Edgar Lucero

DESIGNING ON-LINE MATERIALACTIVITIES FOR AUDIO PLAYERS AND VIDEOSSOCIAL SOFTWARE

ACTIVITIES FOR AUDIO PLAYERS AND VIDEOSPRIMARY CONSIDERATIONS

•Material•Time allocation•Video/excerpts segments•Setting arrangements•Equipment•Pre, during, post activities•Your beliefs

SOME QUESTIONS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT WHEN PLANNING A VIDEO/LISTENING…

1. When will the material be used: before, while, or after using the accompanying book materials?

2. What is the level of the class and the particular strengths and weaknesses of the students?

3. What is the level of material access? 4. What consequences and effects

should be avoided in planning the lesson?

The Old Witch

• There was once a little girl who was very willful.•One day she said to her parents, "I have heard so much of the old witch that I will go and see her. People say she is a wonderful old woman, and has many marvelous things in her house, and I am very curious to see them."•But her parents didn’t let her go, saying, "The witch is a wicked old woman, who performs many godless deeds - and if you go near her, you are no longer a child of ours."• The girl, however, went to the witch's house. When she arrived there the old woman asked her:• "Why are you so pale?"• "Ah," she replied, trembling all over, "I have frightened myself so with what I have just seen."• "And what did you see?" inquired the old witch.• "I saw a black man on your steps.”

• "That was a collier," she replied.• "Then I saw a gray man."• "That was a sportsman," said the old woman.• "After him I saw a blood-red man."• "That was a butcher," replied the old woman.• "But, oh, I was most terrified," continued the girl, "when I peeped through your window, and saw not you, but a creature with a fiery head."• "Then you have seen the witch in her proper dress," said the old woman. "For you I have long waited, and now you shall give me light."• So saying the witch changed the little girl into a block of wood, and then threw it on the fire. When it was fully alight, she sat down on the hearth and warmed herself, saying:• "How good I feel! The fire has not burned like this for a long time!"

CONSIDERATIONS FOR A VIDEO/LISTENING PLANNING…•Use short segments.•Choose scenes/excerpts that contain a clear beginning, plot development, and ending.•Promote segments that can provide skill work (e.g. discussions, writing, listening, language work on vocabulary and grammar, etc.)•Choose a clear skill or language focus. If several, segment the handouts.

VIDEOS AND PLAYERS FOR LISTENING

•Start with a discussion activity about the topic of the material.•Play the teaser (first segment of the material) and make questions relating both the topic and the scenes/excerpts.•Pre-teach any unusual vocabulary before whole listening.•Play the entire material. (Just for the pleasure of watching or listening to it) Make just some questions for understanding.•Play the entire material again. Make the students answer questions of gist (main ideas). Collaborative work.

•Play the material again by having the students answer questions of who, what, when, where, why, and how. (Specific information, details)•Make your students compare the answers with each other.•Play the material by segments to get the answers of the questions. Write the correct answers on the board.•Plan follow-up activities concerning the material and the topic.

VIDEOS AND PLAYERS FOR SPEAKING•Provide a model for pronunciation and intonation.•Provide a copy of the script (it could be just the most relevant segment). Check vocabulary, stress, and intonation.•Have the students practice them.•Provide a summary of the material. Have the students talk about it.•Play the material for the gist and details. Have students answer the questions orally.•Develop a follow-up activity based on the material (e.g. interview, presentation, audio record, video, etc.)

VIDEOS AND PLAYERS FOR WRITING•Consider a free writing about the topic.•Make your students share it with one another.•Play the material for the gist and details. Have students answer questions in written.•Make the students compare them in groups.•Develop a follow-up activity (students design questionnaires about the material, a write-up, a letter, library work for additional writing, etc.)

INTERNET-BASED PROJECT WORKBy Edgar Lucero

Definitions

• Internet-based project is an extension of the individual work in class. It involves the use of internet in short-term or long-term basis.• Its objective is to trigger more communication and sharing of knowledge through cooperative learning.• It encourages critical thinking skills by dealing with information to achieve a task. (identify, gather, recognize, evaluate, conclude, reconstruct)

Internet-based project steps

• Choose the project topic• Make the task clear• Find the resources• Decide on the outcome (Criteria to assess it)

• Think of a basic project to work with your students. Example: “My favorite actor.” Then, follow the steps.

My example…

• Project topic: My favorite actor.• Task: create a slide on which you display name of the actor, age, nationality, partner. • Present it!

Jessica Claire Biel (born March 3, 1982, 30). American actress (Minnessota) , model, and singer. Movies: Summer Catch, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Stealth, The Illusionist, I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, and The A-Team, and the British movie Easy Virtue.Partner: Justin Timberlake

E-mail

• For classwork (emailing assignments, summaries, in-advanced material, issues for discussion, writing texts)• Data collection projects: collecting emails for a specific topic from real sources. For example, “Language courses in Australia.”• Keypal projects: putting people in touch for cross-cultural communication. For example, “My other learners around the world.”• Procedure: theme, aims, timing/pacing, procedure (before, during, follow-up), assessment.

Chats

• Text chats, audio/voice chats, public chats (chat rooms), private chats (Messenger).• Free-topic chats, task-oriented chats, academic chats, practice chats.• Considerations: technical issues (environment), technical skills (recording), benefits, content, management.• Example: Ask your chat partner his/her likes and dislikes about film, music, pets, sports. Share yours! Report the answers to the class.

SOCIAL SOFTWARE

BLOGS

WIKIS

PODCAST

A webpage with regular diary or journal entries aboutA topic in particular.

A collaborative webspace, with a number of pages thatCan be edited by any user. It is a public website started by one person or institution, in which subsequent visitors can add, delete, or change information.An audio or video file that is broadcast via the Internet,And can be downloaded to a computer or mobile device. It is a webpage to listen to or/and watch clips on a topic that interests you whenever you want to.

TYPES OF BLOGS

• BLOGROLL: list of links to other blogs with a related topic.• CLASSBLOG: entries from students studying at any educational center.• EDUBLOG: it covers a wide range of topics related to education.• TUTORBLOG: a blog set up and maintained by a teacher for a class purpose.• STUDENTBLOG: a blog set up and maintained by a student for current affairs of class activities.• REFLECTIVE BLOG: to comment on topics from a reflection upon learning.

FINAL CONSIDERATIONS•Planning is everything. Plan your activities in advanced.•Watch or listen to the material several times and be sure about its content.•Practice with the equipment available ahead.•Enlist student’s help (technological help, handy help).•Have a plan B.