Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom:

Brittany - Day 5

Today we got packed and went to the American D-Day cemetery. It was very sad and thought-provoking, but at the same time it was very beautiful because all of the crosses were perfectly aligned and cared for.

After having lunch we went to the 360 degree cinema which was very atmospheric and showed real footage from the D-Day landings.

It made you feel like you were really there.

We boarded the ferry and spent the first hour working in our workbooks.

Overall, I've really enjoyed this trip. Thank you to Mr Dale and Mr Peace for organising this great experience for us.

Have a listen to Felicity talking about our last day in France.

Brittany - Day 4

Today, we went to a French market which I was looking forward to. The journey took half an hour. I went round the market with Dan, Robert and Alfred. The first item I bought was a bongo drum which I was forced to buy by a crazy West Indian man who kept on shouting "Give me Ten!" I then bought a wooden turtle pour mes parents.

Mr Peace giving his speech on the beach

Looking for sealife.

After the market, we did a beach study at La Plage de la Mare where we climbed over rocks to look at the living things in rock pools. We then had lunch and had a sandcastle competition. I made one with Dan and Peter. We made a Pukka Pie. Yeah!

One of the winning entries in the Industrial Design category

Sam enjoying himself on the beach!

After we saw everyone's castle we went back to the hotel to pack our bags as it was our last day in France.

We then had dinner including some chocolate cake for the pupils whose birthday it was this week.

Finally we played volleyball on the beach.

Have a listen to Lauren talking about our fourth day in France.

Brittany - Day 3

After breakfast we went to the hypermarket at St Malo. It was awesome. 

There were lots of things to buy.

This is what Robert bought!

We had a nice picnic on the beach before going to Mont St Michel.

Mont St Michel was quite cool. I walked around the winding road for ages. The shops were selling lots of stuff. There were lead figures, glass objects, ice creams and models.

Then we got on the coach and went back to the hotel. we worked in our workbooks for an hour. Then we had dinner which was delicious. Finally, we played on the beach.

Have a listen to Fraser talking about our third day in France.

Brittany - Day 2

On the first day, we travelled to Saint Cast and today we stayed there for the morning. I bought a postcard, a basketball, Lego and a china jam pot. When we played in the park, Fraser and I made our lego and discussed how it had changed over the years.

Buying souvenirs in town.

Looking around St Cast.

In the afternoon. we travelled to Dinan and went to the Jardin Anglais where we had lunch.

At the patisserie, we practised our French and bought drinks.

We looked at the river. It was very hot and we moved quickly.

When we walked up the middle of the mediaeval road, we came across a souvenir shop where Robert bought a mug and I bought a jam jar.

At the last minute, Harry and I went to the ice cream parlour and had a delicious ice cream. We came back and had some free time. When i watched the original Italian Job with another Robert. At lights out, I was sleepy and fell asleep quickly.

Playing football on the beach.

Have a listen to Robert talking about our second day in France.

Brittany - Day 1

We have just arrived at our hotel, it's good to stretch our legs after a 3 hour coach ride. My room is good (eventhough it doesn't have a T.V) but the Brittany ferry from Portsmouth was nice and on it I went to the cinema to see Star Trek. 

The town where we are staying is very nice. It has cool sandy beaches, nice shops and sunny weather. I can see now why Mr Dale has been doing this trip for so long. It is also very cool that we can play sports on the beach.

This is Ellis hitting a six!

Have a listen to Harry talking about our first day in France.

Phlogging the French trip with iPadio

For this year's educational visit to Brittany I will be attempting to send voice messages live to my blog from my mobile phone or netbook using iPadio. This morning I chatted with Mark, CEO and founder of the free phlogging tool about the idea and he assured me it should work without a hitch.

This is great news and I look forward to trying to follow in the footsteps of other teachers who have inspired me in recent years with their smooth moblogging experiences and engaging use of technology outside of the classroom. Have a look at the Musselburgh Grammar S2 France trip blog for a great example and in particular the podcasts they made during the visit to see what I mean.

One of the organisers and CDT teacher at the school, Suzanne Watson told me in an email just how easy it was to post while away,

"There was nothing technical about our France blogs. We simply took away with us an ipod and a voice recorder plug in. Each day one pupil would record our events. I did had to convert the sound track to mp3 as it saved as an mp4 file on the ipod but I just used free software I downloaded from the internet.Once I had it as mp3 I simply uploaded each file the same way as I would upload a word file for example. The way its displayed on the website is just the way wordpress displays these types of files. Fortunately each of the hotels we stayed in had wifi so I was able to use my own laptop for the process."
 
