Catching up with editing duties over half term, I am pleased to be able to finally publish the audio I recorded at The SSAT Annual Languages Conference at the beginning of the month for my session Blogs and Podcasts - ICT in your Pocket. The sound quality is unfortunately not as good as normal due to the fact that my iRiver picked up the constant whirring of a fan in the background, but I'm sure you'll agree that it was more important that we all stayed cool during the sesssion rather than being concerned over a little noise pollution! Nevermind. Fingers crossed, the recording I make at The Language Show next week will not be hampered in the same way.
Anyway, I hope you find the presentation, audio and notes useful and that they help to convince you that getting into blogging and podcasting is really not so difficult and that both can truly enhance the language learning experience of your pupils. Let's just remind ourselves of what Lord Dearing wrote again in his Languages Review back in March:
"Young people’s familiarity with ICT offers a great opportunity to language teachers. It seems to us that a determined commitment to use this world, which is so familiar to young people, is a key to increasing the engagement of young people of all ages with languages. New technologies can facilitate real contacts with schools and young people in other countries. They can also provide stimulus for creative and interactive work". (Lord Dearing - Languages Review March 2007)
I think we need to heed these words and seize the opportunities offered to us by ICT by taking advantage of our pupils's natural interest in technology for personalising their learning and making it possible to let them access content when and how they want. If we can enter into their world and use the tools they are passionate about, we can surely engage them more easily and make language learning a more attractive prospect to them. We have the technology now and it's in our hands to decide how we can use it to best advantage. I hope the materials here give you the appropriate support you need to put Dearing's recommendations into practice. If not, get in contact and I'll see what I can do to help. Good luck.
Download blogs_and_podcasts__ict_in_your_pocket.ppt
Download blogs_and_podcasts_ict_in_your_pocket.mp3
Summary
- Introduction from ALL President Helen Myers
- Definitions of blogging and podcasting
- Dearing quote
- Using technology to enhance learning outcomes across all four language skills
- Blogging = reading and writing
- Podcasting = listening and speaking
- Harnessing the technology pupils are already using in their own time to facilitate distance learning and personalised learning
- Quoting Roberto Gauvin on his view on how we can improve pupils' writing skills by letting them blog
- Features of blogging
- Moderating comments
- Setting up a blog and choosing a blogging platform
- Free video tutorials on blogging and podcasting coming soon on SSAT site for all affiliated schools
- Purpose, Audience and Content
- Establishing blog rules
- Using a blog to create assessment for learning opportunities
- Encouraging your local community to read your blog
- Voices of the World project launched by Sharon Tonner
- Adding widgets to your blog
- Moblogging = mobile blogging
- Moblogging examples with mobile phones or USB Modem
- Features of podcasting
- Using podsafe music
- Scripting, recording and editing
- How podcasting can help boost pupils' listening and reading skills
- Podcast examples
- Putting your podcasts on iTunes via Podomatic
- Helping GCSE students revise for their speaking exam when and where they want
- Recording Skype calls with native speakers as mp3 files to mix into podcasts
- Nodehill staff and pupils talking about blogging and podcasting on Radio 5 Live
- Speaking at PodCampUK
- Not being scared of having a go at podcasting
- A few final thoughts
Show notes
Roberto Gauvin and his video clip Komment aise kon aprand a ékrir?
TypePad- video tutorial (coming soon)
Blog rules adapted from Jeannie Simpson's safe blogging guidelines
European Award for Languages 2006
del.icio.us and having a tag roll
Alex Blagona moblogging to Koblenz
MFL Flashmeeting (01:12:36)
Nodehill French Grammar Podcasts
Headphones help pupils improve their reading
Using podcasts in the classroom
Podcasting and language skills
Nodehill French Grammar Podcasts on iTunes
MFL podcasting experiments a sound idea?
The Nodehill bloggers on BBC Radio 5 Live
Jo Rhys-Jones post - Making recordings - mp3, sound editing, podcasting and all that Jazz!
Blogging and Podcasting links
Hi Joe
Nice to meet you at the K12 Conference. I enjoyed that session although there were too few participants for any real discussion. I joined in towards the end of the day and there were over 25 teachers online. It was fascinating.
I just wanted to point to a resource where you could link your ppt and audio file. Check out this link to slideshare where you can make a slidecast. Its quite a neat and easy to use tool.
http://www.slideshare.net/slidecasts
Posted by: Adam Sutcliffe | 29/10/2007 at 10:39
Hi Adam,
Nice to chat with you in the K12 Elluminate session too. I've not used the audio version of SlideShare yet, but I did blog about it here:
http://joedale.typepad.com/integrating_ict_into_the_/2007/08/slidecast-tutor.html
Cheers
Posted by: Joe Dale | 29/10/2007 at 12:39