Social Bookmarking & Curation

A letter to my hordes of followers:

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Dear hordes,

As you know, the purpose of this blog is to explore the ways in which technology, especially various websites and online services, can benefit teachers and students in the pursuit of education.  Several weeks ago, this search led me to investigate methods of social bookmarking and curation - that is, ways to keep track of all the other cool stuff I've found.  I signed up for two resources, called Diigo (https://www.diigo.com/) and Scoop It (http://www.scoop.it/), which I promptly neglected to share with you, my loyal readers.  Please excuse this oversight as I attempt to correct it.

Sincerely,
Justin

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As mentioned in the above address, Diigo and Scoop It are sites that allow you to organize links to other sites and pages.  Diigo comes with a downloadable toolbar that you can use to link posts and access your library from anywhere on the web.  Diigo allows you to add tags to links as you add them, and search by these tags so that your library can continue to grow without becoming unnavigable.  You can also search the entirety of Diigo using the same tag system, allowing you to access useful material collected by other Diigo users.  You can group your links in lists, add summaries, and highlight key sections of the target page that will remain highlighted whenever you follow your Diigo link there, so key information won't get lost in a busy page.

Scoop It functions more like Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/), a popular casual curation site.  Scoop It also offers a toolbar, and links appear on your profile page with images and short selections of text.  This feature makes browsing through your own and other users' posted content much quicker and more engaging, a definite step up from Diigo's all-text interface.  Scoop It also suggests pages for you based on your activity and the activity of other users with similar interests, which is a great feature for finding new resources.

All in all, I prefer Scoop It.  Not only is it more similar to what I'm used to, but the visual aesthetics are a nice touch that makes the site seem friendlier and easier to navigate, while the suggested posts are a wonderful feature for those interested in finding more of what they like - which is likely everyone.

Learning Podcasts

Our exploration of online teaching tools continues this week with a focus on podcasting.  For those not in the know, podcasts are like radio shows (though they can also include video) that you can download to your computer or a mobile device.  What makes podcast shows different from radio shows is that they can be made by anybody with a microphone and an internet connection, and that you can listen to them anywhere - once you've downloaded the file, you can take it with you and enjoy it any time, any place.

I found a podcast that would be a wonderful supplement in my Spanish classroom called Español Podcast / Spanishpodcast (www.spanishpodcast.org).  As the name suggests, it's a podcast series in Spanish.  The show is targeted at Spanish L2 learners with an English-speaking background.  Episodes begin with a short introduction in English, which is then repeated in Spanish and followed in the same language by the rest of the show.  Each episode is centered on a particular topic, and is designed to facilitate learning of the vocabulary and other language features that pertain to that topic.  I listened to ¿Hay wifi?, which centers on a conversation a man named Bob has with a hotel receptionist regarding the hotel's wifi services.

The host, Mercedes, speaks clearly with a native Barcelonian accent and at an easy-to-follow pace.  Even better for learners, episodes also include a transcript so that listeners can read along while they listen to the words.  By including multimodal input (text and audio), Spanishpodcast allows simultaneous visual and aural learning.  These two input styles reinforce each other, so that students who may struggle with one or the other on its own instead find spoken language paired with text, encouraging deeper understanding of Spanish as they engage more fully and experience the connectedness of these two aspects of the same language.

Educational Communities

As I've talked about before, technology is a big deal in the world of education.  One company that took this idea and ran with it is ePals.  You can find their website here: www.epals.com.  It's dedicated to creating educational communities and promoting collaborative learning.  They offer a whole slew of resources for teachers and students, including my personal favorite: Global Community, which allows teachers to join forces from across the world, bringing their students together to work on shared projects in an enriching experience for both groups.  American students learning Mandarin could connect with students learning English in China, for example.  Teachers who sign up simply need to enter their class's age group and languages, which other teachers looking for collaborative opportunities can search by, as well as information regarding the nature of the desired interaction.



Global Community is a wonderful opportunity for teachers to create authentic experiences for their students.  In this regard, it is unmatched by other resources.  Students will also get practice using technology and participating in the global community, which is an end unto itself.  As mentioned earlier, this would be an excellent tool in a language learning classroom, and is one I would definitely consider for my own.

Digital Storytelling Forever

I found another one.  GoAnimate.com allows users to create a sort of living comic strip.  The free version is limited to 30-second presentations, just like Animoto, but it offers a very high degree of flexibility.  Users can choose from a variety of styles, like comedy or anime, then select pre-made characters and backgrounds to fill a scene.  Characters can be posed and made to move around; you can record sound bites to make them speak, or use the text-to-speech generator.  Here's an example video I made, in which two ninjas discuss the subjunctive mood:

Ninjas Argue Subjunctive by Dionaeus on GoAnimate

Students could obviously have a lot of fun using a program like this for projects.  In a language classroom, many assignments involve scripting conversations to a particular purpose; GoAnimate offers a fun, fresh way to liven that up.

More Digital Storytelling

My exploration of the world of digital storytelling continued this week as I discovered more video generating tools.  One site I really like is called Animoto.com, which allows users to make beautiful videos with hardly any work at all.  They have a number of pre-made show styles available; all you have to do is select text and upload a few images or short video clips.  Unfortunately, you have to pay for the full version.  I found, however, that the 30-second time limit on shows you can create in the free version might actually be the perfect size for small student projects.  Without having to spend too much time, they can create a very nice-looking video to show to the class.  It would be a great way to have students present small bites of information to each other, allowing them to take a teaching role for 30 seconds at a time.  Here's one I made in about ten minutes, demonstrating two easily-confused direction words in Spanish: derecho (straight) and derecha (right).


Derecho vs. Derecha

Digital Storytelling

Digital storytelling is a trending form of expression through video.  You can get a quick run-down of what it is and what it's all about here, courtesy of EDUCAUSE; or, you can stay right here and keep reading.

Narrative is the primary element of a digital story, and is usually used in conjunction with images, music, and other digital techniques.  Digital stories are catching on in the education world as instructional tools that teachers can use - multimedia teaching has been shown to promote student engagement.  They are also popular as learning tools for students.  EDUCAUSE gives the example of David, a computer science major who is inspired by the project to create a digital story about his love for blues guitar, surprising his classmates and professor with an unknown side of himself.  You can see some examples of both types at the University of Houston's home site for the educational uses of digital storytelling.

This is how I would use digital storytelling in my classroom.  While I recognize the potential of the medium as a tool for instruction, I also must admit that in a Spanish classroom, where much of the focus is on exploration of foreign cultures, my students would in most cases be better served by a higher degree of authenticity than I could provide on my own.  I would consider using "found" stories created by others for certain purposes, but digital stories will likely see more use in my class as a format for student projects.  My hope is that the freedom allowed by the digital story will encourage creativity and motivation, even from students who might not respond to other strategies.

More Gamification: Serious Games

In my last post, I wrote about playing games for education in the classroom.  This time, I want to talk about games that students can play at home.  I found one called 3rd World Farmer that does a great job illustrating the hardships faced by people in certain other areas of the world.  The player controls a family struggling to succeed on a farm under harsh conditions, battling drought, sickness, civil war, and a slew of other calamities.  Each turn in the game covers a year, meaning that one game might span generations - if you're lucky.  3rd World Farmer is a relatively simple, but brutally difficult game.  I played at least a dozen times, and most of my families died out before achieving success.



3rd World Farmer was available in Spanish for a time, and I hope the translated version returns.  It would be an excellent at-home complement to farming, finance, or even family vocabulary units, reinforcing the material while also promoting strategic thinking and global awareness.