There are 28 minutes of required video content in this lesson. That should give you ample time to read through the required text and answer the conceptual questions during the 60 minutes of this class. (There are only 60 minutes to the class because of the national emergency situation.)
We started this course considering the pre-pandemic challenges of the "Changing Paradigms" in education, presented to us by Sir Kenneth Robinson. Let's start this lesson in the course by going back to Sir Kenneth, speaking about education after the pandemic.
Here is the beginning (on the left) and the end (on the right) of a longer talk, in which Sir Kenneth looks at the existence of humankind and the possibilities of creative a new form of education, suited to the post-pandemic realities. (If the video "jumps," then scroll to the volume button on the right and click on it. For some reason, this stabilizes the screen.)
If you want to watch Sir Kenneth's entire talk, please go to https://youtu.be/QU4Q17t4muY . Please be aware that he refers to the scientific estimate of the earth's age from minutes 3:13 to 4:00. Feel free to skip this if you wish.
Please think about why you are going to use technology in the classroom. If you are trying to improve the digital literacy of your students, getting them ready for the digital society of the 21st century, then give them a range of useful tools. Please examine this "Padagogy Wheel," developed by Allan Carrington, which attempts to match pedagogical goals and procedures with multiple online tools. Although the placement of specific tools could be argued, the over-all conceptual framework could help you organized the material of this course and help you understand existing and future online tools that could be used for education.
But if you are primarily focused on teaching language, choose the tools wisely:
Do they allow your students to read, write, listen, speak, or a combination?
Are they easy enough to learn and use? Remember, there will be a learning curve for any new tool, but some are easier than others.
Can you use the tool more than once? Given the time and effort put into the learning curve, a tool that offers multiple use is usually better than a one-shot event.
Can the students use the tool outside of class?
Can the students take ownership of the tool and produce their own output (full of language)?
Please consider Russell Stannard's opinions in following video from Oct. 12, 2022. The video is a good wrap-up of our course as well as a warning to not over-use technology.
This is conceptual, not technical, so it's a very good summary for our class (from 5 September 2022).
Here's an insightful 9 February 2022 video by Russell Stannard.
Russell Stannard is an excellent source of information about new educational technologies and how to use them in language teaching. Check out his "Teacher Training Videos" Website at: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/ This Website organizes his tutorials according to type and/or usage and provides links to his YouTube channel, which is worth subscribing to.
Sam Kary also presented excellent ed-tech material in his "New EdTech Classroom" on YouTube. I used the past tense because he took a break from creating YouTube material, but hopefully he will be back soon. You still can find his excellent work from the past.
Here some other YouTube video channels (out of many) that are worth subscribing to:
"Teacher’s Tech" with Jamie Keet
"Flipped Classroom Tutorials" with Sethi De Clercq (which deals with ed-tech, not just with the flipped classroom).
When you go to YouTube, you can click on the red SUBSCRIBE button below the video (assuming you like the style of tutorials). If you like notifications for new videos (which may become very annoying, despite the quality of the content), you can click on the red bell next to the SUBSCRIBE button.
If you enjoy listening to podcasts, here are two for ed-tech:
"The Digital Learning Podcast" deals with ed-tech in general. You can subscribe to it with your favorite podcast app. Alternatively, you can access it at https://sites.libsyn.com/440508/ai-essay-grading-and-the-future-of-education.
The DIESOL podcast is aimed at teachers of ESL and EFL. At times the social chatter of the two hosts (both ESL teachers) can be a bit annoying, but often there is high-quality content. You can subscribe to the DIESOL podcast on most podcast apps on your smartphone. If you want to browse the titles of past episodes (and listen to them), go to their Website at: http://diesol.org/ .
In addition, there are many high quality "trade journals" in the field of educational technology. Most of the are free. Search for "educational technology" AND newsletter and you will find a wide range to choose from.
One other way of getting news about educational technology (and other educational items) is subscribing to people who curate the multiple (thousands? tens of thousands?) of Web sites dealing with education. One of the most outstanding curators is Larry Ferlazzo, who seems to have no real life of his own, given the amount of curating he does. You can subscribe to his monthly "list of lists" linking to "The 100 Best Web Sites about <fill in the name>," here.
On a more academic level, you might want to subscribe to the free Language Learning & Technology: A Refereed Journal for Second and Foreign Language Scholars and Educators at: https://www.lltjournal.org/ . Another journal you might want to follow is the Journal of Technology-Integrated Lessons and Teaching at: https://journals.uwyo.edu/index.php/jtilt .
Please note: Late homework will be penalized 20% of the potential grade. Your first post is worth 60% and the second post (a meaningful response to some one else) is worth 40%.
After watching the various required videos in this lesson, please answer the following questions in the Lesson 26 MOODLE discussion forum:
Are Sir Kenneth's remarks relevant for your teaching?
On a conceptual level, are the tutorials by Russell Stannard tutorial relevant to your teaching? Why (or why not)? If yes, then how?
Read the posts from all the other students and REPLY to at least one with a meaningful response. (Please note: "I agree." or "Great!" is not meaningful without a thoughtful presentation of why.) Perhaps choose the most controversial or most helpful. If you disagree with someone, please do so politely and constructively!