Glenn Cake opened my eyes to breakout rooms in Elluminate. Claire Bartlett taught me about Tandem Learning and Dr Felix Kronenberg introduced me to the wonderful site Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon for finding authentic images which promote intercultural understanding. It was also lovely to see a familiar face in Catherine Ousselin who generously shared some of her ideas and resources with other delegates.
I thought Ewan's idea of the Monday showdown where a couple of us had to light-heartedly pitch our preferred tool for delegates to use to present their outcomes at the end of the week was also a cracker.
I very much enjoyed presenting my three hour workshop on easy classroom blogging with Posterous and it was interesting to compare the dynamics of a hands-on session delivered virtually as opposed to face to face. This was one of the topics Evan and I discussed in our post workshop chat over Skype which I've published here.
Thanks again to Evan for organising such a fab, fun and free learning experience and for my attendance certificate too of course! Much appreciated and see you again next year.
For the last couple of months, I’ve been producing a toolkit of step by step guides designed to encourage language tutors in the Adult Community Learning sector to explore the potential of new technologies to enhance their existing courses.
The idea of the project funded by The Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) and coordinated by ACL Curriculum Manager for Languages Nola Marshall is to offer students a blended approach of distance learning and face to face contact so they can extend their learning outside of the classroom at a time that suits them.
In addition to creating the comprehensive guides, I delivered 3 consecutive days of training to participating tutors at Witham Adult Community Learning Centre with the help of Nola, Maria the Curriculum Manager for ICT and e-learning and two lovely technicians Bob and Paul.
We looked at different ways of creating, publishing and subscribing to content concentrating on the tools and technologies I had covered in the toolkit. These included:
Posterous as an easy way of blogging content via email in an open, moderated or password-protected environment
Audacity for recording and editing podcasts
Accessing creative commons licensed images through Flickr and different search tools such as Behold, Compfight and Xpert
Creating and editing video clips using digital video cameras and Movie Maker
Subscribing to blogs, podcasts and wikis via RSS for distance learning with Google Reader
Flashmeeting for videoconferencing and recording meetings
SlideShare and publishing PowerPoints or creating Slidecasts with embedded audio
Collaborative writing and publishing resources with Wikispaces
Creating interactive exercises with Hot Potatoes
Creating word clouds with Wordle (not covered during the training due to time constraints)
Using Text to Speech software Speakonia to support listening and reading skills (not covered during the training due to time constraints)
We also touched upon using Twitter as microblogging service and a way of developing a personal learning network and I suggested tutors follow colleagues from the MFL Twitterati. I was delighted minius666 and ElinorMcN rose to the challenge there and then!
Everyone set up their own Posterous blog to publish their outcomes on to. Here is the one I created for this purpose and here is the one I set up prior to the training to show examples of my outcomes for each tutorial. Maria created a wonderful example called Moodle Magic.
We covered three tutorials a day which some found quite intensive, but with the comprehensive notes I gave out I'm sure tutors will have all the support they need as well as time to reflect over the summer. I've also told tutors they can contact me if they get stuck which I hope they will.
Hats off to Rick, ACL IT technician in Harlow for agreeing to take part in our Flashmeeting on the last day of the training, the full recording of which can be found here. He did brilliantly fielding questions from the tutors and all while keeping a smile on his face too!
To assess the success of the training and the impact on practice, I asked tutors to record their thoughts at the end of each day and you can listen to their feedback here.
During the course of the training we did come across a few technical issues, namely:
We couldn't create more than 10 gmail accounts from the same IP address and so I realise now we should have asked delegates to create theirs before the start of the course.
We had difficulty in setting up SlideShare accounts simultaneously. Again, it would have been better to have asked tutors to do this beforehand.
Movie Maker continually crashed due to to only having 1.5 GB of RAM per machine. To get around this I asked delegates to import CC Flickr images instead and add a soundtrack, transitions and effects, music for the end credits and a title page which worked fine.
Admittedly, the gliches did put some people off as it knocked their confidence, but with a bit of encouragement we were able to work through this OK.
