For those who were keenly checking out my Twitterings this weekend, you’ll know that I was in Nottingham for the UK national eTwinning conference organised by the British Council which included some great sessions on blogging, podcasting, digital video, Flashmeeting and one stop animation. The CPD didn’t stop there though. Discussions were a plenty on the potential of Web 2.0 from the likes of Chris Fuller, Paul Harrington, Conor Galvin, Baldev Singh, Jeff Howson, John Warwick and Nick Falk.
Chris, a Spanish teacher from Edgehill College in Bideford, Devon kindly agreed to give an interview in which he explains his use of blogging, podcasting, wikispaces, moblogging and mobile phones to enhance the learning of his pupils. Chris is an impressive guy, particularly considering that he is only in his second year of teaching and yet is leading the way in these new technologies.
Chris first impressed me when he admitted to making a ten hour round trip just to attend the Isle of Wight Conference in October 2006. I'm sure his pupils are delighted that he decided to make the journey though. As you'll hear in the interview, fuelled by what he had learnt Chris went straight home and started experimenting with blogging and podcasting. From this starting point, only eight months ago, he has gone from strength to strength.
I hope you enjoy the interview and learn something new too. Here is a summary to whet your appetite.
Download interview_with_chris_fuller.mp3
Blogging, podcasting and wikis
- Reflections on eTwinning conference
- teaching background and how using technology in his teaching
- teaches 3 year olds all the way to 18 year olds
- after attending IOW conference setting up a three Typepad blogs (Spanish, Ten Tors and personal reflection blog)
- starting to get into podcasting by creating Spanish Grammar podcasts
- exploring potential of wikis to facilitate collaborative writing in Year 10, and to help Year 11 auditory learners to revise for their GCSE Spanish exams by encouraging them to listen to a variety of podcasts via embedded media players
- explaining that a wiki is a single or set of webpages that can be edited by a number of different authors who can peer assess each other’s work and have their contributions clearly recognised by different colour-coded text
- producing different types of podcast (teacher and pupil –led) and putting them on to iTunes
- seeing the learning benefits of students producing their own podcasts (helping them to revise and retain new language, giving them a purpose and real audience, clarifying their own understanding of grammar points, encouraging reluctant learners to extend their own speaking)
- how blogs, podcasts and wikis can facilitate peer and self assessment through comments allowing students to learn how to help each other learn
- how over a period of time comments have become more constructive and true to a ‘Two Stars and a Wish’ philosophy where students say two things they like about someone’s work and one suggestion on how it could be improved
- not being scared to try blogging out and asking for help from the blogosphere
- saving marking time by setting homework via a blog
- how blogging can raise the profile of your subject in your school, local community and further a field and the motivating effect that can have on your pupils’ attitude to their work
- dealing with time management issues of maintaining and moderating a blog
- explaining the blogging process at Edgehill where students first write and then spellcheck their Spanish texts in Word, email the results to Chris who then uploads them to the blog
- highlighting the importance of moderating content to ensure the success of your blog
- encouraging your students to become more independent readers by allowing them the opportunity to reflect on and peer assess each other’s blog posts
- how blogging and podcasting can motivate distance learning as well as cater for the four main skills areas of listening, speaking, reading and writing
- publishing unmarked work on the blog to let pupils realise their own mistakes and leave comments as homework before handing back a corrected version on paper
- seeing pupils in different age groups leaving comments on each other’s posts and how that can foster motivation
- deciding not to correct spellings in comments to encourage students to develop their skills and peer assessment strategies
- drawing from your established school’s sense of community
- students ‘remembering the basics’ by reading younger learners’ posts
- explaining how to put your podcasts on iTunes
- subscribing and uploading podcasts on to a host such as Jellycast to create a feed which you can then register on Jellycast
- registering on iTunes as a podcaster
- reading the FAQ section of Jellycast to explain how to set up a link
- the ease of updating your feed with new episodes
