Over the Easter break, I recorded a fascinating discussion with Esther Hardman, teacher of French and Spanish at The Weald of Kent Grammar School in Tonbridge about her creative use of videoconferencing and blogging to support primary colleagues in the west of Kent. As community outreach coordinator for MFL, Esther is responsible for facilitating language learning provision in local primary schools and to ensure that the learning objectives of The KS2 Framework for Languages are met as far as possible. In addition to visiting schools in person, she has found that virtual links have also been a valuable way of sharing information and motivating staff and pupils.
In the interview, Esther explains how colleague Katie Clemmy as part of her ICT hands on support role at the school introduced her to Flashmeeting and suggested she use it within the MFL department. Seeing an opportunity for her post GCSE students to channel their creativity in a purposeful way, she decided to kill two birds with one stone and ask them to prepare lessons for a Yr5/6 class at St Margaret Clitherow Catholic Primary School which they could then deliver in small groups via videoconferencing.
With the help of Richard Shaw and Kerry Schofield (primary languages coordinator) the classes took part in a couple of sessions and proved that with appropriate planning and sufficient practice, this type of activity can achieve impressive results and develop a whole range of transferable skills.
Esther's enthusiasm for using technology to enhance language learning is infectious and I would suggest that anyone who is interested in launching a similar project should heed her wise words carefully.
In the second part of our talk, Esther reveals her passion for blogging and its power for sharing ideas and networking with others. Borne from a personal desire to publish poetry and organise writing workshops, she soon realised the potential of blogging to offer distance learning resources and to be creative.
Crack the Code and The Wonderful World of Esther were set up as a result along with West Kent Primary Languages blog inspired by the work of Andrew Stapley and Huguette Hopkinson from Norton Knatchbull school and their blog NKS Primary Languages.
Her assistante virtuelle blogs are also online, although at the time of writing they are accessible by invite only as Esther and her colleagues are still experimenting on how best to use them.
For a full summary of Esther's wonderful work see below. I'm sure you'll find it inspiring. To quote Esther,
“It gets you out there from your school into the wider community more than you’d be able to do otherwise without it”
Download Interview_with_Esther_Hardman.mp3
Summary
- Introductions
- using a language laboratory and preparing a range of exercises to cater for all four skills which pupils can control and manage themselves
- letting pupils record themselves and listen back to improve their pronunciation and fluency
- creating gapfill exercises so pupils can analyse language
- saving recordings as mp3 files so auditory learners can listen on handheld devices at home and revise for their GCSE oral exams
- Activa Symposium v Audacity
- creating a bank of activities and dealing with time issues
- catering for different learning styles
Videoconferencing
- introducing videoconferencing into the department and and understanding the process
- trialling Flashmeeting and launching the project with post GCSE class and Year 5/6 class in a local primary school
- planning the project aims of encouraging the authenthic use of language on both sides and using the motivational aspect of ICT
- the secondary class creating activities such as simple question and answer warm ups, role-plays from differentiated word lists the primary class were studying and buzzword bingo
- the primary class listening out for items from their word lists and playing Buzzword Bingo
- organising three differentiated sessions and creating a timeline of events (practice VC between staff in both schools, meeting face to face to discuss aims, inhouse VC practice, whole class pupil to pupil practice to alleviate nerves and prepare for the three 'real' sessions)
- having the extra pressure of Maureen Smith (Primary languages Adviser for Kent County Council), Alison Gaunt, (Secondary Hands on Support Consultant at Advisory Services Kent) and Heather Pettitt, (SEGfL Project Officer) attending one of the sessions.
