Critical Review: New Media in Foreign Language Education

The semester is almost over and so our current courses come to an end as well… so I thought it was time to give a short feedback on what I liked or disliked about our course:

There was a lot to learn and a lot has been learned. I very much liked that we actively worked with computers and that each student had his own computer to work on. It was great to gain first hand experience with the tools of new media and to cover so many aspects of the field. What I liked best were the lessons that provided direct links and examples such as podcards or WebQuests, or how to set up email pen pals or the introduction to weblogs as means of teaching.

What recurringly upset me though, was that I had to read pages of pages of VCT documents about how the use of new media improves the learning experience and success. I continued reading and kept hoping for a first hand experience (such as an audio version of the text or a video) that just would not come. I know that storing videos and audiofiles takes a lot of capacity, but the virtual sessions hardly ever had any content that would not have been just as well presented in a book (namely text and pictures). For future new media courses I would like to see a more sensible use of the medium. (This sadly goes for all the blended courses I took this semester:-( )

All in all, however, I enjoyed the course and the hands-on-experienece. I think that it provided valuable information for future teachers.

Expert Talk

In unserer letzten Sitzung führten wir ein Skype-Gespräch mit Herrn Donath. Hier sind die Antworten zu unseren davor ausgearbeiteten Fragen:

1) Wie schätzen Sie den wirklichen Anteil an “Neuen Medien” in der Schule ein? Zu wie viel Prozent werden “Neue Medien” tatsächlich eingesetzt?

Der maximale Anteil des neuen Medien Einsatzes liegt bei 20-30%. Herr Donath selbst gestaltet 15-30% seines Unterrichts Web-gestützt. Er wies weiterhin darauf hin, dass diese prozentuellen Angaben für die Unterrichtssituation auch sehr stark von der vorhandenden räumlichen Umgebung abhängen.

2) Was muss getan werden um Lehrer zu motivieren, mehr “Neue Medien” einzusetzen?

Die Lehrer müssen in Fortbildungen stärker auf die schon vorhandenen Unterrichtskonzepte und Unterrichtseinheiten hingewiesen werden, sodass Medieneinsatz nicht unbedingt Mehraufwand bedeutet. Außerdem muss Lehrern (altersunabhängig) der Schritt vom Privatnutzer zum professionellen Nutzer (ebenfalls auch durch Fortbildungen) erleichtert werden.

3) Sollten Ihrer Meinung nach Fortbildung zum Thema und Anwendung von Neuen Medien für Lehrer obligat sein?

Definitiv. Leider gibt es in Deutschland nur eine freiwillige Weiterbildungspflicht. Um den Schülern jedoch das nötige Know-how zu vermitteln müssen Lehrer auf dem aktuellsten Stand der Technik sein und dies ist eigentlich nur durch Weiterbildung zu erreichen.

4) Gibt es auch Fächer/Themen bei denen Sie vom Einsatz Neuer Medien eher abraten?

Eigentlich nicht. Es gibt sicherlich Fächer die mehr (Fremdsprachen, Naturwissenschaften) und Fächer die weniger (Latein, Mathe) für den Unterricht geeignet sind. Jedoch sollte die digitale Welt auch bei diesen Fächern nicht ausgeblendet werden. Solange Neue Medien ergänzend und sinnvoll eingesetzt werden, können sie überall eingesetzt werden.

5) Wie vermitteln Sie im Unterricht die Gefahren und Nachteile neuer Medien, d.h. wie verhelfen Sie Schülern zu einem kritischen und verantwortungsbewussten Umgang mit ihnen?

Eine skeptische Distanz und grundlegende Medienerziehung sind hierbei Schlüsselbegriffe. Die Privatsphäre der Schüler muss unbedingt gewahrt werden und sie müssen auf eventuelle Gefahren hingewiesen werden.

6) Was halten Sie von verbindlichen Fortbildungen für alle Lehrer? Wie reagieren besonders ältere Lehrer auf die Anforderungen neuer Medien?

Verbindliche Fortbildungen sind essentiell, leider gibt es in Deutschland nur eine freiwillige Weiterbildungspflicht. Herr Donath sieht die “Medienmüdigkeit” nicht unbedingt nur als Altersproblem an. Wichtig sei das Aufzeigen der Möglichkeiten wie Lernen durch Neue Medien besser werden kann.

