pondělí 26. března 2018

Facebook, twitter et al. for teaching languages?


To use or not to use, that's a question...

Just a touch of reality. How would your students feel, if you used, say, such an authentic text for teaching the language?

(This is a full facebook entry of an adult German native speaker.)


da ist wieder was los in der welt, der virtuellen. und der echten. es tun sich an allen ecken und enden dinge. dinge, die, wenn nicht wären, ( so sagt der bayer) es ja so schön ruhig in der welt wäre. wenn nur nicht immer was los wäre. das ist ja wie im hort der erwachsenen. wenn in der bärchengruppe nicht wieder der jens oder der donald oder in der meisengruppe der heinz und der horst., wenn nicht wieder auf der anderen seite der strasse der und die und alle überhaupt nur immer mit dem finger auf den oder die anderen zeigen und nun, wenn nun ja die grosse enttäuschung nicht gekommen wäre, also der marc und sein datenbuch, sein virtuelles poesiealbum, welches in der klasse herumlag und nun einer einfach mal in die klassen rein ist und abgeschrieben hat, wer denn nun den käsekuchen am liebsten mag und wer ein katzenfoto oder ein hundebild hineingeklebt hat. jetzt ist da einer in die klasse rein, in der pause und hat alle poesiealben kopiert. mensch, nur damit er dann beim nachhauseweg und in der pause den leuten die richtigen kaugummis andrehen kann und weiss, wann wo wer mittags ist. und wer wieviel geld wofür ausgibt. hmmm. jetzt weiss keiner wie nun damit umzughen ist. denn natürlich ist es beim menschen wieder sehr einfach. es ist wie das rauchen und das alles, was den menschen immer wieder zur vernunft bringen könnte. man weiss es ja, tut aber nichts dagegen und wenn es dann passiert , wie bei max und moritz, ist der aufschrei groß. auch so kann man alles auf eine grundschulklasse runterbrechen und sich ganz einfach mal sagen, es darf ja keinen überraschen. und wenn man nun von manipulierten dingenskirchen sprechen will, muss man ja auch langsam irgendwen finden, der zumindest eine app gebastelt hat, die ins klassenbuch reingespechtelt hat. wie dem auch sei. und wenn man morgen sich schon das alles mal durch den kopf gehen lassen will, wovon letztendendes abzuraten ist, bevor man nicht seine stabilisierende weltraumnahrung gegessen hat und man in genügend abstand von der welt mit genug draufsicht hinschaut, sollte man den leuten in den funkhäusern und politikhäusern sagen, es gibt eine tolle idee. es heisst nicht "flüchtlingspolitik" sondern "integrationspolitik". dann würden viele menschen vielleicht einen positiveren zugang zu ihrem kaffee haben, der ja nicht gerade da wächst wo die bärchengruppe und die meisengruppe wohnen. also alles immer mit der ruhe und mit bedacht. und nun auf in die welt..


pátek 23. března 2018

Interactive Board Advanced



Ucit se je radost

A  What should the teacher do?

- present text, images, sound, animations, video, links
- give the class a chance to think
- support creativity
- use the time wisely
- motivate the students


B What should we include?
- a functional combination of text, visual support and audio
- variability of all sorts
- empty space
- motivating activities (games)
- feedback

C Technical skills to be mastered:
- inserting text
- inserting images
- inserting audio
- inserting links

- locking
- grouping
- using layers - covering one object with another
- containing
- magical window


Promethean Planet: Examples of IWB tasks
Youtube tutorials
How to use Containers
Multiple Containers
How to make a magic box
Creating Action Objects
Magic revealer window

Lesson Activity Toolkit  - Smart
5 Tips and Trick  - Smart



TIPS:

USING CONTAINERS
1. Text to be moved:
Identification: Name = Panda
Contain: Return if not contained = True

2. Image or a space where to put the text/answer:
Can Contain = Specific object
Contain Object = (Select Object) Panda
Contain Rule = Completely contained

Česká verze:
1. Text (objekt), s nímž se bude pohybovat:
Identifikace: Název = Panda
Kontejner: Vrátit, pokud není obsaženo = Pravda

2. Objekt (obrázek), kam se text/odpověď přesouvá:
Může obsahovat = Konkrétní objekt
Obsažený objekt = (Vybrat objekt) Panda
Pravidlo pro obsah = Úplně obsaženo

Promethean - Activ Board User Guide pdf

Magic revealer window (Activ)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNYwDJ0ghkc

1.    Insert two images
2.    Put one of them to the Top layer
3.    Create a rectangle. Settings:
           a.    Margin (ohraničení) – cca 20
           b.    Výplň – Nic
4.    Activate the magic ink. Fill in the rectangle.
5.    Set the order of the resulting two objects (rectangle will be above the magic ink to make the margins smooth)
6.    Group them together.
7. Check the order of the layers: Object (the rectangle),  Pen (the magic ink) nad the upper image are in the upper layer in the mentioned order, the remaining image is in the middle layer.

pondělí 12. března 2018

Audio

Audio material is regularly used when teaching speaking and listening in foreign languages. Therefore the teachers and the students should be able to edit and modify audio as well as texts.
Probably the best freeware available for editing sound is called AUDACITY.


Audacity Basics - you should be able to
- install Audacity and the lame library which enables export to mp3
- open a file in Audacity
- edit the file: cut and paste, fade in/out, change speed, delete, add silence
- create a new file
- combine two files (e.g. speech + background music)
- inserting silence (e.g. as a space for an answer)
- changing the speed or pitch (carefully!)