- Huguette Hopkinson's and Andrew Stapley's experience of Flashmeeting
- having a back up plan: thinking about pace, repeating phrases and creating a second role-play
- seeing secondary pupils becoming more independent, managing themselves and working in teams
- thinking about camera position, seating and tieing in all pupils by letting them judge their classmates on their VC skills using a peer assessment form (reducing screen traffic, facial expression, vocal variety, enthusiasm, preparation, head position, vocal projection, screen position, managing spontaneity)
- having the opportunity to introduce transferable skills from public speaking
- assessing the fluency, amount of repetition, confidence, clarity and pace of delivery of the pupils
- using the school's VLE to allow secondary pupils to complete an online survey to reinforce again what they are learning and to provide valuable feedback for the teachers
- secondary pupils enjoyed delivering the language lessons and found it reinforced their prior learning
- videoconferencing v face to face
- how to set up a Flashmeeting and book sessions
- sending the URL to your partner school to make the session safe and secure
- recording sessions for reviewing learning
- dealing with internet safety issues
- applying for a UK TeachNet award in 2007 thanks to a recommendation from Carine Jacquel and the West Kent Learning Federation MFL e-learning group
- Flashmeeting v Polycom
- why aren't more MFL departments involved in videoconferencing
- aiming to videoconference with international schools
-
getting started with videoconferencing by setting up an eTwinning project
Blogging
- Getting excited about blogging and publishing to a wide audience
- Using a blog as a way of sharing information and allowing feedback about Esther’s poetry and workshops
- Creating a personal blog playground like a visual CV and future time capsule
- Adding different web apps to your blog
- Developing Crack the Code blog as a one stop shop for weblinks and resources related to language learning
- Networking through blogging and comparing research as a form of personal CPD
- Using web 2.0 tools for practical immediate learning
- Incorporating blogging into primary outreach work with West Kent Primary Languages blog
- Using a blog to share information with lead teachers/primary partners and networking with like-minded colleagues from around the UK
- Trialling the assistante virtuelle blogs to support primary colleagues and reinforce the KS2 Framework for Languages from a distance
- Working with Hannah Kidd, primary languages coordinator from Capel Primary School and
- receiving positive feedback about how motivating her pupils were finding commenting on the assistante’s blog posts in small groups
- Distributing school pack for primary colleagues with specific reference to the framework objectives and example activities
- Warning that the blog and pack should supplement existing materials not replace them as the sole primary languages input
- Moving to the next step of the project by creating a departmental blog including advice on transition from KS2 to KS3
- Dealing with child protection issues
- Choosing a blogging platform
- Uploading PowerPoint files and embedding them on to blogs
- Using podcasts to fulfil the oracy objectives for the framework
- Catering to different learning styles with blogging and podcasting
- Blogger v TypePad
- Keeping the assistante virtuelle blogs private during the trial period to protect primary colleagues who may not be specialist language teachers and let them experiment
- Using live webcam links in the classroom to provide intercultural understanding
- providing listening activities by foreign language assistants making video clips for the blog
- recording speaking activities with an mp3 player or USB microphone
- training colleagues following Kent Accreditation for Primary Languages (KAPL)
- future plans - developing podcasting/language laboratory, creating a clinque linguistique pupils can audio call or instant message using Skype once a week during an hour slot
- creating distance learning opportunities and dealing with workload
- exploring the use of microblogging tools such as Twitter and Edmodo in the classroom
Show notes
Revising for the GCSE speaking exam with Audacity
GCSE General Conversation MFL podcasts
Tunbridge Wells Toastmasters Speakers Club
West Kent Learning Federation and West Kent Primary Languages blog
Stewart Dearsley from Mascalls School
Flashmeeting project for primary languages
Videoconferencing in the classroom
Primary French videoconferencing project highlights potential to share
Videoconferencing clips from CILT Primary languages
Creating Your PLN Using Twitter
West Kent Primary Languages blog
Lisa Stevens (from Sutton Coldfield)
Capel Primary Assistante Virtuelle blog
Crockham Hill Primary Assistante Virtuelle blog
The KS2 Framework for Languages
Hannah Kidd from Capel Primary School
Creating a podcast with Blogger
Ruth Gray from Crockham Hill Primary School
Building Schools for the Future (BSF)
Edmodo: microblogging for the classroom
How microblogging sites such as Twitter can be used in education
I have a blog on language learning called The Linguist on Language, www.thelinguist.blogs.com and an online language learning community called www.LingQ.com, where people around the world help each other learn.
My questions are
1) can we use the sound file of your interview as content in our library?
2) do you have a transcript?
All resources in our library are accessed and used free of charge and without restriction.
Steve Kaufmann
Posted by: Account Deleted | 02/05/2009 at 21:39
Dear Steve,
By all means include this interview in your library. Could you please provide a link to this blog though so that listeners can find out where it has come from?
There is no transcript unfortunately, but the detailed summary should help comprehension.
Cheers and thank you for your comment.
Posted by: Joe Dale | 03/05/2009 at 01:26
Wonderful post and interview. I have taught or tutored foreign language learners (both romance languages and germanic languages including english) for several years, and have long been a proponent of using technology and "thinking outside the box" even before it was "cool" to do so.
I am glad that more and more, using technology to its fullest potential in an educational setting is catching on as it really does help on so many levels.
Heather Adrian AKA RedGringo
Posted by: Heather Adrian | 31/05/2009 at 21:30
Hi Heather,
Thanks for your comment. Delighted you found the interview interested. I'm sure Esther would be delighted!
Posted by: Joe Dale | 01/06/2009 at 08:28
Dear All
Yes, thank you for the encouragement. It is good to be part of an ever growing network of teachers who are using technology to aid learning.
FYI I have made public the Assistante Virtuelle for Capel Primary School: http://wokassistantevirtuellecapel.blogspot.com/
We have focused on the Literacy strand of the KS2 Framework for Languages so far, but with the addition of a Podcast we will work towards addressing the Oracy strand too. It's a work in progress but will continue with the new cohort of FLA's in the Autumn term 2009.
Since the interview I have also managed to get our MFL department blog off the ground at Weald of Kent Grammar School: www.wok20mfl.blogspot.com
Best regards
Esther Hardman
Posted by: Esther Hardman | 12/06/2009 at 20:43
This is brilliant Esther. I've added the RSS feed to the virtual assistant blog in my Google Reader. Looking forward to seeing how it is used in the future.
Good luck with your podcasting adventures!
Posted by: Joe Dale | 17/06/2009 at 11:24