Einen genaueren Bericht des Expert Talk’s gibt es auf Ellis E-Portfolio.

Podcards

Quite a while ago, our course instructor introduced us to www.eslpodcards.com. The site provides information on cultural studies of various countries all over the world. Beside a text on your topic of choice, eslPodCards also provides an audioversion to improve your students listening skills and several tasks for the students.

Having the students listen to another person talking English is, in my opinion, a good idea, because that way, students are introduced to voice and language variation and will have less trouble understanding further people talking English. The PodCards are read slowly and clearly, the topics seem to be fun (including the Simpsons in the Springfield-section) and it is easy to use for teachers: it provides general information, audio samples and tasks concerning the information given before.

However, I think that the websites’ greatest advantages is also its greatest weakness: the audio samples are clearly made for learners of English, which means that they are not authentic material and the students will not gain authentic language experience. Additionally, teachers are tempted to use the site to prepare for all their cultural studies lesson, because it is so easy and quick to use. Students would quickly get used to the principle structure offered by PodCards.

Bottom line: PodCards is excellent to prepare for class last minute, but using it (without using other sources) should not become a habit. While the students gain some advantage from listening to other people talking English, advanced students should be introduced to authentic material rather than these podcasts.

Field Trip

On the 19th of January we did a field trip to the Alfred-Wegener-Schule in Kirchhain, to gain some practical experience on the use of new media in school. One of the teachers gave us a tour through the buildings and answered our questions.

• How long have you been working with the new media?

In 2009 the school won the award “Medienschule des Monats: Januar 2009″. Since then the importance of new media advanced. nonetheless the school has always been a role-model for new media use in education.

• How many computers do you have at your school?

With two computer labs, one “Lernwerkstatt” and another media room for older students the school has about 80 computers in its possession.

• Are the new media used in all subjects/ in which subjects are they applied?

The most frequent use of new media is in computer science. Other subjects use it for research purposes. Additionally in English students write blogs, create websites and wiki or even their own newspaper.

• At what age do the students start to work with the new media?

In 5th grade. Students take part in a six-week crash-course that familiarise them with the basics on word, spreadsheet and Powerpoint processing.

• Are there special subjects in which the use of the new media is taught?

Computer Science is the main subject that includes new media use. One expects the teachers of other subjects to include basic new media use into their lessons (e.g. internet research, creating a Powerpoint presentation).

• Does your school cooperate with other schools or institutions, e.g. via email- friendships with students in foreign countries?

The school arranges several student-exchange programs with Spain, France, USA, Australia and South America.

• Are the parents involved? Do you also offer courses for them so that they might be able to help their children (especially in younger grades)?

No. Parents are not involved in any kind of further education courses on new media. Nevertheless they keep track of the tasks and projects their children create in class.

• What type of training in the use of new media do teachers receive?

Besides further education, teachers (this does not include computer science teachers) receive no special training on new media use. They have to acquire their skills and knowledge independently.

• Are there “virtual sessions” which supplement the normal in-class sessions?

No not yet.

• How do the students like working with new media?

In the right doses new media is very motivating for students because it is something new and different. They respond well to the more independent and creative working process.

We enjoyed the trip a lot because we finally saw new media in praxis. Our group liked the “PC-isles” and “Lernwerkstatt” concept because both combine different media and provide a wonderful learning environment. We thought it was very insightful that Mr. Schuler, our guide , shared many of his own thoughts and experiences on the subject.

On the other hand it would have been useful to show us the operating mode of the Smartboard, because this is a medium we have to work with later in our career. Furthermore we observed that some of the media was only available to some learners. It would be worthwhile to permit all learners the same privileges.

All in all it was a very exciting and informative experience.

You can find individual remarks on the field trip on our E-Portfolios:

Jenny, Elisabeth, Sarah.

Mid Term eval

Half of the semester is already over… so here’s a short summary and evaluation of what we have learned in our class “New Media in Foreign Language Education” so far. (We decided t0 use bubbl.us to create this mindmap:)

Generally, we think that the seminar gives a very good overview concerning the topic of New Media and how to integrate them into Foreign Language Education.

