Mod 12 Podcasting

I listened to the podcasting called ESL Podcast 921-Describing Chance and Probability and found it is very interesting and suitable for teaching and learning. There is a conversation which talks about chance and probability. It is played in a very slow speed in the first time to make sure that students can hear every word clearly. However, since there are some bolded words which are new and a little difficult for students, they may not get the accurate meaning the first time they listening. But I believe they can catch the general meaning based on the context and script is available. A detailed explanation is followed which explain each bolded word or phrase. This can help students get the correct meaning of the conversation and they can know the whole meaning of the passage. After that, the same conversation is played in the second time in normal speed and it is the time for reviewing and students can go over the passage with the explanation they have heard before.

I think teacher can use it in the class in this way: firstly, it can be assigned as homework and let students  listen to the podcasting by themselves and memorize the meaning of each key word. Then in the class, there could be a discussion of the passage to help students understand better. Finally, students can make their own conversation by using the words or phrases they have just learned to consolidate their understanding. It is an interesting way of learning since students learn by themselves rather than from teacher.

Mod 11 Feeling about ePals

When I exploring the ePals, one thing I found is useful and interesting is the program called in2books. It is a program students communicate with others by reading and writing. Students can get a pen pal and they need to read 5 same books each year and exchange 6-10 online letter to express their feelings and ideas about the books they read. Through the interactions with others such as peers, teachers, student can get new view or some instructions from them, especially from experts. It is a good way to expand their knowledge and get some experience from others. Additionally, letter exchanging  with pen pals can help students understand the books better since when they write something about the book, it is also a good chance for them to understand it better. Pen pals can also help them answer their questions about the book. It seems like they work in a group online to solve problems by themselves by which the problem solving ability can be improved.

From the tools for school, I found many teaching materials for students of different grades. Some of them are free and some of them are needed to pay. The materials on the website have a detailed classification by subjects, language, price and grades, which allow people to find things easily. I think it is a good tool which I can use in my future teaching. I think I can find some proper materials which is suitable for my students.

Mod 10 (2) Comic Story

GoAnimate is very interesting and I used it to make an comic story. I have never used it before but I don't think it is very hard. I think teachers can apply it to the class, especially for children's class since they may feel it is attractive. It is also a good idea to let students themselves make their own videos. The topic can be something about learning or entertainment. It's a new and funny way for teaching and learning.







I made a video named A trip to the White House. When I was think about what topic to make, the background picture reminded me of the trip to Washington, DC with my friend. I found it is meaningful and I chose the topic which is related to it.

Mod 10 (1) Photo Story

I used iMovie in my Mac to make a photo story about learning fruits. iMovie is an interesting and useful software, which can help me make some videos. I can insert music, text, images and there are a lot of other functions which I don't know how to use. Also, it is a good learning tool for students and teacher. For the class to be active and interesting, playing video is a good idea. When teachers prepare classes or students prepare presentations, they need to find some appropriate videos on the Internet. However, it is not always the case that they can find proper videos in terms of content or length. At this time, it is a good choice to make their own videos. By doing so, we can make sure that the video is suitable to the class. However, making video is time-consuming and technical skills are required. It would be a little hard for people who are not very good at computer to make videos.

I made a video about fruits and it took me some time to finish since it was the first time I used iMovie. But I think it is a good chance for me to learn how to use and maybe I can apply it to my future teaching.

Mod 9 Digital Storytelling

Digital Storytelling is a computer-based tool to tell stories. It combines telling story with various multimedia, such as audio, video, etc. Compared with traditional storytelling, digital storytelling has a specific topic. It has different length but for education it is often 2 to 10 minutes. The topic in digital storytelling is very rich, including personal tales, historical events, literature, and so on.  John Seely Brown described digital storytelling this way: I’m particularly interested in Digital Storytelling, in new ways to use multiple media to tell stories and in the ability of kids, who are now growing up in a digital world, to figure out new ways to tell stories. They have the ability to build interpretive movies very simply and to lay sound tracks around the content. They condition or “sculpture” the context around the content. The serious interplay between context and content is key to what film—and rich media in general—are about.

I think I can use digital storytelling in my future teaching to introduce a topic like the history of English.   Digital storytelling is a new and advanced way for students learning and they may not feel boring. At the same time, they can learn knowledge. I think in this way, they will impress much more and can memorize what they have learned better.

Mod 7 (2) Reflection of the Game

For the serious game, I chose the Code Fred Survival Mode. I have played it for once and found it's interesting. The learning objective of this game is to understand the words and instructions of it and save the character from biting by the dog. There are a lot of words about organs and a demonstration of how to play before  starting each step. By playing this game, learners can recognize the name and place of organs so that they can learning while playing. For evaluation, teacher can give them all the words emerged in the game and let them point to the right place and also show how to spell and pronounce.

Mod 7 (1) Gamification and the Use of Walk Through

Gamification means teacher involves applying game design thinking to non-game applications to make them more fun and engaging. Using game in language learning is an attractive way for learners. By doing so, students can not only have entertainment, but learn English at the same time. 

I have played the Heart of TOTA once with the use of walk through. The learning objective of this game is to understand and finish the game with the help of walk through. Also, it aims to learn some new language structure from the game and apply it into daily life. I think students will feel very interesting and highly involved in the class after told by teacher that they are supposed to play a game and learn English through it. It is innovative and also a good motivation for students. When students are playing game, teacher can act as a consoler to help them and give instructions and hints when they meet problems. Also, teacher can be a translator in case they have some unfamiliar words. I think I will use the walk through game in my future teaching but only for beginners, especially for children. Since the instructions are relatively simple and it is a good way to grasp daily English by playing the game. After the completion of the game, I might give some explanation with the use of the pictures from the game. It might be a little difficult for me to finish the game perfectly in the first time since the unfamiliarity with the rules, images or words. I can play the same game for several time and if I can finish it faster than the previous, the learning objectives are completed. 

