Big props to Felix Kronenburg to come to the Marriott Marquis in NYC all the way from Pomona California to introduce East Coast language educators at NECTFL to languagelabunleashed, a professional development gem on the web that is so much more than a blog. One of the topics that came up during a very insightful and comfortable conversation about technology-enhanced language learning was how to engage the many FL faculty who never make it to a professional conference for whatever reason. LLU regularly hosts informative sessions and live webcasts where listeners can join in easily both to listen and chat . Tech o’ Tuesdays feature tech tips on topics like recording skype, file conversions and new 2.0 applications. Other webcasts cover topics like using skype for language exchanges, Wikipedia in the classroom and a very interesting show that I heard myself on foreign language learner anxiety. The beauty of these programs is that they are archived and serve the PD needs of all the FL teachers who have the LLU URL.
In addition to the live broadcasts, the LLU team are seasoned backchannelers. They go to conferences and blog about sessions while they are sitting in them. This is a very inclusive approach to sharing ideas at conferences linking those who were there to those who were not. In effect, it extends the conversation and the networking well beyond the original talk so that a multitude of participants can potentially benefit. However, live backchanneling, that makes conference proceedings available in real time, presupposes an Internet connection in the session room which is not routinely available in many conference venues. When broadband connections become truly ubiquitous, more teachers will be able to join in the discussions -some in the session room and some in blogs. It is up to all of us to imagine the kinds of discussions that technology will enable to make professional development available to all.
Marc Prensky, was the keynote speaker for the opening session of the 55th conference for the 2008 Northeast Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages and what can I say but that ”he rocked it”. My kids are playing a lot of Rock Band lately so that’s the first thing that comes to my mind. To get the flavor of Prensky’s ideas, check out a few minutes of his comments when his latest book was recently published in Italy. (Focus on the ideas, because the format in the video is VERY different from the event we experienced in the conference venue. At NECTFL, Prensky was much freer to move about interacting with his audience and the digital presentation he brings with him.)
In this video, we can see him on one of his favorite learning tools, YouTube.:
Now back to New York and the Northeast Conference—-
His remarks centered as they usually do on student engagement and allowing the learner to play a BIG role in how they learn. He encouraged teachers to allow students to use YouTube, their cell phones, blogs, wikis and podcasts to construct new learning activities. For example, imagine a classrom where instead of announcing “Shut off your cellphones”, teachers asked students to pick them up to find information that would be used right there in the lesson. It might be that they’d “phone a friend” a la Millionnaire, or look something up on a Sidekick or Blackberry or even take pictures or a video that could later go up on YouTube- in the target language. No doubt the students could imagine all kinds of ways to use phones for learning that we digital immigrants cannot begin to imagine. And that’s cool- the first step to a level playing field in the classroom where student-centered becomes learning-centered and technology is just the tool that enables communication. (Although in the participation phase, one student reported that if she did not have her cell phone, she could not live.)
A highlight was when high school and middle school students came on the stage to interact with Prensky about what they liked about studying a language and what they really did not like. The dream situation for them was to be able to go to a place where the TL was being spoken and to be able to communicate and get what they want. Technology enables real-world communication and so does speaking the language. Students realize that both skills are part of the equation. The less interesting part from the learner perspective was the classroom drilling with one student using the analogy of a nail/lesson being hammered into his head. The students reported that they enjoyed being asked how they’d like to have their school work designed. They liked the opportunity to be creative and they liked it when language learning led to real-world communication They said that they wanted to learn the language that would help them negotiate practical needs when traveling.
The onstage interview was followed by an exchange between the students and the teachers in the audience.Teachers came up to microphones in the crowded ballroom to bridge the gap between digital immigrants, those of us who predate computers and the digital natives on stage. It was an invigorating experience to hear the conversation about re-imagining how we all work in a digital world. In Prensky’s world, we are all learners with the power to transform the educational experience for all. It is a place where everyone is learning, creating , sharing and collaborating.
His slides are posted on the Northeast Conference home page:
I am very excited about the topic of fair trade and sustainable development in our language classes these days, because they give our students a more compelling way to connect with language. At the GWATFL YouTube plenary last week, a bunch of us swapped our favorite digital videos and up came this wonderful Mange ta banane.