What we like most are the more practical sessions that do not only provide theoretical aspects of a field of New Media, but also give us specific tools and tips, such as websites (e.g. for  the digital Schoolbag, www.eslpodcards.com, webquest.org …).

We hope you’ve enjoyed your holidays as much as we have and wish you all a happy New Year 2010!

Digital Schoolbag

In one of the last sessions we talked about a project conducted by the “Medienzentrum Kassel“. It is called ”digital schoolbag”. In the following paragraphs, we want to give a brief summary of what is meant by the term “digital schoolbag”. We will also discuss advantages and disadvantages of the project.

What are Digital Schoolbags?

USB pen drives have established themselves as a medium which is already often used by students. However, it is usually employed in order to save personal data, e.g. word documents or presentations. USB pen drives are also the central medium of the digital schoolbag project. However, in this approach, USB pen drives do not only have the function of a data storage, but they also contain software. In other words, digital schoolbags are a collection of software which is free of charge. Students and teachers only need UBS pen drives on which they can download portable versions of a variety of software programmes. All the software is for free so that you only have to pay for the USB pen drive. With this software package, teachers are well-prepared for lessons in which they want to work with the new media since the digital schoolbag offers a great variety of programs for several purposes (writing texts, internet research, preparing presentations, learning software etc.). These programs should run everywhere, too, so that teachers and students should not encounter any technical difficulties.

The digital schoolbag contains:

• Artweaver
• Firefox
• Open Office
• VLC- Media Player
• Audacity
• Deepburner
• Skype
• etc.

Advantages of the Digital Schoolbag

The digital schoolbag offers teachers and students a variety of advantages. First of all, the students can use the software at home, as well, so that they are not required to have all the programmes used at school at home, as well. Usually, students have different versions of word processing programmes or presentation software at home so that technical problems might occur when they start working on a text at school, send it to their e-mail address and want to finish it at home. If they do not have the matching programs at home, they might not be able to access their documents and continue working on them. What is more, it is easier if they can use the same programs school and at home, because they are familiar with these programs and the teacher can help them more easily if they have any technical questions or problems. Additionally, the computers at school do not need a big storage since all data can be saved on the portable device. Even more, complicated installation processes are avoided so that the distribution and updating of software becomes easier. Another advantage consists of the fact that the students are not required to have a computer at home. Theoretically, they can use the programs whenever and wherever they like. If they do not have the chance of working with a computer at home, they can for example, work at a computer in a computer room of the school. In other words, a huge advantage of the digital schoolbag consists of its flexibility. Even more, the digital schoolbag also has advantages for the children’s health: They might be able to leave some books at home, e.g. by using electronic texts from the internet. Nevertheless, this does not mean they students do not need any books any more. Of course, teachers should find the right balance between traditional and new media. Another advantage consists of the fact that there are two different versions of the digital schoolbag, namely one for elementary school (years 1-4) and another one or older students (years 5-13). Consequently, students can work with software that matches their age. Finally, you do not encounter problems with any licenses, either.

Disadvantages of the Digital Schoolbag

However, there are also some disadvantages. First of all, although the software is free of charge and USB pen drives have become really cheap, there might be some students whose parents still cannot afford to buy the portable devices. Schools might solve this problem by offering the chance of borrowing USB pen drives or by looking for sponsors who pay for the devices of children who cannot pay for them. What is more, it would be a good idea if the students did not have to buy the portable devices privately, i.e. individually, but if the school would buy a large number of them so that they would become even cheaper for the students. Furthermore, it would also be important that the school ensures that students who do not have a computer at home, have the chance of working at the school’s computer labs. Maybe they could arrange an extra room where students can work individually (often schools only have computer rooms which can be used by entire classes or courses).

Conclusion

The digital schoolbag is a very useful device that helps teachers to integrate the new media into their lessons more easily. It makes the lessons more flexible because tasks can easily be completed at home. Although there are many advantages, schools must make sure that each student- regardless of his financial background- has the chace of using the digital schoolbag and of working in the school’s computer labs if they do not have a computer at home.

