23 July 2008
Recording of this session
This morning (it's 8:00 a.m. in Lisbon, Portugal, and 5:00 p.m. in Yakutsk, Siberia) I will be telling you about the CALL Lessons my students and I carry out with the collaboration of English teachers all over the world. Next year it may be some of you!
CALL means Computer-Assisted Language Learning, but this is a limited acronym, because we use a computer, a video projector, a white screen, an Internet connection (cable or wireless, whichever is working faster) and... different Web 2.0 communication tools.
Today I'll be showing you exactly what I showed Larissa last April in New York City.
I'm very proud to say that this curricular blog, CALL Lessons 2005-2007, is an award-winning blog. In December 2007 it received the European Union international "e-Learning Awards 2007", Gold Prize in the category of "School of the Future". I was in Brussels, Belgium to receive the award together with 12 other colleagues-finalists from Iceland to Israel. It was extremely exciting!
Enough talk for now! Let's get directly to what I'm here for!!!
Objectives of a curricular blog
- learn English in a fun and motivating way
- improve basic skills in the FL in different ways from the traditional classroom
- carry out blended learning (a compromise between the f2f class and the online class) to generate motivation and participation of all students
- have students work collaboratively in the construction of their knowledge and become co-responsible for their learning process
- develop learner autonomy
- acquire and/or develop computer skills and e-literacy
Web 2.0 tools or "social software" used
- a blog to generate interaction through the comments feature
- podcasts or .mp3 audio files downloadable to any computer or mp3 player
- a voiceboard to send audio messages
- image tools to create short animated movies with text and image (Zimmertwins) and to show students' art work (Bubbleshare)
- maps (Clustr, Frappr, Google) to keep track of the wherabouts of our visitors and friends
Strategy
- a 45-minute blended lesson every two weeks linked or not to the curriculum (time constraints to fulfill the curriculum do not allow for more time)
- have a lesson plan with objectives, activities and resources
- constantly involve the students orally and/or in writing
- show end products published online before class ends
Equipment
- a computer, an Internet connection (cable or wireless), a video projector and speakers
Rules of the game
- speak English as much as possible during class
- always write classwork and comments in English
- identify yourself in each comment: first name and class (Pedro, 5A)
Grading
- very seldom: prefer to have students do activities hands on and enjoy the "magic" of these tools/"toys" for learning without worrying about a grade
Examples of CALL lessons
Advantages of blogs in language learning
- global communication through text and voice
- interactivity generated by the "Comments" feature
- self-publishing: the students are owners and publishers of their content
- empowerment of students: part of the learning process is in their hands
Conclusion
The use of blogs in language learning generates:
- the global classroom: opening of the classroom to the world
- interaction with a real audience from the real world to carry out real tasks using language of the real world
- co-responsibility of the students for their learning process
- broadening of horizons: linguistic, social, geographic and cultural
- creation of social and educational networks
- possibility of reaching out to different learning styles and intelligences
My other "CALL Lessons" blogs
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