- embedding a player on your blog or wiki by setting up a link using your feed address in Odeo
- how collaborating can help everyone move forward
- the advantages of using a wiki to allow your students to become more independent and in charge of their own learning
- the need to first train pupils on using technologies such as wikis, Odeo and Jellycast to overcome initial fears before allowing them to take control
- the benefits of recording audio to help students revise and save them time
- how making grammar podcasts can help students ‘learn twice’
- convincing others to come on board
- 30,000 downloads of the Spanish Grammar podcasts in five months
- Being top of the Jellycast charts
Moblogging = mobile + blogging
- updating your blog away from your computer using email from a mobile phone
- installing ShoZu software on your mobile to allow you to create destinations and cross-posting for your pictures, videos, text and audio files on your blog, Flickr or Blip.tv account
- moblogging on a school trip as a way of reassuring parents and generating a sense of excitement with regular updates
- the advantages of moblogging or blogging over traditional ways of recording events on a school trip
- recording and sending an audio message remotely from your phone to your blog using Gabcast or to your email account with K7
- dealing with pupils recording inappropriate comments
- moblogging from Dartmoor with eleven pupils as part of the Ten Tors event and receiving 2200 hits in one weekend on the purpose-built blog from parents and friends
- reinforcing a sense of achievement, taking ownership and being moved by the interest of others in the Ten Tors blog
- configuring your mobile setting on your blogging platform to allow you to moblog via a special email address
- troubleshooting ways of posting video and images with body text
Flickr
- geotagging photos in Flickr while on school trip in Madrid
- adding comments and rollover labels
- ideas on using the labelling feature and geotags for language learning purposes
- updating your Flickr badge by moblogging sequentially
- David Muir’s example of moblogging on Flickr
Mobile phones
- Recording grammar explanations and songs in class with the voice recording function of mobile phones
- using Bluetooth technology to transfer files to the mobiles of absent pupils so they do not fall behind
- using a USB Bluetooth dongle to send multimedia files directly to a teacher’s computer
- dealing with time and file management of items sent by Bluetooth
- pupils using Audacity in their own time for revision purposes
- staggering file transfer
- dealing with potential risks of using mobile phones and choosing a responsible class to trial
- using a mobile phone to enable instant peer assessment
- trusting your pupils to be responsible and not compromising yourself
- the advantages of using mp3 players that stay in the classroom instead of pupils’ mobile phones
eTwinning Wiki project based on the Football European Championships 2008 for local primary schools
- combining blogging, podcasting, vodcasting (video casting), wikis and Flashmeeting (videoconferencing) to establish links with countries around Europe
- assigning 16 local Year 5 classes a participating country which they can then research on a
- updating their blog with their findings before producing a final podcast or vodcast
- 5-a-side football and netball competition
- Encouraging pupils to use technology creatively
- Using a wiki to enable teachers to collaborate with each other and receive support
- Exploring the possibilities of setting up eTwinning links to overcome language barriers
- Investigating further learning possibilities from the project
- A few final thoughts
Show notes
Facing the Currently Unknown - Teacher reflection blog
Setting your moblogging preferences in Typepad
Flickr and a Flickr badge
Audacity and the Lame encoder
Excellent work guys - well worth the listen. Chris is clear and his enthusiasm for using the technology to further his educational goals shines through.
It was an inspiring weekend for many of us, me included, to see that the possibilities of using technology to forge links in a variety of ways across Europe is truly an invigorating thing to know. Keep up the excellent work.
Posted by: Paul Harrington | 05/06/2007 at 17:40
Hi Joe,
can I just agree with Paul in thanking the British Council for a fantastic weekend- yet more inspiration to follow up on! As the south-of-the-border blogging movement finally gets into full swing, it's great to have regular get-togethers to keep sharing ideas, pushing each other forward and keep getting inspired!!
And thank you Joe for a really fascinating few hours- it's always an interesting experience to reflect on your own progress- and then see it demonstrated by so many show notes!!
Chris
Posted by: Chris | 08/06/2007 at 20:01