Mod 6 (2) The potential for Microblogging in education

From How to Use Microblogging for Education, I learned that teachers can share experience with each other through Microblogging. Several teachers with the same interests can make a research group and share information. It is a great idea that teachers spread different information through Microblogging and everyone can pick something he or she likes or needs. Besides, it is also a useful tool for students since they can write down what they are reading and the reflections. Teachers can also track their learning process by checking their Microblogging. Teaching with Twitter shows us 10 uses for education, which are beneficial for both teachers and learners.

Mod 6 (1) Feeling about Twitterchat

I followed #engchat on Monday and found a very useful article for non-native English speakers learning English. It talks about three mistakes L2 learners often have and I have the same problem with the first mistake the author mentioned. It is about the order of adjectives when a noun need to be modified by several of adjectives. There is a chart which list the order of adjectives we should say. I think Twitterchat is a very good communicating tool for us to learn and exchange our ideas with others.

Mod 5 (2) Description of Social Networking Group

I joined The Educator's PLN and find many useful information about education. From this website, I saw many articles and videos uploaded by other members. Also, some people posted some questions and others answered them. What's more, I can also see the latest activities of others. It is a communicating platform which provides a lot of chances for people to communicate topics we are all interested in and share what we thought or some new information. I think from this social networking group, more people can help me answer my questions and I also can assist others when they have problems. It is helpful for our own teaching and learning.

Mod 5 (1) A learner is like a social mediator

Learning is endless and we need to learn continuously since the knowledge is changing and we should update to catch up the world. As learning per se, learning style is changing with the development of society. As I remember, when I was in elementary school, we seldom used computer and all we need is the textbook and notebook. Students wrote all information and knowledge on the paper and every subject needed to rely on the book. At that time, learning is about each student per se, which means we acquire knowledge by ourselves without any relationship to other classmates. Like what the author wrote in the article A Learning Theory for the Digital Age, We can no longer personally experience and acquire learning that we need to act. We derive our competence from forming connections. 

However, things have great now. Today's learning is no longer just about the individual. Learning is becoming more and more social and we learners are like social mediators. Technology plays a vital role in learning. Instead rely on only textbooks, we have Internet, which is a very important and popular tool for us to learn. Knowledge changes fast and we can get the latest information from the Internet. As we know from the video The Network is Learning, if what I know today is going to change because knowledge changes rapidly, if I am not continue the learning, I am becoming obsolete in my particular field. We need to update what we knowledge frequently. Also through technology, we can share our knowledge with our friends, classmate, or people we even don't know. It is a process of exchanging. From the key words and labels, we can find the things in our own particular field. By doing so, our database is expanded and people can help each other in their learning. Therefore, learners become social and can mediate our own and others' learning.

Mod 4 Compare Diigo and Scoop it.

Diigo and Scoop it. are new to me and I learned a lot from these two learning tools of this week's homework. Both of these two are about keep articles that are useful for us. we can categorize different topics based on the key words we add. We can also edit multiple tags, which help us to do the classification. Through follow and being followed by others, we can see each others' article and give comments. It enables us to learn from each other and improves communication. We can copy and paste from the original articles to give comments.


After we enter key words in Scoop it., there will be many suggestions based on what we would like to read and we can choose from that database. I think it provides us chances to find materials and save a lot of time. In Diigo, we can highlight and add stickers or comments when we are reading. It entails us to focus on what we think is important and help us grasp the knowledge better.

These two learning tools are very helpful and I will use it in my future teaching and exchange information with others.

Mod 3 Does teaching only means teacher and students?

Classroom of Tomorrow
A Vision of 21st Century Teachers

We begin our education about 6 years old. For me, what impresses me most about teaching is teacher stands in front of the classroom; talks to students everything on the one hand. On the other hand, the students listen to what teacher teaches and take notes. Books and notebooks are the two most common things we use in our study. Teachers will tell us what to write down and what should we review for the exams. In some classes, computer will be used to show us something. That's all I can remember what we have used in my class.

However,  is it enough for today's teaching and learning. Are teacher and students are the only two main kinds of characters in the class? What should be included to assist our study? From the above two videos, I see that books and notebooks are not so important as past and we can learn through so many different methods. It is the technology, the advanced and convenient ones we can use to learn. As we know from the videos, students tend to study through paperless tools such as cell phones, computer. It is very common for teacher and students communicate through Internet. Blog is a good way for assignments, comments and so on. Through technologies, students can be creative and study will become interesting. It can also save students' a lot of energy and time. Gradually, technology becomes indispensable and every student will be good at using Internet tools. What's more, today's teachers are no longer teachers in the past. They are more like professional people in IT field. Many teaching methods are created to assist teaching.

Nowadays, besides teacher and students, many various kinds of technologies can be seen in a classroom. Communication becomes easier and the distance between teacher and students is smaller than before. Teaching and learning is more and more interesting.

Mod 2 Reasons and Standards for using blogs

Ways to use blogs with my own students

Using blogs, I could communicate with my students about the homework or the content in the class. Before the class, I could upload some reading materials or website links which are going to be taught in the class. It allows students to have a preview before the class. Also, I can design some discussing questions and let them think about by themselves and have a discussion during the official class.

Ways to use blogs with my own professional development

Through blogs, students can upload their assignments to me, which can save a lot of time and being paperless. In addition, they can also give me some feedbacks about the course, the homework or recommendations and ideas about how to improve the learning outcomes. Also, students can ask questions on the blogs and when can have a discussion together.

	Communication and Collaboration
	Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others. Students:
	a. interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media. b. communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats. c. develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures. d. contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems.

ISTE | NETS Student Standards 2007