What is beautiful is how the tous petits convince each other que ce n’est pas nul, c’est equitable!!
It was a special morning in New Orleans on Friday when Bee invited the Webheads in Action to the MERLOT 2007 conference via Alado and Second Life. They checked in from Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Taiwan etc. etc.. Bee was really effective in showing how small the world can be when educators with a passion for sharing get together. No more working in isolation. The potential for exciting collaborations between teachers and students worldwide is already there. Hear/see the keynote at Alado and see Bee’s spectacular NOLA pics at flickr tagged merlot2007onlap. It was really a week to remember.
Our community workday at an historic elementary in Mid-City was a phenomenal start. Forty-two MERLOT folks taping and painting trim in an elementary school that saw five feet of water in its ground floor level after Katrina. They lost everything inside either because of the water or the mold after the water receded. Our work was a small contribution in light of the need, but it did wonders for all of us. The school is going to be better than it was before Katrina given the hard work of the many volunteers who are working there. Troy, the volunteer coordinator told us that this was one of nine schools he was readying for a Fall start. Everybody wanted to do as much as he/she could.
MERLOT had a new feature called Learning Circles this year and they were very well received by the attendees. MERLOT World Languages sponsored one called The Many Languages of MERLOT where attendees from Brazil, Israel, Japan, Senegal, Canada, Italy, Chile, Spain, the US and the UK and other lands all spoke volumes about how MERLOT could evolve into a more multilingual resource. The discussion moved from the political “Do we translate?”, to”What do we translate?” and then to a more technical, but extremely stimulating conversation about metadata. Mous Diack, from Southern University and A&M College and director of the MERLOT African Network project, rightly identified language as a real access issue. Susanna Dammann, project manager of Linguanet Europa (MERLOT’s 2007 Editor’s Choice award winner) and her Linguanet colleagues, Jose Ignacio and Luis, from the Instituto Cervantes and the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid gave MERLOT many good ideas on possible directions in which to proceed. This meeting was one of the more profitable new features at the MIC because it brought home the growing international contingent in many different disciplines. The community-building was great as participants talked and MERLOT listened.
Back in the French quarter, we took in the wonderful Rue Royale at night. Art, jewlery, antiques, everything glowed in the light of the gaslight lamps. The jellyfish lamps were among my favorites. Diane showed us some great art, including a few original Rodrigues at K-Pauls. Will we ever forget the Duck and Shrimp Vindaloo? The Creole Mary’s?
This morning, I visited the world from my sofa, with geobeats, a very 2.0 video guide to the world. Video tours produced by ordinary folks in-country give comforting help that goes way beyond text-based guides. The visual cues, subtitled authentic language and the quality of the videos I saw made me smile. I started with places I know- Provence, Santiago, Siena and in all cases the videos reminded me of some experience I had there. If I were planning a holiday, I’d definitely consult geobeats. Not bad for language classes, non plus.
The use of digital video to teach language in a real-world context was an inevitable development and it is here. Youtube no doubt will inspire all kind of tubes, hence languagetube.com where I went this morning. I was greeted by a young man teaching me how to greet in Thai: Sawaddee
Thailand, as you have heard and maybe learned this morning, is the land of the smile. I like learning this way. What about my students? What about you?
I have been checking out ways that digital video is going to change our lives as language teachers. First, I learned about rocketboom, just because I was in FLTEACH last September and a list member had noticed this video interview in French about podcasting, done by the anchor of Rocketboom, Joanne Colan. Well I was very interested in the video, so I went back and found it in the coolest archives I have ever seen. (As you read my blog, you’ll see I am given to hyperbole.)
Anyway, I went back to Rocketboom on April 26, when Joanne was talking about dotsub.com. This software allows you to subtitle an already made digital video in the language of your choice. I got to thinking about it as a nifty tool for languages because you can write target language captions for any video you or students make or you can get the permission from authors of other videos. I hope you’ll share your thoughts about how this captioning tool can be useful to us.
