show them some trailers and that you want them to fill in the grid.
7 Show video once and ask students to check their answers in pairs.
8 Go through the answers and be ready to discuss any ambiguous ones.
9 Students then decide, in groups, which film they'd like to see and why.
THE SILVER SCREEN
A MATCH THE FOLLOWING FILMS AND CATEGORIES.
1 Star Wars 2 Seven 3 Kate and Leopold 4 Bowling for Columbine 5 The Saw 6 Black Hawk Down 7 Fight Club 8 Scary Movie 9 Ice Age 10 The Constant Gardener
a drama b comedy c science fiction d documentary e horror f thriller g cartoon h action/adventure i war j comedy
B Can you think of any other genres (and examples to go with them) ?
As I watch my daughter playing on the Polly Pocket site, effortlessly negotiating the vast site even though she has just started learning to read and write in English, I see once again how finding material that students are interested in, can completely change their attitude to the language. I've seen the most indifferent of pupils struggle (and understand) material that I would never have imagined possible, simply because they decided that they had to do it in order to achieve their own goals.
So, it doesn't matter what you choose as long as it is in English and helps your students. Don't rule out using films, music, comics, video games even car repair manuals, whatever sparks a glimmer of interest.
Well, I've had a strange, if interesting morning so far. I was interviewed via Skype by Steve Hargadon , a Californian blogger and podcaster who writes about the use of technology in education. We talked about how I use the internet, more specifically blogging when teaching. I look forward to seeing the final result when he's finished editing it. The only problem is that I can't remember where he's going to post it. Oh well, never mind I'll ask him later and let you know.