Complying to the terms of the funding, the toolkit will be made available for free to ACL tutors in the autumn term via the Excellence Gateway portal. We will be recommending however that centres hire me in to provide hands-on training for some or all of the tutorials as well to ensure staff are fully equipped to embed the techniques covered. We are also looking at offering a revised version for schools and again will be strongly suggesting that they also buy in hands-on training to support them in offering students these new and exciting distance learning opportunities. Watch this space!
As a follow up to my participation in last month's innovative ICT Day at Medina High School on the Isle of Wight, I spent last Monday afternoon with the MFL department looking at ways they could use a class set of iPod Touches to engage their pupils and enhance language learning.
To give some structure to the training, I created a new page on the Posterous blog I set up to publish the podcasts we made during the two workshops in June.
Referring to Sharon Tonner's wonderful explanations on her I-C-T wiki, I demonstrated how easy it was to make different types of QR code with the site Sparqcode and within minutes we had created one linking to a URL and the other to some text. The advantage of the latter being that it will work offline as well as on. To read the codes, I recommended the free app I-nigma which works instantaneously when pointed in the right direction.
We then discussed how we could employ QR codes in language lessons.
e.g. For a URL QR code
To launch an mp3 file
To play a video
To visit an authentic website and answer some comprehension exercises
My favourite idea was to give students cards with QR codes on them linking to a text response whereby they would have to find their partner who had the answer to their question or the same information as them. Preparing the exercise wouldn't be too time-consuming as you could use the Teachers Pet toolbar to make picture flashcards in a few clicks or copy and paste multiple QR codes into a Word document, print it off on to card and cut them up from there.
Alternatively, you could just use Russell Tarr's wonderful QR Treasure Hunt Generator! which simplifies the process even more by creating the necessary QR codes for each question along with an answer sheet. Moreover, your devices don't have to be online for this to work and you need to input a minimum of five questions and answers. Try out his bookmarklet too which can generate a QR code of the web page you are on or any highlighted text on that page! The QR codes can then be copied and pasted into a document, printed off and cut up as previously suggested. The beauty of the text ones is that they don't need a connected device to work. Just think of the exciting exercises this could generate in MFL and yes QR codes can deal with accents!
Have a look too at QR code voting with Qwikvotes! The idea is a teacher sets the question, students scan generated QR code of their choice and then teacher clicks on show results.
For QR codes which link to URLs, another way of saving time would be to create a customised URL using the link shortening service Snipurl. This would mean you could use the same QR code, but change the URL it launches each time.
By clicking on the Manage Snips tab and Edit, you can see that you can change the Long URL and hit the Save Changes button without changing the shortened form. In this way, you can create a range of customised links with different nicknames e.g medinamfl1, medinamfl2 etc and generate QR codes for each one. These QR codes will not need to change because they will always link to the same customised URL. However, by changing the Long URL, the link that opens as a result can be different and so could be regularly updated for different purposes.
If you add a Private Key to your customised link, you will need to enter it and click Fetch my URL before being able to access the desired web page. To avoid this extra step, but keep your snipping private, you can add your Private Key after your link e.g. http://sn.im/medinamfl-medina
Both methods will ensure your snippings will not appear in the public timeline so it's up to you to choose which you prefer. Unfortunately, this will not work with text QR Codes only URL ones.
There are various apps which allow you to generate a QR code directly from your iPod Touch. Easy QR is my favourite as it is free and has a very simple clean interface. Using the text option, you can create QR codes for texts as well as URLs and save them as images in your Camera Roll so they can be scanned later.
One idea would be to make a QR code from a long piece of text and display the image on the board. Pupils could scan it in and then complete a Google Form also accessed via a QR code to show they had understood the contents. To finish, you could display the results on the board and go over the answers. Alternatively, pupils could generate their own QR codes and do a pair or group work activity which you would traditionally complete on paper.
To inspire us with further possibilities we checked out the wonderful 40 interesting ways of using QR codes in education to see which ideas lent themselves well to MFL. Vicky Davis's post QR Code Classroom Implementation Guide is also full of good advice and recommends Kaywa and FireFox add-on Mobile Barcoder for generating QR codes. The latter works straight from the bottom right corner of the browser which could be useful when presenting on an interactive whiteboard and asking students to scan from their devices.
