The potential of Web 2.0 resources for EFL learners

As I mentioned in previous posts, using The Net is part (and probably an unavoidable one) in our everyday lives. We not only rely on it to communicate with friends, families, co-workers and sometimes complete strangers, but we also use it as an extension of our minds. Consequently, we have learnt to use computers and technologies according to our needs and necessities. As new ways of communicating and learning change, the way we use internet changes, too.  And this is the reason we have coined the term Web 2.0, to refer to the second generation of the World Wide Web, which includes new features and functionality that was not available in the past with Web 1.0. Both terms represent an evolutionary stage in the Internet’s life. 

Just a few years ago, our role as internet users was limited to receive and absorb information created by someone else, namely an expert. The content generation in the Web 1.0 era was limited and concentrated in a few hands. Web pages were static and related to business rather than community. What’s more, the way we used Web 1.0 was typically very linear, and the possibility of changing the content or adapting it was not an option. 

However, with Web 2.0 we don’t just use the internet we interact with it and control it. Nowadays, anyone and everyone is creating their own web pages whenever and wherever they want.  As the internet has expanded, it evolved into a much more social, producing "online communities" and making it even easier to share information on the Web. Web 2.0 has helped create diversity in content and also made content publishing a very easy affair. Therefore, websites have become much more dynamic and interconnected.

Differences between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0

The following sites are Web 2.0 valuable and useful resources to use in the EFL classroom:

• Blogs (such as the one I’m using right now) allow students to post thoughts and reflections about their life and on-going progression in the acquisition of the foreign language. The fact that the entire world can see students' works serves as an authentic purpose for carrying it out. Among its many benefits, blogs are not only easy to use, but also can be customized to make them more suitable according its owner needs. This gives our students the chance to explore their own identity and likes.

• Wikis enable our students from around the world to add and update online content. The learner becomes part of a global knowledge source and shares his or her own experience to it. In my opinion, Wikies are excellent resources to foster students’ awareness not to trust every piece of information they read since everyone can upload different truths. This also gives teachers the possibility to teach about legitimate sources of information and citing references.

• Social networking, that is to say, sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter allow students to build and customize their own profile and communicate with friends. What’s more, teachers can use these resources inside the classroom to promote  authentic “chat rooms" which not only work on speed, but are also totally free. 

• Voki serve teachers and students for generating personalized speaking avatars. Here I present you with my Voki avatar.

• Wordle is toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The word clouds can be of different fonts, layouts and colour settings. I created my own word cloud as an example of how to use Wordle. The words I selected are related to the concept of Web 2.0

Using Power Point presentations in the EFL classroom

Nowadays, Power Point presentations are considered one of the most effective pedagogical tools in the classroom. This is because they can be used for a number of classroom objectives, for example, teachers can create a power point presentation to introduce a new topic in their initial teaching, or they may want to use power points for student projects and tasks, or even to practice and revise for tests.

Another important characteristic of power point is that they allow teachers to accommodate their teaching to cover all possible learner’s needs and learning styles. This means that when using Power Point presentations we have not only the opportunity to engage multiple learning styles, such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic by employing multimedia methods like sounds, images, color, action, videos, but we also have the possibility to adapt these resources depending our students’ current level of English and the aims that drove them to take up the course.

I’ve chosen three adjectives to describe power points presentations:

     -They are FUN not only to make, but also to watch.

   - They are CREATIVE because they involved the teacher and the student’s imagination to create new things. In any creative task the learner is actively involved in the process of learning; they are constantly revising what they already know, as well as assessing themselves and reflecting upon their own learning. This empowers student’s independence, and offers them opportunities to demonstrate their work

      - They are MOTIVATING. Teachers and students feel they can work with any subject because Power Point presentations make them attractive, interesting and easy to learn. When using technology in the classroom the whole atmosphere changes, the learners predispose themselves to a different kind of learning. This is because PowerPoint presentations can enrich the information presented in the students’ book making it more flexible and aye-catching.

