ESL Podcast

Podcasting makes language learning more convenient since the learning process is no longer been constrained by the time or places. With podcasting, we can learn at any time anywhere.

The episode, ESL Podcast 736-Following One's Dream, I chose is from ESL POD. This episode lasts for about 16 minutes with a slow speed. It includes a short dialogue as well as the interpretation of the dialogue. After the dialogue, the host will explain all the new phrases and vocabulary in the dialogue in details so that the listener can comprehend the content better. This episode can be used in ESL elementary listening classroom. As teachers, we can apply this material both inside and outside the classroom. If we use it inside the classroom, the teacher can first teach students some new phrases or expression that is going to be played in the episode, and then play it. After listening it, the teacher can ask students to repeat the dialogue or ask students to create a similar dialogue with their classmates. Since there is a detailed interpretation of the dialogue, teachers can also ask students to listen it at home. And then students are required to make sentences with some new phrases or vocabulary. Besides, students can be also asked to read after the dialogue so that their pronunciation can be improved through repetition. 

Applying podcasting in a language classroom is an effective way to improve language learners' learning efficiency. As an ESL teacher, it's important for us to know how to make the best use of those internet resources and try our best to help student acquire the language better.

A fantastic online learning community---ePals

      

       The program ePals provides teachers, students, and parents worldwide with a safe and secure platform for building educational communities. Both teachers and students can enhance their teaching and learning effectiveness by sharing projects and best practices with other professors and learners around the world. I think the most obvious feature of this program is it creates a global collaboration-learning environment for participants. As its website describes, ePals connects teachers as well as students with people not only they have already known, but also with the people they may not know around the world. People may get connected because of a common interest, or a common need. Also, this program involves authentic communication and learning activity.

      In my future classroom where students are Chinese and learn English as a foreign language,  I will encourage students to make the best use of the program. For example, ask students to establish learning collaboration with students from the US. They can send email with American students through the product of ePals SchoolMail, and also discuss with them in the LearningSpace. By communicating with target language people, students are exposed to English frequently. As a result, their four skills (reading, speaking, listening and writing) will be improved dramatically.

Digital Storytelling

     Digital Storytelling is one of the computer-based tools that can be integrated into classroom. According to the article 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling, the author defines it as "the practice of combining narrative with digital content, including images, sound, and video, to create a short movie, typically with a strong emotional component". Anyone can use it to record their lives and share with others. For students who want to create a digital story might need a recording device and microphone, hardware and software to manipulate images and video, or tools to take pictures and video. As for topics, students can choose the topic related to the subject he/she is learning or any he/she is interested in. Just as the article Education Uses of Digital Storytelling describes, "The topics that are used in Digital Storytelling range from personal tales to the recounting of historical events, from exploring life in one's own community to the search for life in other corners of the universe, and literally, everything in between". The purpose of making a digital story is to teach values and beliefs to others. When student is creating a digital story, not only can he/she express his/her emotions but also he/she go through a critical thinking process. 

      As a language teacher, I will ask my students to make their own digital story and each week ask one students to share his/her story with the whole class. Students' speaking skill as well as writing skill can be improved since the story needs to be organized well. More importantly, students learn how to assemble their collections in a way that can achieve a desired effect. I cannot agree more with the view presented in the article of 7 Things You Should Know About Digital Storytelling which is "digital stories give students an opportunity to experiment with self-representation—telling a story that highlights specific characteristics or events—a key part of establishing their identity, a process that for many is an important aspect of the college years". In my opinion, this is what a college student should acquire through college studies.