Use Russel Tarr’s bookmarklet to create giant URL QR codes in one click on the interactive whiteboard so students can quickly scan them and transfer the content on to their handheld device. See this process in action in this clip from Ollie Bray published in 2008. To create a text QR code, highlight the text in question first before clicking the bookmarklet.
Give students QR codes which link to revision PowerPoint presentations you’ve published on Slideshare so they can watch them on their mobile devices. You could embed a YouTube clip containing supplementary material which runs on one of the slides. This would work fine unless you wanted to make a Slidecast by synchronising an mp3 file with your presentation in which case, you could add a QR code on the slide in question and ask students to pause, watch the clip and then press play again. The QR code linking to the SlideShare version of a class presentation could be added to the last slide as a matter of course.
To enhance a departmental portfolio of levelled pieces of work, use QR codes to launch audio or video clips as evidence of speaking. Likewise, add QR codes to your prospectus linking to impressive multimedia outcomes highlighting the strengths of the school.
Use Sparqcode to generate a set of QR codes linking to Google Maps for a lesson on directions. Give pupils written or spoken instructions for where they need to go via a text or URL QR code and ask them to label the final destination they reach having followed the instructions.
Give pupils a QR code which launches the email client on their handheld device as a way of simplifying the process of handing in work or sending you the URL of a web based project they’ve completed. This could be the email they need to publish resources on to a class Posterous site although they could use the dedicated app for this as well.
Create a text QR code for the login details needed to access a site or resource so they are always kept in the device’s history. In the same way, use a QR code to access the school’s wifi system!
Stick a URL QR code linking to work carried out in an ICT suite as proof of outcomes in pupils’ exercise books.
Create a QR code of an RSS feed to make it easier for students to subscribe to blogs and podcasts.
Use Snap.vu or BWScan to find out how many times a QR code has been scanned and by how many unique visitors. Choose the former if you want to clear results and receive email notifications. Choose the latter for more detailed analytics
For ILILC 2012, I’ve been reflecting on the possibilities of integrating QR codes into procedures and so far have come up with the following:
Create a QR code which links to a mobile friendly WebDoc full of multimedia goodness. Thanks to Shelly Terrell for the inspiration for this idea. This could be incorporated into a blog badge or added to any paper literature about the conference.
Put a QR code next to speaker’s bios in the conference programme which link to their respective blogs.
Create a multimedia QR code quiz to be completed between presentations at the MFL Show and Tell. Pub Quiz for the 21st century?
Here is an example Free Text poll to show you how it works with the iPod Touch or any other handheld device connected to the web.
click Save new poll.
On the right hand side, untick the box next to Text messages from and make sure there is a tick in the box by Web devices on.
Make a note of the number you need to use for your web response and go to http://pollev.com to submit it with your answer.
Return to the page where the answers to your poll are displayed to see your response.
Please note you can carry out a poll without being registered and your answers will be deleted after two weeks. Once the poll is finished though you can choose to click the Stop Poll button. You can also download a PowerPoint slide which contains the poll too and include it in a presentation.
Next we looked at recording audio on the iPod Touch. There are many apps which allow you to do this including the default Voice Memos app. One issue is the format the audio records in (m4a, AIFF, mp3, caf etc) and the second is how to transfer it off the device, if it needs editing and publishing.
John Johnston is an expert in this field and has recommended two apps to me. The first is iTalk recorder which is free, allows you to rename your files on the device and lets you sync your recordings with your PC with the free iTalk Sync program. It records audio as AIFF files which means they can be edited in Audacity and converted to mp3 using the Lame encoder.
The second app is VR+ Voice which costs £1.19 on the app store and records directly as mp3. You can also transfer the files wirelessly from the device to a computer using a URL. Listen to John singing its praises here as well as Wifi Photo Transfer which works in the same way, but for images.
I demoed iTalk and showed how to download files from the iPod Touch. They were suitably impressed!
To finish the session we talked about file management using DropBox and touched upon the digital storytelling apps SonicPics and Our Story. The latter looks particularly good and was designed by the Open University to promote reading.