Do you have any experiences with the digital schoolbag? We are interested in your comments

Lessonplan E-mail Projects

Hello everybody,

in last week’s session we talked about the question of how to realize e-mail projects with year 5 students of English. First of all, we discussed some possibilities of facilitating e-mail writing in English and came up with the following ideas:

Preparing an Email Project

• You can offer vocabulary that helps the students (e.g. vocabulary lists, dictionaries)
• You can provide them with typical phrases.
• You can teach them how to introduce oneself so that they have a good starting point for their first e-mail.
• You might choose a partner group that also consists of beginners (e.g. English learners of German). They will have similar problems in writing German e-mails so that your students do not have to be afraid of making too many mistakes since their partner will not write perfect e-mails, either.
• You should offer a topic so that your students know what to write about.
• You might decide to have them write e-cards because in e-mails short texts look quite lost. In e-cards, your student can also write shorter messages and also design them in a more personal way.
• You might want to use e-mail templates which the students to find an appropriate structure for their e-mail.

Finding a partner group

Afterwards we talked about the question of how to find an appropriate partner group for your class. Here are some websites that might help you:

www.epals.com

http://etwinning.net

We used the first website. It is quite uncomplicated to find a partner group there because the groups are listed according to topics they want to deal with. Consequently, you can easily search for a group that talks about a similar topic. We were asked to choose something that corresponded to the following topics from the Hessian curriculum: Living – Leisure Time – Family and finally came up with the topic “pets”. We found a Greek class that was suitable as an imaginary partner group for our class.

Lesson plan

Finally, we designed the following lesson plan on the topic pets for year 5 students (first year of English).

First phase

The topic of the first session is introducing oneself and getting to know each other. For the e-mail project the class is divided into groups of 2 or 3 students one of which must have a pet. We assume that the students have already been provided with e-mail lists and typical phrases before starting the actual e-mail project. In the first session they write an e-mail in which they introduce themselves as well as their school, city and their class. They are encouraged to use pictures and other material as well. The partner class is expected to do the same. Since our imaginary partner group is a Greek one it makes sense that both groups write in English. If the partner group was an English-speaking one, it would be a good idea if they wrote their e-mails in German.

Second phase

In the second session, there should be a kind of research phase. The groups should collect information about their own pets (what pets do the students have, where do they live, collecting pictures or videos showing the pets, maybe also virtual pets). They should structure the information and write an e-mail to their partner group introducing their pets to them. The partner group is expected to do the same.

Third phase

The third phase consists of a comparison. The students compare the pets of their Greek partners to their own pets: What pets do the Greek students have? Do they have the same pets or completely different ones? How do pets in Greek live and how are they treated, there? The students are expected to create posters summing up their results and present them to the other groups. The posters are put up in the classroom so that the students can always look at them. The Greek partner group should, again, do the same. The German and Greek groups should exchange e-mails in which they write about their results. They should also send a picture of their posters to each other.

Fourth phase

The fourth phase involves a discussion. After presenting their posters to their classmates, the students should discuss the results of the different groups: Did the groups have similar results or did they vary? Differences between boys and girls? Etc. The partner group does, again, the same. The students might write an e-mail summing up the result of the discussion.

Fifth phase

In the final phase, the students draw a conclusion from the e-mail project. On the one hand, the students should sum up the most important things they learned from the project. These results should be put down in a final Power Point Presentation created by the entire class as a common result. On the other hand, there should be a reflexion about the project: How did the students like the project? Did they find it interesting/helpful? Do they have any suggestions of how do improve future projects? The class should write a joint e-mail to the partner class summing up their final results. They should attach the Power Point presentation to it. Furthermore, the groups should write personal “good-bye” e-mails. They should, of course also have a look at the Power Point presentation created by their partner class.

How do you like our lesson plan? Do you think it makes sense to conduct such a project?

More more links

We thought it might be useful to also add the other group-blogs and e-portfolios from our New Media in Foreign Language Education course. They are now subdivided into the categories other group-blogs, our e-portfolios and other e-portfolio. Additionally you can find a link to the course instructor’s blog in the category blogroll.

