Alan November

Educational Innovators

During a recent webinar tutorial in which we were discussing the use of technology in learning the name of Alan November popped up.  I had never heard of him and so spent some time finding out who we was and found these videos which I immediately identified with:

Who owns learning?

21st Century Learning - a Deep Dive into the Future

I am currently reading Alan November's book, Empowering Students With Technology, and hope to find more time to read through it over the holidays.

The point that technology can be a powerful motivator for some students who do not succeed in traditional classrooms is pertinent and not only relevant to teenagers as the story of Yves with which Alan November opens the book alludes to.  I have found it can be a powerful motivator for many of my adult learners.  

The story of Yves reminds me of a quote often attributed to Einstein which berates state education systems:

(Here's the view of someone who really disagrees with this quote and rightfully questions whether Einstein would take this view.)

The Republia Times

Educational Games

 

Age: Mature teens+
Levels: Medium-Difficult

Ever wondered what it's like to be the editor-in-chief of a national newspaper?  Students and teachers alike will enjoy printing positive articles which depict the glorious and free nation of Republia in a positive light.  Your job is to print as many articles as possible for the Republia Times that will help make Republia great again! ;)

In the current age of post-truth politics, Facebook bubbles and unscrupulous mainstream media doublespeak this game from Lucas Pope is topical and a fun way for students to get some authentic topic-related language input related to media propaganda and the main stream media.  Fostering critical reflection is an important aspect of educational programs and what Richard Kern specifically calls critical semiotic awareness.

A critical semiotic awareness of how meanings are made, framed, and transformed in particular contexts of language use is essential to twenty-first-century learners because they face a singularly pervasive mediascape that is potentially as exploitative as it is emancipatory (Kern, 2015:233).

This entails raising awareness of how conventions are used to shape texts to construct discourse toward social ends.  Making learners aware of their own agency to use these conventions but also in critiquing them and potentially shaping them.

Which stories were the most outlandish?
Which stories were the most unbelievable?
Which stories were just silly?

Which positive stories might have contributed to a greater Republia readership?
Which negative stories may have contributed to a lower Republia readership?

Were there any stories that were scarily similar to real-life news stories?

Richard Kern, (2015) Language, Literacy and Technology. 

Question Forms - Monty Python and the Bridge Keeper

Engaging Video Clips

 

Level: B1+
Age: Teens and Adults
Theme: Question formation, Questions with and without auxiliary verbs, Comedy

Monty Python are one of the most famous (if not the most famous!) English comedy collectives ever and rank among my top comedians.  I try and use comedy clips whenever I can as British humour is an extremely important part of British national identity.

I have used the following video clip with teenage classes and many students found it amusing.  The surrealist nature of Monty Python jokes can be tricky and sometimes requires a bit of explaining which may reduce the comedy value.  I used this clip when reviewing question forms and specifically in lessons where I've wanted the students to prepare their own quiz questions.

If students are willing they can act out their own Monty Python Bridge of Death scene with questions of their own choice.

Watch the video and answer the following questions:

How many different questions does the bridge keeper ask all of the knights?

What happens to the knights when the answer the questions incorrectly? 

Can you remember any of the questions?

There are 5 (not 3!:) questions:

What is your name?

What is your quest?

What is your favourite colour?

What is the capital of Syria?

What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?

 Here's the video clip with subtitles

Some vocabulary that can be pre-taught or looked at afterwards: 

Dragon Dictation

Speaking

 

Dragon Dictation is a free app which students can download to practice their speaking and pronunciation skills.  It is a speech recognition application which is only available on the Apple iOS platform.

 

As you can see in the demonstration video above, transcription of my speech is 99% accurate.  The only error is the absent of the definite article before Apple iOS due to the fact that structural words, such as auxiliary verbs and prepositions, are often pronounced in their weak form and so often go unheard (by electronic devices and students themselves!).

Learners can practice reading short extracts and compare their recorded transcription with that of the written text that they have chosen.

Dr Ruben Puentedura

Educational Innovators

 

'Dr. Ruben Puentedura is the Founder and President of Hippasus, a consulting firm based in Western Massachusetts, focusing on transformative applications of information technologies to education. He has implemented these approaches for over twenty-five years at a range of K-20 educational institutions, as well as health and arts organizations.

(Hippasus of Metapontum, was a Pythagorean philosopher. Little is known about his life or his beliefs, but he is sometimes credited with the discovery of the existence of irrational numbers.)

Dr Ruben Puentedura is the creator of the SAMR model for selecting, using and evaluating technology in education, which currently guides the work of the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, as well as projects in Vermont and Sweden.

His current work explores new direction in mobile computing, digital storytelling, learning analytics and educational gaming, focusing on applications in areas where they have not been traditionally employed.  He can be reached at rubenrp@hippasus.com/'

Ruben R. Puentedura's blog 

The impact of SAMR

How to Apply SAMR

Friends - Harvey & Rabbit

Engaging Video Clips

 

Level: B1+
Age: Young Learners to Adults
Theme: Friends, Adjectives, Picture description, Present simple, Present continuous

Tell students that they're going to watch a video about Harvey and his best friend.

Why do you think they are good friends?
Who do you think Harvey and Rabbit are?

Further questions to ask before watching the clip:

Why do we need friends?
Why are your friends important?
What do you do together?

Watch the video, do you do these things with your friends?

Watch the video again, write as accurately as possible all the things Harvey and Rabbit do.

• They play on a see-saw together.

• They have their photos taken in fancy dress in a photo booth.

•  Harvey buries Rabbit in the sand and makes him into a mermaid. 

• Harvey rescues Rabbit from a burning house and resuscitates him by licking him. 

• They steal sausages from the butcher's and Rabbit drives the getaway car.

• Harvey makes a compilation tape for Rabbit and dances to it on his hind legs while Rabbit listens on headphones.

• They lie down on their backs in the grass watching cloud shapes.

I sometimes stop the video at different parts and get students to tell their partner what is happening / has happened / is going to happen.  This was particular helpful for Cambridge exam preparation such as PET and First where candidates have to describe pictures.

You can click on the images below and view these video stills:
 

 (FRIENDS! a-la-la-poo-poo-la-la-laaaaaa..)

Elllo

Listening

 

ELLLO (Is that three 'l's teacher? Yes, three 'l's) stands for English Language Listening Library Online.  It was created by Todd Beuckens, an ESL teacher living in Japan.  The lessons are free and very very helpful.

Complementing the free audio is a script, vocabulary and quiz.