Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom:

Kathleen Holton on digital voice recorders, blogs, wikis, mind maps, e-portfolios and peer assessment

 

The week before the GCSE results came out this summer, I decided to contact Kathleen Holton, Head of Languages at Argoed High School in Mold, Flintshire about the possibility of a Skype phone interview so she could discuss her department’s ground-breaking work with Web 2.0 in Wales more fully. Having originally blogged about Argoed’s great use of technologies such as blogs, wikis and digital voice recorders in July, I was delighted Kathleen agreed to share her ideas in the 90 minute interview. I hope you enjoy it. Here is a summary of our conversation:

Download interview_with_kathleen_holton.mp3

Summary:

• Introductions
• Gaining confidence in the use of technology to enhance language learning following different types of training in the potential of ICT
• Being greatly encouraged by Deputy Head and ICT enthusiast Peter Buckland on the potential of Web 2.0 tools such as blogs and wikis
• Having access to a laptop, projector and interactive whiteboard in every classroom in the school despite not having the luxury of e-learning credits in Wales
• Setting up an email exchange with partner school in Germany in 2001 through the British Council
• The importance of giving pupils access to native speakers
• Starting a Blog City blog to facilitate real communication between the two schools through comments on a blog board
• Being motivated by seeing it was being read all over the world
• Establishing the routine of pupils saving their work from the ICT suite in a common area so it can be easily transferred to a classroom laptop via a memory stick
• Peer assessing interesting written and spoken examples on the interactive whiteboard and asking pupils to give suggestions on how they could be improved based on NC level descriptors in exercise books
• Starting a Wet Paint wiki to showcase this work
• Creating an electronic portfolio to allow departmental moderation and standardisation of levelled work
• Purchasing scanners for each member of the languages department to facilitate the process of transferring pupils’ written work on to the interactive whiteboard
• Asking pupils to record their half termly assessment results on individual Pupil Progress Profiles so they can discuss in class what National Curriculum level they are working at and what they need to do to achieve the next level
• Introducing digital voice recorders to make it easier to assess pupils’ speaking skills
• In KS3, pupils prepare their dialogues in class and then go outside into the corridor to record themselves. The resulting mp3 files are then transferred on to the interactive whiteboard via a USB cable and the pupils peer assess each other’s work.
• In KS4, pupils prepare a GCSE speaking topic for their summer exam which they then record individually outside the classroom with Kath who subsequently transfers the files on to the school network so pupils can copy them into their own work areas and also let them peer assess each other’s work in class
• Seeing how peer assessment helps pupils to learn from each other’s good examples and allows them to model their own.
• Being able to gather many examples of speaking for the department to moderate and add to an electronic portfolio
• Seeing a positive reaction from boys in wanting to use the mp3 voice recorders
• Creating a bank of speaking and written examples as evidence of prior learning to remind GCSE candidates what they achieved at KS3
• Using a cordless mouse anywhere in the classroom to annotate grammar points on scanned images from pupils’ exercise books
• Converting departmental documents into electronic versions
• Helping GCSE pupils revise for their speaking exam by recording them giving possible answers to typical questions with a microphone and laptop during lunchtime and after school
• Combatting the ‘digital divide’ by transferring exported mp3 files on to CD, mp3 player or mobile phone
• GCSE pupils using the wiki to revise over the Easter holiday by uploading word documents for Kath to check and annotate with suggestions for improvement
• Using Moodle to boost listening skills by uploading mp3 recordings of past papers captured from cassette with Audacity
• Including transcripts for pupils to read while listening at home
• Boosting speaking skills by getting pupils used to recording themselves so they feel less nervous and have a bank of examples they can listen back to to give them confidence on their mp3 players
• Agreeing to start a Compact project, speaking at a forthcoming CILT Cymru conference and being filmed on location as a way of sharing Argoed’s good practice with the wider community
• Receiving £500 to buy the digital voice recorders as recompense
• Realising the potential of digital voice recorders as a way of improving pupils’ speaking after the positive experience of using them when creating episodes for Argoed Radio with RadioWaves
• Compensating for a lack of local MFL coordinator by joining the MFL resources group
• Exploring the potential of Vokis for oral presentations as a way of motivating pupils
• Using Penalty Shootout and Fling the Teacher Flash games created by Andrew Field
• Developing French, German and Spanish versions of Penalty Shootout
• Seeing how pupils help each other with different spelling and grammar while playing the game
• Using Bruno Guillemin’s KS2 and KS4 resources from NGFL Wales
• Encouraging more self-conscious pupils to take control and be actively engaged in lessons by using a remote mouse
• Using a remote keyboard and changing channels
• Letting pupils choose which software package (Word, PowerPoint, MovieMaker, OpenMind) to use in the ICT room depending on their preferred learning style
• Girls overcoming their initial fears of using the digital voice recorders in front of others by recording themselves in the corridor
• Cherry-picking the best levelled examples for uploading to the wiki which pupils can then comment on
• Using a wiki to encourage collaborative writing
• Being able to track the changes of a wiki to informally assess pupils’ writing process
• Using Moodle for collaborative work
• Uploading movie clips to Blip.tv
• Having to unblock sites like Atantôt
• Using VoiceThread to encourage speaking skills in a safe environment
• Voki v VoiceThread
• Using OpenMind for mindmapping to help pupils organise their ideas on a given topic having seen a model in class made up of suggested core and extended answers
• Anticipating pupils’ answers to simple questions and revealing hidden boxes showing how an answer can be extended in a variety of ways
• Asking pupils to level the given answers using descriptors from their exercise books starting from the simplest to the most extended, emphasising important notions such as reasons, justifications and tenses
• Giving pupils completely expanded versions as a model for their speaking revision
• Argoed’s approach to training pupils in ICT packages to prepare them for the 21st Century
• The importance of having an ICT evangelist in your school to get you started with Web 2.0 tools
• The difficulties of networking locally with other language teachers
• The Welsh Web 2.0 scene
• Getting involved with RadioWaves and starting Argoed Radio broadcasts in German and English to enhance pupils’ speaking skills for their German penpals
• Encouraging pupils to think of creative ways to include content from typical GCSE topics in the form of a radio show
• How creating a script can help pupils to successfully collaborate with each other and motivate them to extend themselves
• The excitement of Argoed pupils meeting their German email partners in Cologne
• Adding photos and text to broadcasts
• Managing preparation time
• Being visited by the Welsh Assembly Education Minister who showed an interest in the Argoed blogs and how they were enhancing language learning
• Pupils using a wiki to write their own transcripts so they can collaborate and correct each others’ mistakes
• Tracking the changes to a wiki to aid the learning process
• Future plans (scanning work for peer assessment, digital voice recording, Vokis, exploring the potential of OpenMind, finding a partner school in France, communicating via MSN)
• A few final thoughts (using Flashmeeting for videoconferencing, taking images with a digital still camera or mobile phone and transfering them on to the interactive whiteboard via Bluetooth or USB cable, sharing good practice)

