Week 3: Glogstering in Class

Glogstering in Class

Glogster is simply a dynamic free tool for those teachers and students who are willing to try new presentation gadgets, rather than PPT or similar tools. It can become another element that can keep students’ attention at its peak while giving a presentation. It is indeed a better tool than a paper poster, or a bunch of pictures scattered all through the board in the classroom.

http://www.glogster.com/

For someone who has never used this particular tool, to create a Glog, it may take anyone around thirty minutes. This implies getting to know the basic components needed to insert and upload pictures, to include text boxes such as bubbles and the like, how to “grab” your own voice recorded by the page to be included on the Glog, your own video or picture, etc. Once you get to know its basic features, including background settings, etc., you are ready to start Glogstering.

In terms of potential uses in one’s class, the possibilities are endless with a good dose of creativity. I know see myself using Glogs in reading skills classes for students to create “story plot analysis” or creative summaries for the stories we get to read in class. And how about Glogstering in oral communication courses? It can be a great challenge for students to move out of the using presentation paradigm to have them use their creativity to sketch their presentations on a Glog format. Sounds like something that needs to be tried out in class!

Take a look at what I created and give me your feedback, please.

http://jonacuso.glogster.com/b-learning/

Jonathan

Universidad Latina

Costa Rica

Week 2: Working with Search Engines

Websearches

Websearching for educational purposes has always been a headache for the novice searcher digging through layers of information listed on one’s favorite browser. Are there any other alternatives for finding information, but Bing, Google, and Yahoo?

Making a very quick poll among my students at the university, I asked them to tell me which Web browser they favor the most. It’s not surprising to know that most of my students actually used Google as their “favorite” choice. Then, asking them to name at least two other alternatives, but Google, they simple said: Bing or Yahoo! Had they heard anything about Lycos, Excite, or Metacrawler? Of course not!

Because I am kind of old-fashioned in terms of Web searching, I still go back to those original browsers such as Lycos (http://www.lycos.com/). Lycos has been there for quite a long time, way before Google came onto the Web stage. But was interesting about it? It does filter information much more than the endless lists of links provided by the popular Web browsers. It gives you alternatives for your search in case you are using the “wrong” key words. You can also get images, video, Web-pages, and yellow pages!

If you are an old-fashioned chap like me, I am sure that you had probably used Exicte! (http://excite.com/). Excite is as old as Lycos, but different. They share similar searching principles, but Excite has a nicer way of displaying additional key words related to what you are looking for, called Are you looking for? This feature provides you with a limited list of synonyms or content-related options. Besides, it gives users a limited and more depurated search than popular alternatives.

Last but not least is Metacrawler (http://metacrawler.com/). This other “oldie” has a section for additional key words for searches as Excite. But it has a nice feature the others do not have: Your recent searches. This is great because you can see where you started and how your search evolved, in case you want to go back to pages you have not bookmarked before. Although Metacrawler does not give you a Blind Search, it tell you through which browser you are finding/filtering the information.

Students can be encouraged to use these alternative browsers, or their preferred ones. Let’s have them bear in mind that Webpages (their ownwers), such as Wikipedia, pay to be listed first in almost any search. And if students were enrolled in the English Teaching major, having in mind that they will be working with children and teenagers, I would suggest the following links:

http://kids.britannica.com/

http://kids.yahoo.com/

http://www.askkids.com/

http://www.safesearchkids.com/

http://www.noodletools.com/

I hope all this information is of good use for you all!

Jonathan

Universidad Latina

Costa Rica

Week 1: Adding Value to Using the Web for Class Handouts

Adding Value to Using the Web for Class Handouts

Although I am the English Pronunciation Instructor at Universidad Latina, I have always believed that, no matter what the class one teaches is, we can always use it to help students expand their learning horizons a bit more. Based on this reason, I try to use my Pronunciation class as a means to teach more than pronunciation itself. Using handouts with short passages about historical or scientific events to work on “rhythm and intonation” has been the norm for some time now.

I was not used to inserting pictures, or any kind of illustration, in those “rhythm and intonation” handouts. However, to see students’ reactions in class, I prepared two different handouts with and without a picture: one about the origins of the typewriter, and the other about sequoias. “What’s QWERTY?” was the title for the worksheet about typewriters, and the second I used in class was entitled “Sequoias.”

Once I had given out the first worksheet about typewriters, everyone was asking for the meaning of QWERTY. Students got to ask me for the meaning of this new word. To their surprise, I explained to them that QWERTY are first six letters on any typewriter or computer keyboard. Some of them got up from their seats to take a look at the classroom PC’s keyboard to see these sequence of letters. Had it been the same if I had inserted a picture of a keyboard for students to see QWERTY on it?

With the second handout entitled “Sequoias,” students behaved differently for I had included a picture of a group of these redwood trees in California. “Sequoia” is not exactly a very popular word among English students, nor is the concept of redwood trees for people who do not study biology. But, since a picture is worth a thousand words (and explanations that cut out precious class time), the photo of the sequoia in the worksheet made the trick. Students learned about the content of the handout while they practiced their rhythm and intonation.

To sum up, a “meaningful” picture in a worksheet, which really reflects the passage’s content, can be a nice way to introduce a new topic that may be somehow alien to the class objectives and content. Having the same picture in the handout displayed in class can also give you a chance to prompt students to use their language as a means to learn something beyond the class syllabus.

What do you think?

Jonathan

Universidad Latina

Costa Rica