To use iPadio all you have to do is register your mobile phone number on the site, then, ring the London number 02033842843, enter your 4 figure pin, record your message and press the hash key. Job done. If you want to use a different mobile phone, landline or Skype, simply ring the same number, enter your registered number and then proceed as before. Once you hang up, your phlog will be sent automatically to your account as an mp3 file and your RSS feed will be updated so your subscribers can download the latest episode.

Since Vodafone decided to abolish their roaming charges this summer, calling from France should cost the same as in the UK as long as you sign up to their passport scheme. But check the small print!

You can also add a player to your blog if you wish. Unfortunately there isn't a listen again option, so you need to be sure of what you want to stay. However, if you do make a mistake, you can just go to your account and delete the message from there.

For those who may be interested in listening to my future phlogs, here is my home page and RSS feed which I will be updating in a couple of weeks time when we set off. Wish me luck!

Oh, by the way, I'm sorry I coughed at the beginning of my message. I think I must have had a phlog in my throat ;)

Sounding out AudioBoo and PhoneBoo

Walking through Audioboo from Mark Rock on Vimeo.

AudioBoo is a British designed free iPhone app which allows you to record voice messages of up to 5 minutes and post them online along with an image and your location on a Google Map. 'Boos' as they are known are automatically saved in users' accounts as mp3 files and joined to the same RSS feed meaning they can be subscribed to in iTunes or Google Reader. See this screencast for more information. Individual messages can also be embedded on a blog or website and their links cross-posted to Twitter.

Since its launch in March, AudioBoo has caught the public's imagination due to its ease of use, excellent sound quality and social networking credibility. Some journalists are even suggesting it could be used for reporting local stories quickly and easily.

Conceived & developed by Best Before Media and partly funded by Channel 4's 4iP project, AudioBoo also works on an iPod Touch with a wifi connection and external microphone. However, for those who don't have an iPhone or iPod Touch, but still wish to create short podcasts on the move, the team has created a new service PhoneBoo which can be accessed by ringing a UK number from any mobile phone, landline or Skype. All you need to do is register a number on the website, obtain your access code and you're good to go.

Phonecasting of course is not a new phenomenon and has been possible for quite a while for those wanting to create simple podcasts without the need of a computer. Have a look at this earlier post for a great example and listen to this Wes Fryer podcast comparing different ways of producing digital recordings via cell phone.

Unfortunately for UK based audio mobloggers, platforms such as GCast, Drop.io, GabCast and Utterli present certain drawbacks because they either only support US numbers or require paid for credits to use. The latter is possibly due to the worldwide economic downturn, but is frustrating none the less for teachers wishing to regularly create audio from their mobile phones without costing them a fortune. No such problem with PhoneBoo though.

Early adopter, Neville Hobson admits the audio quality of PhoneBoo is not as good as AudioBoo but this is because the latter saves the file locally before uploading it to the web whereas the former captures the sound remotely which typically produces a poorer outcome due to the limitations of recording on a phone. Listen to Neville talking about this in more detail on his FIR podcast with Shel Holtz.

Download AudioBoo_on_The_Hobson_and_Holtz_Report

Other fans of AudioBoo include James Clay, Documentally (Christian Payne) and Drama Girl (Kate Foy). Click here to listen to Kate's recent interview with Spencer Howson on the ABC Breakfast Show in Queensland, Australia about the new tool.

John Johnston has been reflecting on how AudioBoo could be used in education allowing pupils to make short audio recordings as podcasts and have others subscribe to them. To hear more of John's thoughts listen here.

AudioBoo is still very much a work in progress at the moment and has experienced growing pains in the first few months. Once these are ironed out and the infrastructure is established, Mark Rock, CEO of Best Before Media will be encouraging others to develop third party apps to create a range of exciting possibilities for users to share their boos in the future. Bootiful!

Have a look too at iPadio which also lets you create instant podcasts or 'phlogs' via the phone. Here's one about collaquialisms from the Isle of Wight from Mr Caulkhead. Makes for interesting listening!