When using PowerPoint presentations it is not only important to think about “what” to teach, but also “how” to teach. PowerPoint presentations can be a highly effective tool to aid learning, but if not used carefully, may instead disengage students and actually hinder learning. There are a number of challenges teaches face when using power point presentations properly.

One of them is that the classroom may become a teacher-centered one. As a result, the learners may become too passive or reactive. Luckily, we can avoid these designing tasks that involve greater classroom interaction and critical engagement, as well as group work and peer correction.

We should also be careful when designing a PowerPoint presentation so it is not merely a digital “lecture note”. There should never be too much text nor too many images on a slide. PowerPoint presentations should help students organize their notes, not just “be” the note or a written summary of the subject. 

Rocio Mounier is one of my partners in the English Training Course and she has written a very useful and interesting article called "Using PowerPoint Presentations Adequately" in her blog "Teachnology". She listed the following five items which teachers should bear in mind when designing and presenting power point presentations. 

1-Use readable font: make your slides easy to read from anywhere in a room.

-Use bold font for all text on a slide.

-Do not rely on the default settings; they may not be as legible when projected onto a large screen as they are on your computer screen.

-Use contrasting colors for text and background.

-Be consistent, use the same size and color font throughout the whole presentation.

2-Use key words and phrases: be concise on slides.

-Use bullet points (phrases instead of complete sentences)

-Your slides should guide the reader to your main points: make only three or four points per slide.

-However, include enough information so that the slide makes sense.

3-Use Charts and Figures: when it is difficult to describe something briefly, display the information in another format.

4-Keep it simple: too much animation, color, or text will be distracting.

-Use simple design templates or backgrounds.

-Use animation sparingly.

-Keep text out of the slide design.

5-Talking with your Slides: remember that no matter how great your slides look, content is the most important part of your presentation.

-Use your slides as your outline for the presentation.

-Use the same words in your speech as appear on the slide; this will help the audience follow along.

-Be sure to discuss the text on the slide; try not to make the audience choose between reading the slide or listening to you.

-Reference your information by including citations on slides

-As a general rule, have one slide per minute of presentation (e.g., for a 12 minute talk, have 12 slides)

      -Practice your talk so you stay within your allotted time.

You can read Rocio's entire article Here

The most important thing I’ve learnt during my experience using power point presentations for a practical work in the English Training Course was that planning and designing materials could be fun. My partner and I used a power point presentation to revise a unit called “Cappuccino and Chips”. I really enjoyed the experience because I felt absolutely free to create a task using aye catching materials, such as colored images.  There is something in particular I want to share with you. Although I was motivated to create a task for my “imaginary” learners and I really liked working with power point presentations, I think I forgot the most important thing in all this, the learners. The learners were supposed to be A1 level and some of the activities in the power point were far more advanced. I believe that we, as teachers, can have many original ideas when using technology but we shouldn’t forget that they are tools meant to enhance teaching and learning. And we should always ask ourselves “is this empowering our students understanding?” Our students’ aims and needs should be the basis for any type of classroom activity. I don’t consider it to be a drawback since I’ve learn so much about me and the profession I’ve chosen.

This is my Power Point presentation: 

Eco's presentation ISPB Santa Fe from Sofi Gaite

These are the sources from which I've gather useful imformation about Power Points presentation in general:

1- Tachnology-the online teacher resource

2-Teaching with Technology: a resource guide for teachers

3-Effective use of Power Point. University of Central Florida 

Getting better on ICT skills

In my first PW for ECO II I was supposed to evaluate two web sites. One in terms of its potential usefulness as resource for materials design; and the other one, in terms of its potential usefulness in the classroom. In order to do so, I followed a very useful criteria which helped me to focus on the purposes of each web site, its authority and objectivity, how  appropriate it was, who was responsible for it, its clarity and accessibility, among others.

Since it was the first time that I do this type of analysis, I couldn’t avoid feeling a bit lost. Thankfully, the criteria I used was a valuable instrument which guided me to find the information I needed among the mass of sites and sources, and to evaluate that information as well.

This experience has undoubtedly improved my literacy skills and digital competences since whenever I visit a new website I immediately look for the name of the person or the company in charge of it, and if the website is updated or not. I also started to pay attention to the websites’ design, its colours, etc. 