Show Notes

Argoed flies the flag for MFL blogs, podcasts and wikis in Wales
ECDL
British Council
Argoeddeutsch
Blog City
Argoed French Wetpaint wiki
e-learning credits
Promethean
National Curriculum levels
Métro
Voilà
Route Nationale
Assessment for Learning
Olympus voice recorders
Argoed Moodle
AQA
WJEC
CILT Cymru
Radio Argoed
Compact CILT Project
Kristina Hedges
Voki
Penalty Shootout and Fling the Teacher
Atantot
NGFL Cymru and Bruno Guillemin
Animation Factory
Linguascope
Gyromouse by Gyration
After Hours
Open Mind
Chris Fuller interview
Sharon Tonner interview
David Noble
Blip.tv
YouTube
Google Video
VoiceThread and comment moderation
Audacity
Eduspaces and Peter Buckland’s post
Deutsch Plus DVD
Compact Project
MFLresources
Paul Harrington
SSAT languages lead practitioner
Radio Waves
Cologne meeting
PBwiki
Wikimania (Peter Morris)
Global Gateway
MSN
Flashmeeting with Jeff Howson and John Warwick
First and second Flashmeeting
Chris Harte
Bluetooth dongle

Helen Myers on The Chris Evans Show

Helen Myers, President Elect for The Association for Language Learning and assistant headteacher at The Ashcombe School, in Dorking, Surrey was talking to Radio 2 DJ, Chris Evans on his Drivetime Show yesterday about some of the myths of learning a new language. The interview was very positive and encouraging and considering it took place in the run up to The European Day of Languages on 26th September it was also aptly timed.

During the six minute discussion, Chris asked questions such as:

• Are we a nation of lazy ‘langue’ learners?
• What are the easiest and hardest languages to learn?
• What is the optimum age to start learning a language?
• Is it easier to learn a language when you are older?
• What is the best way to learn a language?
• Is technology helping or is it pushing us back?
• Which languages are the most popular to learn?
• What is the best language in the world?
• What is the most romantic language in the world?

In response to the question 'What is the optimum age to start learning a language?', Helen answered that she thought pupils at infant and junior school are well suited to learning a new language because they lack those inhibitions typically found in more self conscious secondary school pupils. She also felt that younger pupils benefit from already being familiar with mimicking and imitating as a way of learning in other subjects across the primary curriculum.

Helen then goes on to explain that adults who want to learn a new language can accelerate their learning by drawing on aspects of grammar and skills they have previously found to be successful. For Helen, the key to good language learning is based on a combination of attitude, aptitude and learning style whatever your age.

For me, the most interesting section of the interview was when Chris asked Helen to say whether she thought technology is something which helps language learners or pushes them further back. This is the gist of what she said reproduced here with her kind permission.Helen finished the interview by stressing the importance of championing famous language learners like David Beckham and Jonathan Woodgate as well as admitting French was her favourite language to learn.

"Oh, I think it is really really helping. In learning in general  -  not just in languages -  we are really getting more and more interested in how people learn best. There are three ways that people talk about learning. Some people are better visual learners, some auditory learners and some kinaesthetic learners. You see something  -  you remember it or you hear something - you remember it, but the kinaesthetic one at which everybody says most people are best is the doing bit and with languages, technology helps you to do things. You can interact with what you hear. You can play language learning games where you listen to language and you have to click on what you’ve heard and you get a score and of course the absolutely best way of kinaesthetic / doing learning is actually to go to the country and try it out".

To catch the interview in full, click here and then on the TUE button under 'listen again to the show'. Helen makes her entrance around the hour and twenty minutes mark. The recording will be available for the next six days, so don't forget to have a listen.