Would anybody happen to know how to change the order of the link categories? We’d kinda like to move our e-portfolios up a little bit… it looks a little lost all down at the bottom of the page

Lessonplan on Popular Culture

Today’s in-class task was to create a new-media based class session that works into the hessian Lehrplan. Our group decided to make one for a grade 11 (G9) class on the topic of Popular Culture.

The double-session (90 minutes) is planned for approximately 30 pupils (but it would work fine with pretty much any number of students, as long as there are computers for all of them).

So here is what we put together:

The pupils are to devide into teams of three (which would be ten groups). We decided to give them five major topics (movies, music, literature, fashion and sports), of which each group would work on one (so two teams would work the same topic).

Within 20 minutes each team should be able to create a mind-map (using e.g. bubbl.us).

After that the team splits up and each pupil is to research the topic(s) he/she was assigned to by the group. For that individual research the pupils are given approximately 25 minutes. The teacher should encourage them to search not only for information, but also for media, e.g. videos, pictures or current articles on the topic(s). (A possible source could be answers.com)

When finished with their research, each pupil should create a powerpoint presentation on his topic (using only the basic tools, no major layout!!!), for which he/she is given another 20 minutes. One presentation should not exeed 5 slides.

Finally the groups team up again to integrate all minor presentation into one major presentation, deciding on order, layout, use of colour and type style as well as creating a short introduction to their presentation, on which they can spent the remaining time (approximately 25 minutes).

The presentations can either be given in the next session, be made available online by the teacher or stored on the students’ pen-drives.

A possible homework would be to evaluate two of those presentations.

What do you think about our lesson plan? Do you like it? Do you see room for improvement?

Software Analysis

We created seven categories for analyzing learning software:

1) availability and costs

2) age group, language level

3) type of exercises

4) design

5) authenticity and competences

6) relevance for school and didactic aspects

7) interactivity

Game 1: Bookworm

1) availability and costs: free online game

2) age group, language level: English, all levels of learners

3) type of exercises: spelling games

4) design: colourful, young and professional

5) authenticity and competences: no authentic language use, activation of the already existing vocabulary

6) relevance for school and didactic aspects: It is rather a free time activity which might help students (fun activity).

The game might be helpful as an additional exercise or an award

7) interactivity: No interactivity given.

The game is very colourful and it´s fun. However, there is much advertisement and many pop-up windows on this site. There are also games which do not contain any learning activities. In sum, the games supports a general language awareness but is nor rich in content.

Game 2: Leo Network- English Word Games

1) availability and costs:  free online game

2) age group, language level: English, all levels of learners

3) type of exercises: word games (crosswords, Ding Things, VocabGames, hangman, Homophones, Memory…)

4) design: old, boring, not appealing but structured

5) authenticity and competences: only single words are tested, no authentic language use

6) relevance for school and didactic aspects: possible as additional activity (game) but not advisable

7) interactivity: no interactivity given

Although the site contains a collection of word games, it is not appealing or motivating for students. We would not recommend it.

Game 3: JClic

1) availability and costs: free internet game

2) age group, language level: not specified

3) type of exercises: fill in, puzzle, drag and drop. topic specific on irregular verbs

4) design: old, boring, not appealing but structured

5) authenticity and competences: only single words are tested, only one grammatical phenomenon

6) relevance for school and didactic aspects: if you want to practice irregular verbs further, it might be helpful, but it is not very motivating (you an easily access the solutions)

7) interactivity: no interactivity given

Although the site deals with irregular verb exercises, it is not appealing or motivating for students. We would not recommend it.

Game 4: Game Zone

1) availability and costs: free online game

2) age group, language level: each game suggests a proper level of proficiency,

site contains levels from beginner to upper intermediate

3) type of exercises: variety of grammar and vocabulary games

4) design: colourful, well-structured, appealing

5) authenticity and competences: you can cover different vocabulary and grammar topics

6) relevance for school and didactic aspects: as additional task very advisable

7) interactivity: low-level of interactivity

This collection of games is the best of the ones we analysed. It contains a variety of activities and language level suggestions. The games can easily be integrated into an English lesson and should mainly function as a repetition or additional task.