As a future English Teacher, I consider the acquisition of ICT skills of great importance as students at my class will be all “digital natives”, and in order to be fully functional citizens in our 21st Century world, they need digital skills. 

21st Centurty ABC

 

Pioneering Literacy

How would you feel without access to communications technology?

Hi bloggers!

I have a question for you today! How would you feel without access to communications technology?

This is how I would probably feel:

On the one hand, although I’m not a completely computer geek, I depend quite a lot on the internet since my studies involve surfing the net at all times. Not only do I check my emails, but I also download nearly all the materials I need. I'd surely go mad if my Internet service provider stops working when I’m at work.

On the other hand, since I’m not a devoted fan of other types of digital technologies such as iPods or mobile phones (I even don’t have a TV at home), I could perfectly survive without any of them if I am, for example, on holidays. I’d probably feel relaxed and peaceful. What’s more, being all on my own would help to get connected with my inner self and the nature that surrounds me. 

What about you fellows?      

Source: The Net Generation: A Strategic Investigation, © nGenera, 2008

 

One netbook per child in Argentina

Programa Conectar Igualdad (Connect Equality Programme) is a key initiative of Argentina President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner launched in April 2010 (see: Act Nº 459/10 ). It will seek to distribute 3 million netbooks by the end of 2013. To date 2.5 million have already been delivered. This project is specifically designed to improve educational equality and reduce Argentina’s digital literacy gap. 

I’d like now to share with you a very interesting Case Study Report carried out by Intel Education Transformation research, which makes a thoroughly description of this pioneering 1:1 technology integration program called Conectar Igualdad. 

As a future English Teacher, I consider this project of great importance since not all Argentinian students have access to this fascinating world of technologies and internet. This project seeks not only for a better public education, but also for equality and integration. In order to be a fully functional citizen in our 21st Century world, students need opportunities to develop their digital skills. What’s more, accessibility to new digital tools directly influences humans understanding of how our world functions. The concept of power is of absolute importance when talking about literacy skills and now digital skills, too. As Ignacio Ramonet explains in his article “El mundo en 2030” published in Le Monde Diplomatique magazine (May, 2013)  “(…) la generalización del acceso de la Red y la universalización del uso de las nuevas tecnologías permitirán a la ciudadanía alcanzar altas cuotas de libertad y desafiar a sus representantes políticos (…)”. To sum up, giving one netbook per child not only shrinks global distances, but also provides disadvantaged Argentinian kids and adolescents with something that should be equal for everybody, Rights.

If you would like to read Ignacio Ramonet's article "El mundo en 2030", click here

Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants

 According to Marc Prensky in “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants” (2001) a completely new generation has born, whose members clearly differentiate from older generations not only in slang and cloth, but also in the way  these persons think and process information. “A really big discontinuity has taken place”, affirms the author. The main reason for this radical change lies in the kind of experiences these so called “Digital Natives” go through. They represent the first generations to grow up surrounded by and using technology.  And as Prensky (2001) says: “they are all “native speakers” of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet”.  “Digital Immigrants”, on the other hand, are those who weren’t born in the digital world, but have learnt how to adapt to this changeable technological environment. An important distinction between “Digital Natives” and “Digital Immigrants” is that the latter one “always retain, to some degree, their "accent," that is, their foot in the past”, Marc Prensky (2001).

An important issue to highlight is how this generational gap is perceived inside today’s schools. The majority of “Digital Immigrants” educators tend to “teach – slowly, step-by-step, one thing at a time, individually, and above all, seriously”, Prensky (2001). The way these people deals with information is completely different from how the students of the digital era do. “Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. They prefer games to “serious” work”, Prensky (2001).

This point calls my attention the most as it suggests that teachers of the “old country” methodologies and contents should be reconsidered. An excellent way to shrink distances is by adapting materials to the language of Digital Natives. Making the learning into a video game, for example, will be not only more appealing and interesting, but it will also make the learning more enjoyable and pleasurable. 

If you would like to read the entire Marc Prensky's article, you can click here  

Net generation at work

Digital Natives' interaction