Check out as well my MFLedapps blog which features links and video clips of many apps I feel could be useful in enhancing language learning. I've used tags on the right hand side to specify in which skill area they could be particularly effective, if they are free or not and if they are for the iPod or iPad. A good place to find educational apps is on Twitter. Search for edapps and you're bound to find some gems!
I'll be very interested to hear how the MFL department at Medina get on with the iPods next academic year and see what impact they have on the pupils' learning. I hope they keep in Touch ;-)
Yesterday, I had the pleasure of working with the staff at Medina High School at one of their development days focusing on the use of ICT to support teaching and learning.
Assistant Headteacher Nick Krista kicked off the morning with an overview of how the school is currently using technology to enhance the curriculum and highlighted directions it now wants to explore. My job was to showcase examples of innovative practice and suggest where colleagues could find out more.
After my talk, I ran two podcasting workshops and showed delegates how easy it is to email their mp3 files to Posterous and subscribe via RSS in Google Reader.
Have a listen to what they produced and feel free to leave a comment.
Thank you to Mandy Freeman-Clark and her team from SCILT for coordinating the training session and for Catriona Oates for getting the ball rolling in the first place.
If you are interested in finding out more about the potential of blogging and podcasting to enhance language learning and offer personalised distance learning opportunities to your students, why not download the flyer and apply to attend the course? You won't regret it.
Here is some of the feedback from Colchester to whet your appetite:
Thanks for an enjoyable day.I had a great day and now feel inspired to use the ideas with my classes. Can't wait to get started. (Steph Rudkin)
Thanks for a really great training day. Have already secured funding for an iriver and a MFL blog! Now just got to get started!! (Melissa Capes)
Many thanks for an excellent day-it was really inspiring and I aim to put all the practical advice to good use right away! We're also going to sort our blog subscription out and get going as soon as we can! (Lorraine Hunt)
Although both the Manchester and London legs of my Keynote Educational outing went smoothly this week, getting to the first destination was hardly a stroll in the park. Having researched the possibilities and financial considerations of travelling up to the northwest by different means of transport, I decided to choose the more straightforward option of catching a train from London to Manchester.
Despite these well laid plans, I discovered at Euston that all services to the northwest were unfortunately cancelled due to an electrical fault at Northampton and we were directed to St Pancras (a ten minute walkaway) where we boarded a train bound for Sheffield. Upon arrival, we had to decide whether to carry on our journey on another very overcrowded train or go for the less congested yet slower alternative which would at least guarantee us of a seat.
Choosing the 'slower, but seat' option, we trundled off to Manchester and I carried on with my audio editing duties to pass the time. By 9.15, we'd arrived and it was time for some food. A greasy burger later, I caught the free coach to the airport and then jumped in a taxi to get to my hotel over three and a half hours late at a shocking 10.15 in the evening.
Thanks to Twitter I was able to broadcast the blow by blow account of the whole experience and receive some reassuring tweets from others who were following the journey virtually.
Anyway, after a good night's sleep the next two days seemed to go swimmingly. Normality was resumed and I was back on track!
Have a look at Flickr to get a flavour of Monday and Tuesday and have a listen to Odile from Manchester and Bruno from London on their personal feedback of the training.
Thanks to everyone who tweeted while I was away. It was much appreciated and just to let you all know it's nice now to be back home.
For the second time in the space of a week I was back in Ireland on Saturday to deliver some more training on using ICT to enhance the teaching and learning of modern foreign languages. On this occasion, I was in Maynooth for a repeat of the French.ie course I gave exactly a year ago to the day.
Colleagues who heard about the course through the French.ie forum came from all over the country. They were a lovely bunch, very enthusiastic and particularly liked having a comprehensive booklet and CDrom to take away with them so they could practice at home.
Like last year, at the end of the course I passed round my iRiver and asked colleagues to record their thoughts of the day. Click on the link below to hear what they said.
I've volunteered to run the next two sessions at Nodehill in the new year with the aim to show my Island colleagues how easy it is to start blogging and podcasting. Entry will be free and all are welcome.
On the second day of my half term tour, I travelled up to Sheffield for a repeat session on how to blog and podcast with members of ALL South Yorkshire.
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