So if ever language teachers and iPhone owners such as Lisa Stevens, José Picardo, Alex Blagona, Chris Holbrook, Laura Walker or Suzi Bewell ever find themselves disheartened by the state of language learning in this country, my advice to them would be to just start 'booing' and I'm sure they'd feel a whole lot better afterwards :)

TopGold's mobile recording gear

Bernie Goldbach has published a useful clip on Flickr describing the mobile recording gear he uses for working on the move. This includes:

• Sony ICD-MX20
• MXL 2006
• BeyerDynamic MCE 86 II
• AR-133 Active DI Box

The MXL is a condenser studio mic powered by a 9V battery and the Beyerdynamic is a shotgun mic powered by an AA battery. Both of the microphones connect to the AR-133 which needs its own 9V battery too and the cables are XLR. The clip was recorded at Tipperary Institute as a DictaPause moment from the Broadband Edutainment Resource Network. Great setup for the pro-level podcaster!

Monitor your meter with BatteryBar

 

 

BatteryBar is a useful Windows tool for providing real time information about how your laptop battery is performing. As well as telling you how much juice you have left, it can also indicate how long the battery needs to be connected to A/C power before it is fully charged.

 

Once installed, right click the taskbar, select Toolbars and BatteryBar and the software will launch.

 

Thanks to jkOnTheRun for the link. A handy addition to my MSI Wind.

Grasping the nettle at Language World 09

Download New_tools_new_curriculum_new_opportunities_Language_World_2009.mp3

Attending Language World organised by The Association for Language Learning at the University of Leicester was very memorable for me this year as it was my first talk for 2009 and I was very much looking forward to meeting up with friends and networking face to face rather than just online for a change.

The conference certainly lived up to my expectations and I attended some fascinating sessions on a variety of topics. Thanks to modern technology and the kind permission of speakers such Lisa Stevens and Alex Blagona, I was able to record everything on my iRiver and therefore not miss out on talks that clashed on the programme.

Moreover, having digital versions of their words of wisdom meant I could send Lisa and Alex the mp3 files so they could then transform their presentations Absorbing Language Learning and Using Wikis in MFL into slidecasts and share them with a much wider audience than those present on the day.

I wish this sort of practice happened more often as the benefits to the MFL community would be considerable. This really should be a no brainer in the 21st century and an opportunity to put into practice the theme of the conference of grasping the nettle.

That said, I was delighted to see a healthy Twitter backchannel going on throughout the conference as well as speakers readily referring to their blogs at the beginning or end of sessions as a means of offering their audience the opportunity for accessing further materials and support.

The new ALL magazine Languages Today also included the article My Top 10 Blogs (written by some ‘star blogger’ from the Isle of Wight) and as you can see below bloggers speaking at the conference were highlighted with a red pin raising their profile further. This was a welcome development and an indication of how blogging is coming of age and moving more into mainstream education. 

In my talk I encouraged colleagues to create their own personal learning network by subscribing to blogs, listening to podcasts and using sites such as Del.icio.us and Flickr to keep their continuing professional development up to date. As an attempt to show how much teachers already value these types of social networks, I sent out a request on Twitter before starting my session asking what people's PLNs meant to them. I was touched by the response and very grateful for the wonderful tweets from:

jonsim29, blagona, HGJohn, carolrainbow, russelltarr, skinnyboyevans, markw29, DoBeLou, daibarnes, dominic_mcg, peterford, dannynic, winetimejs, teachernz, jennyluca, dannynic (again), lynnehorn, islayian, nickdennis, langwitch, lynnehorn (again), theokk, timrylands, daibarnes (again), adamsutcliffe, mrmackensie, ajep, don_iain, pilsward, lisibo, willie42, kenny73, snbeach, GeoBlogs, wmchamberlain, oide, pearlyadder, gusleonard, tonycassidy, kenroyal, MaryHr, jmlesoleil

and here they are:

@joedale the ability to collaborate instantly with other educators is one of the greatest tools I use in the classroom

@joedale Twitter is great for putting out new ideas, seeking out advice, and keeping up to date with the latest developments.

@joedale What better way is there to link in to a global network of educators for inspiration, ideas and support?

@joedale it means being given the opportunity to keep up to date with current thinking, articles & research by people with similar interests

@joedale PLN allows sharing of links to top resources in just a few words. Easy to scan lots of ideas in minutes (unlike email/forums)

@joedale personal network is more than googling answers from people its debating the answers with those people

@joedale My PLN (mainly via Twitter) is a great way of sharing ideas with some amazing educators, who are always creative and supportive.

@joedale I get a lot of interesting stuff from some really interesting people that otherwise I wouldn't get or know!

@joedale my PLN is how I met you, & 800 other teachers. Best professional move I ever made. It is my working community.