TASK 1 - TEACHER'S JOB
Browse Youtube for videos suitable for the topic you chose for HotPot tasks.
View, listen and choose; consider the target level and age!
Convert the video to mp3 using an online convertor.
Cut out a part of the recording, add an appropriate task and illustration and publish all that in your HotPotaoes index webpage (see the related blog entry for details).

You can use Free YouTube to MP3 Converter to get audio from youtube easily, or find online converters, eg. Convert2mp3.

TASK 2 - AN EXAMPLE OF A STUDENT TASK
You have just become a radio reporter!
Work in pairs. Choose an actual event from your real life, and prepare a 2minute talk on it.
Present main facts and your opinions.
Options: either pre-preapre the text, and record, or present the event in the form of live-talk, or an interview between you two.
Edit the recording in Audacity. Add appropriate sounde effects if necessary.
Finalise the file, export it and save as mp3, and add to your personal webpage.

TASK 3 - EXAMPLES OF GOOD TEACHING PRACTICE
What does the word "podcast" mean? Go to Podomatic, create an account and browse the site. How can we use it in teaching English?

Good examples - Teacher Luke at PodomaticSplendid Speaking for advances learners
Podcast on podcasting in ELT

More online podcasts and streams
Ted Talks on Education - free online lectures!
Paramind
Oxford University Podcasts

Free text to audio:
http://www.fromtexttospeech.com/

Sound files extensions:
wav -  Standard audio file container format used mainly in Windows PCs. Commonly used for storing uncompressed (PCM), CD-quality sound files, which means that they can be large in size—around 10 MB per minute. Wave files can also contain data encoded with a variety of (lossy) codecs to reduce the file size (for example the GSM or MP3 formats). Wav files use a RIFF structure

mp3 - compressed, MPEG Layer III Audio. Is the most common sound file format used today

flac - Free Lossless Audio Codec
ape - Monkey's Audio lossless audio compression format
ogg - A free, open source container format supporting a variety of formats, the most popular of which is the audio format Vorbis; compression similar to MP3

webm - Royalty-free format created for HTML5 video
aiff - Standard audio file format used by Apple. It could be considered the Apple equivalent of wav

ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_file_format



Sluchové pole (nebo oblast slyšitelnosti) je rozsah všech zvuků, které dokáže lidské ucho vnímat. Vnímání zvuku je u člověka omezeno slyšitelnými frekvencemi (přibližně 16–20 000 Hz). U každé frekvence je odlišný rozdíl intenzit, jež slyšíme. Lidský sluchový orgán je nejcitlivější v oblasti frekvencí 1–5 kHz.

http://www.wikiskripta.eu/index.php/Pr%C3%A1h_sluchu_a_sluchov%C3%A9_pole


pondělí 5. března 2018

Interactive Board for Beginners

No matter what IWB software you use, some basics remain identical - both from the points of view of technology and methodology.

IN THE CLASS:
Explore Activ Inspire and Smart Notebook, try the basic functions, get the feeling of both softwares.
Follow the list of compulstory items below and practice these basic skills both in Activ and Smart.

Browse some shared interactive board materials, to get an idea :)
http://www.veskole.cz/
http://www.jazykyinteraktivne.cz/
http://www.pekarjeucitelonline.cz/
http://www.gymnaziainteraktivne.cz/
http://www.activucitel.cz/

_______________________________________

Homework
1. Check the specifications of Smart Board (*.notebook files) and Active Inspire (*.flipchart files).
Look here:
AV Media
Promethean Planet
2. Install both softwares into your PC. Follow the instructions given in the lesson.
3. Continue working on your project.
_______________________________________

What can we use the Interactive Board Material for?

1. To identify the purpose of the material:
Intro – topic, aim, target group
Source – textbook
Credits

2. To identify the resources:
References – texts, audio, images resources (last page)
create your own images!

3. To suggest how to use the material:
– create a Teacher’s book (could be in side notes, or in the last page, or hidden within each page)
– instructions to tasks (focus on organization, variability)

4. To enable easy navigation: Insert links
In Activ Inspire - use commands "Another page" and "Open a website"
In Smart - right click at the object, use "Odkaz"

5. To use visual and auditory input: insert images, audio and video
In Active Inspire: go to Resource Browser (the symbol of 2 music notes)
In Smart: go to Gallery (the symbol of a picture)
In both: download an image, and drag it to the chosen page

6. To integrate games and animations into a lesson:
Explore the resourcepacks
Modify Flash animations (Smart)
_______________________________________

Interactive Board Project compulsory items:
- teacher book with target group, objectives and instructions on the use of your material
- enough functional and effective visual support (images, graphics, illustrations)
- a listening task (+ audio with tapescript)
- a reading task
- a speaking task
feedback to all tasks
- links to T's Book from all pages (and links back!)
- active URLs (with tasks)
- a link to a youtube video - focused on the topic, with tasks!
- enough space for the students'work
- a page with all references


You can find examples and instructional files online, and also at http://prekladani.capsa.cz
________________________________________


Project Tips:

1. Explore the imbedded galleries. Look also for animations!

2. Create activities to practise the set of vocabulary you chose for your project. For each task, include the feedback; a good tip is to duplicate the page, and solve the exercise there.

3. Use the last pages as T's book - write there the standard info (topic, target group) and methodological instructions for the Teacher. Link the T's book to the first page and vice versa.

4. Do you know how to get the IWB material online?
Tip: if the file is too big to be put into webzdarma directly, save it into some permanent online space (e.g. dropbox) and enter the link into your web.