Language+learning+ideas

=**In this page I have collected ideas from the past stored also on my Moodle site, as the site is only open to subscribers I posted those notes on this page so it is open to everybody. **=

**Podcasting for language teaching.**
The following ideas can be adapted for diverse topics and languages.


 * Teaching ideas:**

Create a podcast to:


 * introduce new lexicon (e.g. parts of the body, family, places, etc).
 * explain a grammatical point
 * introduce a cultural topic

Why using a podcasts instead of a Power Point or other presentation tool? The main reason would be that in the podcast format can be viewed not only on a computer but also on a portable device like iPhone, iPad, etc.

What you will need:

Pictures of the topic you would like to present. A brief script of what you are going to say for each picture A quite place were you can record the sound in Garageband or other image/video supported podcasting tool

Tip - you can pre-record the sound clips using other recording program (Audacity) and use Garageband only to compile the presentation. You can also have different people pronounce the word/sentences to get your students used to a variety of voices and pronunciation.

There are also free online services to create image based/voice narrated podcasts and multimedia blogs. I will add at the end of this page a few sites for you to check out.


 * Learning ideas**

You can also use Garageband to get your students to prepare activities and assessable oral items. These are only s few ideas:

Describe people (or their family) Fill the gap, question and answer or pronunciation activity <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Narrate a story <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Narrate a recipe <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Do a pair activity (like shopping, buying items, a the bank, doctor, etc) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Create an advertisement

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What you will need:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Clear instructions for the students on how to do the activity. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Pictures of the topic you would like the students to prepare, or instructions on what images they will need to collect. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A brief script of what they are going to say for each image or ad lib time to do this part. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Headsets with microphones if you are going to record in the lab to minimize background noise.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Tip - you can ask students to bring pre-recorded clips using other recording program (Audacity) and use Garage band only to compile the presentation. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you are doing a pair activity you need to instruct students to record their part in sections. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you are doing a fill the gap, question and answer or pronunciation activity you will need to prepare the track with the appropriate gaps for the students to respond to.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Organizational tips:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you are preparing sound materials save in mp3 format. Images will have to be saved in jpg format.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If your podcast is instructional can be uploaded on Moodle or any other LMS like any other resource.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you would like the students to produce their own podcast, you can create a directory in Moodle to store the resources for your students to download, avoiding having to manually upload materials on each computer in the lab.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you are marking the activity the students have produced you can add an assignment topic on your Moodle for students to upload their work so you can received it, download it and mark it.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you would like students to share online their podcast for others in the class to view and/or comment you can create a glossary activity to share their work.

**iMovie for Language teaching.**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The following ideas can be adapted for diverse topics and languages.


 * Teaching ideas:**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Create an iMovie project to:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Develop a professionally looking lecture (for online delivery).
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Explain/introduce a topic
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Customize a movie clip (you created, from Youtube, etc)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Subtitle a video

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Movie projects created with iMovie can be saved in different formats to suit presentations in a Lecture theatre, online or on mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad, etc.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What you will need:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Video clips (from your camera, your computer, Youtube, etc) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A work plan on what you need to do (ideas list or storyboard)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Tip - you can import slides created with Power Point or Keynote and saved as video add more video clips, titles and subtitles.


 * Learning ideas**

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">You can also use iMovie to get your students to prepare activities or assessable work. These are only s few ideas:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">1. Subtitle movie as a translation activity <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> 2. Create a story <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> 3. Collecting movie clips (from Youtube, etc) to create a collage of movie ideas around a topic <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> 4. Do a movie presentation (instead of a tutorial presentation) around a topic (this could be peer reviewed) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">5. Record a new voice track (great oral activity)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What you will need:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Clear instructions for students on how to do the activity. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Clear criteria or even better a rubric to mark the activity (you can create specific rubrics without a lot of effort on this site [])

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Instructions on what type of movie clips they will need to collect (for idea 1 and 3). <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Clear instructions on how to save the project and upload on Wattle (including maximum size of project accepted)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Tip – students will be less worried about what they need to do if you can provide an example of what it is expected or at lest give clear indications of what you are looking for (e.g. I would like the project to have a title page with the title of the video, or the name of the students, etc) <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The following is a useful read if you like your students to produce a video assignment:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Organizational tips:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you are preparing video materials save in MPEG4 format.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If your video is a lecture or tutorial can be uploaded on Moodle or other LMS like any other resource.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you would like the students to produce their own video but with material you have chosen, you can create a directory in Moodle to store the resources for your students to download, avoiding having to manually upload materials on each computer in the lab.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you are marking the activity the students have produced you can add an assignment topic on your Moodle for students to upload their work so you can received it, download it and mark it.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you would like students to share online their video for others in the class to view and/or comment you can create a glossary activity to share their work.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Tech tips:

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">To quickly download videos from Yotube you can use []

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">If you need to change video formats without installing software on your computer you can use []

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Videos to help you after the workshop

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|iMovie basics]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[|Adding subtitles] [|Audio editing]

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In this site also look for using quizzes and collaborative tools

**Using Padlet and/or other sharing wall cloud solution (work in progress come back soon)**
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The following ideas can be adapted for diverse topics and languages.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Teaching ideas **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Create a sharing wall to:


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Introduce a topic/lesson with all the materials (videos, links, etc) organized as a visual wall instead of text bases with links
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Share resource space to find and share resources (e.g. on a specific topic find links to webpages, images, videos, etc on the topic)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Introduce a topic and ask student to post comments and questions on the wall live while presenting
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Build a wall lesson module complete with video introduction, readings, activities with a space for students to post/share their work

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Why using a sharing wall?

It is a much more visual and appealing way to present and share materials then a list of links or files. It is easy to use and it can be easily shared, exported, embedded, etc. It will work on any device including mobile devices making it a great activity for classes not held in a lab or when using a computer is not easy.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What you will need:

[|Padlet] account (it is free) that will allow to create your walls <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">A work plan on what you need to do (ideas list or storyboard)

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">You can also use Padlet to get your students to prepare activities or assignments work. These are only s few ideas:
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Learning ideas **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">do an ice breaking activity to get students to introduce themselves to the class with a picture/video and something about them (in the target language for non beginners)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">do a presentation poster wall (each students will create their own with their presentation materials like webpages, images, videos, etc on the assessment topic)
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Virtual conference, students record and upload short video presentation in a selected topic

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">What you will need:

Pre- prepared walls for students to use (if it is a class activity and not a single activity like the presentation poster) Clear instruction on what the students need to do Setting up of walls that can minimize overcrowding, people posting on each others work, etc Limit/description of exactly what you would like them to post and how (e.g. if it is a video a size/time limit, specific format and appropriate title and identifier)

Tech tips: Paddlet is actually a very very easy tool to use but it can also become a distraction if not used for a specific a clear purpose. The instructions and purpose is then very important as the the technology is very user friendly.

A few sites for you to check out

http://soundcite.knightlab.com/ https://storymap.knightlab.com/ https://steller.co/