@joedale Twitter is the best way to share ideas and experiences. There is no hierarchy and everyone's voice is the same volume.

@joedale A drip-feed of creative ideas, discussion and prof. develop. potential. Beats normal force- or spoon-feeding of irrelevant CPD

@joedale my PLN gives me easy access to some amazing educators - can share ideas and expertise. Lots of talented people out here

@joedale Network helping me and my students learn Twitter, locate resources, find impt links, generate ideas. 2 weeks using twitter.

@joedale My PLN means that if I need support, answers, a laugh or collegiality they can ALL be found there. :-)

@joedale PLN means access to a supportive community with great minds to match. It's where I do most of my learning now.

@joedale have learned more, for free, in 9 months of Twitter than in 3 years of being a Naace subscriber

@joedale Allows me to meet + keep in touch with language teachers (+other subjs) all over UK, great for new ideas + help when needed.

@joedale Keeps connected to what is happening and to a support network even from an isolated place

@joedale Twitter is a place to bounce ideas and get expert advice from people that are willing to help :)

@joedale Twitter is great for finding out about new ideas and for support at times when you need it most!

@joedale Also about to start a bit of collaborative work between my class and class elsewhere in UK, all started via Twitter.

@joedale PLN gathers 'lots' of opinions, ideas and data to aggregate, greater than sum of parts

@joedale my PLN is a mix of analogue and digital. It is so good to meet the REAL hooman beings behind incredible digital ideas. :-)

@joedale more like minded educators on twitter than in the average staffroom. its a virtual staffroom, minus the coffee smell

@joedale twitter is my extended staffroom where links are shared, questions answered + there r lots of interesting conversations

@joedale PLN keeps me informed and up to date. Shows me fantastic resources, answers questions and fills me with enthusiasm. Inspiring.

@joedale I get to tap in to the minds of some great, innovative teachers for help, classroom ideas and new web tools.

@joedale - Twitter allows me to keep in touch with what's going on in the world, to share, to ask question and get answers

@joedale Started my PLN 6 months ago it's become my most used tool for garnering & sharing uptodate and innovative ED news & views

@joedale inspiration, support, sharing and the odd random conversation (as necessary as the others at times)

@joedale my learning network creates a "learning w/o boundaries" experience. I become a part of all from whom I learn with online.

@joedale advice, inspiration, tip-offs, CPD, technical support, a daily smile and traffic updates...

@joedale Hello from Noel, MO. Twitter = connections.

@joedale With 9 yrs to retirement. My PLN is a finely tuned amalgam of like-minded peers that assist in my CPD where official channels fail.

@joedale I have made so many contacts and learnt so much with the free share of ideas on Twitter. I wouldn't want to be without it.

@joedale PLN keeps me current in the field via live tweets during conferences. eg. #bootcamp #iatefl. Follow trends and ongoing events

@joedale moral/emotional support, learning, sharing, and a laugh...

@joedale It gives me the same opportunities e-mail did in the 14.4 modem days--only now, collaboration isn't such a hunt.

@joedale it provides access to online sages; serves as my interactive reference library and helps build my academic "social capital"

Below is a summary of the main points of my talk along with all the supporting links you should need to find out more.

Summary

• Introduction
• quoting Kathy Wicksteed quoting Chris Maynard from QCA at Language World 2008
• inviting teachers to be bold when implementing the new KS3 curriculum
• Alec Couros' diagram of the networked teacher
• creating new CPD opportunities using RSS
• how language teachers are creating their own Personal Learning Networks (PLN)
• explaining RSS and how to subscribe in Google Reader
• tailouring materials to personalise learning for students
• finding the RSS feed in your browser
• subscribing to a RSS feed
• celebrating language related events on Flickr
• tagging photos on Flickr so pictures can be shared by different people in the same collection
• embedding Flickr slideshows on to your blog
• uploading videos as well as images to Flickr
• using the video function on a still digital camera
• subscribing to the photostreams of other language teachers
• sharing your favourite websites online with social bookmarking
• using email to find out about the latest updates as an alternative to RSS
• adding a del.icio.us tag roll to your blog
• the benefits of being part of an online community (fora/Ning networks)
• having an open or closed network
• micro-blogging with Twitter
• the power of asking questions on Twitter
• twittering at The Isle of Wight Conference 2008
• using Twitter for language learning purposes
• Twitter blending the personal with the professional
• downloading YouTube clips and embedding them into PowerPoint
• creating customised RSS feeds to search for clips by username and tag
• using Skype to make free calls to other users or inexpensive calls to landlines over the internet
• recording and editing Skype calls from a USB stick
• bringing authentic voices into the classroom
• using SkypeOut credit to ring landlines for a few pence
• videoconferencing with Flashmeeting
• using wikis for creative writing, collaborative projects and for hosting multimedia resources
• reasons to start blogging and ideas on promoting your blog
• ideas to start moblogging
• using a UMPC (Ultra Mobile PC)
• the educational value of podcasting
• CILT video case studies on the effective use of ICT
• using podcasting for assessment for learning purposes and distance learning
• using podcasting for global citizenship and eTwinning
• some cool tools for schools (Wordle, Mobus, Tumblr+Kwout, VoiceThread, eBook to Images, Go! Animate)
• how to morph your voice in Audacity
• further reading
• a few final thoughts

Show Notes

SSAT Annual Languages Conference 2008

Kathy Wicksteed at Language World 2008

the new KS3 curriculum

Typical teacher network v the networked teacher

RSS in Plain English

Google Reader in Plain English

Easy ways into RSS

IE7

FireFox

Flickr

European Day of Languages 2008 on Flickr

The Isle of Wight Conference 2007 on Flickr

SSAT Annual Languages Conference 2007 on Flickr

FlickrSLiDR

Video on Flickr

Video VoxPop at Language World 2008 on Flickr

Lisa Stevens' puppets set (lisibo)

Alex Blagona's EDL and LAFTA set (Blaggers)

del.icio.us

My del.icio.us tags

Isabelle Jones' del.icio.us tags

Diigo

Isabelle Jones on Diigo

del.icio.us tag roll

Flashmeeting

MFLresources

TESConnect with RSS

Linguanet Forum

Ning networking

Talkabout Primary MFL Ning

Jo Rhys-Jones

The Isle of Wight Conference Ning

Twitter

Creating your personal learning network with Twitter

Twitter film from IOW Conference 08

The Isle of Wight Conference 2008

Interview with Steve Collis

Quel temps fait-il à Foxford?

Embedding YouTube and Google videos into PowerPoint

Keepvid

Download video clips with Real Player 11

Search YouTube via username with RSS

Subscribe to YouTube video tags via RSS

Tooble and YTDownloader

MFL Karaoke and Role Play Raps

Welcome to Gorseville

GCSE French for Dummies

AuthorStream

Podcast your PowerPoints

Podcasters power up in class

Skype

Recording Skype calls with Pamela

Record and Edit Skype calls from a USB stick

Bucharest eTwinning Conference 2008 and using a USB modem abroad

Audacity Anytime Anyplace Anywhere

Interview with Kathleen Holton

Kathleen Holton at The Isle of Wight Conference

Podcasting and Language Skills

SkypeOut

eTwinning ambassador John Warwick and his email contact

My Flashmeetings

EdTechRoundup

Flashmeeting project for Primary Languages

OZ/NZ Educators

Passionate about podcasting

Live Blogging with Cover It Live

OZ/NZ Educators Ning

Making Use of Blogging, Podcasting and Wikis in the MFL Classroom

Interview with Chris Fuller

Peter Morris and his CILT Wikimania project

CILT Cymru Wetpaint wiki

Making Languages Count: CILT Cymru DVD

MFL Show and Tell 08 wiki

Shozu

Using SkypeOut credit with Utterli

Interview with Chris Holbrook

Liz Kolb at K12 Online

USB modem

Asus Eee PC

MSI Wind

The educational value of podcasting presentation at Jersey e-Learning Conference

Podcasting in Plain English

CILT video case studies on effective use of ICT

Nodehill French Grammar Podcasts

Nodehill French Grammar Podcasts go from strength to strength

Nodehill French Grammar Podcasts now on iTunes

Interview with Adam Sutcliffe

Rate My Mate's Podcast

Chinese Day at Nodehill

Interview with Joe Molloy

Spread the IOW Conference Wordle

Blog on a mobile

Tumblr + Kwout for simple tumbleblogging

Learning languages with VoiceThread

Mobile revision with eBook to images

Go! Animate your lessons

Morph your voice in Audacity

Morph your Voki in Audacity

Posts on blogging, podcasting, moblogging and mobile phones

Twhirl for Twitter

 

Thank you to The Association for Language Learning for organising such a great conference and for providing so many learning and networking opportunities for ALL our needs. See you next year.