Integrating+Tech

**Integrating Technology Into Instructional Practice**

 * Description:** This workshop will familiarize participants with the array of technology available to teachers and strategies for incorporating it appropriately into instructional practice. The focus will be on how these technology innovations can facilitate language development and enhance cultural understanding in a standards-based program. From wikis to podcasts to blogging—each technology innovation will be presented with accompanying strategies for developing students’ communicative ability in the target language.

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 * Can you identify how the activities and products of the Cognitive Taxonomy Circle relate to the three modes of communication?**





= = =Group 1: Gathering Information & Checking for Understanding =

**A. Finding Information**
My name is //(name)// and I teach //(level and language)//. I am like a //(object)// because //(your imagination required here)//.

Challenge - Use the [|Creative Commons] search and find a visual representation of your object. Did you know? In Firefox 3.0, Creative Commons search is one of the toolbar search options.

**Copyright Soapbox:** Fair use, photos, publishing, distance networks - there are many ways to create and publish content, as well as remix or mashup existing content. As educators, we are responsible to demonstrate appropriate copyright.

[|Technology & Learning Magazine] has a great article about copyright and a [|handy chart] (PDF).

Need an easy way to create citations? Use [|Son of Citation Machine]


Let's collect a little information about our group!  [|Who are you?] Ever need to gather information about your students AND have it at your digital fingertips? Collect it through either a [|Google Docs Form (and spreadsheet)] or a [|Survey Monkey] free survey.

This French teacher uses a Google Form to collect data from students who watched a film and this German teacher collected information about her students.

Take Google Forms one step further - turn it in to a self-grading activity (think quiz, exit ticket, quick comprehension check, etc.) - learn more with this [|9 minute video tutorial.]

Do your students have cell phones? Use [|Poll Everywhere] - students can text message their response. Here is the same poll as was in the initial powerpoint. As you can see there are two views: web-based voting and cell phone texting-based voting. If you didn't vote before, vote now!


 * **Web Voting Widget** - click here to vote || **Results Chart Widget** - use the info below to text and see the results as they come in ||
 * media type="custom" key="2697449" || media type="custom" key="2697457" ||

Discussion. Here are the ideas brainstormed by small groups on how the above technology applications could be used in the world language classroom.
Polls and Forms
 * Multiple choice vocabulary questions
 * Localizing the content via Google maps
 * Linking geographic and topographic information to cultural content
 * Pre and post opinion poll (debates)
 * AP mixed class - get to know you
 * Vote on next step in learning path
 * Wordclouds for brainstorming
 * Student-created surveys
 * Tracking faculty development
 * Polls and Class surveys
 * Integrate students into class discussions
 * Class assessment
 * Readiness or pre-assessment
 * Prior experience check
 * Quick check for comprehension
 * Tracking survey
 * Interest feedback
 * Program evaluations
 * Create surveys on animals, people, clothing, etc. with each student having a different survey to share collaboratively
 * Real time feedback and assessment
 * End of project evaluation
 * Language background survey
 * Reading and Listening comprehension check
 * Student profiles
 * Student evaluations of activities and course
 * Student comprehension checks for teaching and reteaching
 * Student perception surveys of learning climate
 * Introductions
 * Reviews
 * Self Evaluation
 * Student location relative to schools
 * Quizzes
 * Knowledge levels
 * Advantage of text message polling (and web-based polling)
 * Students creating content for collaboration
 * Student surveys of peers
 * Surveys of other students and people beyond the classroom and school

Creative Commons
 * Linking Creative Commons content to the Google Forms application - creating a multimedia environment
 * Creative Commons images and language narrations (photo story)
 * Creative writing prompts
 * Vocabulary Development
 * Impromptu speeches
 * Choosing image: Listening comprehension
 * Create surveys to poll student interest and readiness
 * Vocabulary development in target language
 * Research
 * Homework projects
 * Reading exercises
 * Include visuals in story writing
 * Powerpoint
 * Using visuals as speaking prompts
 * Substituting images for English translations
 * TPR stories
 * Creative Commons images, video and music for projects
 * Can use student products created in student portfolios
 * Use with SmartBoards
 * Culture
 * Digital flashcards
 * Storytelling
 * Regional and cultural heritage

=Group 2: Digital Storytelling in five different environments = This will be a useful planning tool regardless of which digital storytelling tool you select.

A.**[| VoiceThread]**
Digital storytelling with the ability to have text, audio, video, or doodle commentary on each slide. You must have a VoiceThread account in order to create or comment.

You can set preferences to allow others to comment as well. [|VoiceThread] is an interesting, easy to use web-based environment for digital storytelling and there is an [|education portal].

[|Langwitches]describes how she used it with her students and how to get started. Read more about how educators are using VoiceThread.

(//Linked examples:)//
 * Spanish example - [|La familia] and [|a story about a horse].
 * Chinese - [|student example in Chinese,] a [|student sample about the zodiac animals], this [|example] has a teacher record a speech sample and the students repeat and record and here students can hear [|colors].
 * French - a simple use for [|French vocabulary on professions]
 * Even Kindergarten students can use VoiceThread

//(Embedded example):// During the workshop we listened to the story (comprehensible input, with personalizing questions, retelling the story, etc). Then, participants practiced retelling the story by adding comments to the VoiceThread: media type="custom" key="2699279"

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B. **[|Voki]**
Allows you to create an avatar and give it voice.
 * [|French example]
 * [|German example]
 * [|A French Voki Poems Group on Ning]

**C.** [|Comiqs]
Comiqs allows you to create comic strips using your own photos which you can then embed into websites, wikis, blogs or social networking sites. Comiqs can easily pull in your [|flickr] photos.
 * [|Focusing on Japanese culture]
 * [|Spanish Cooking Project]
 * [|Spanish 2 Project]

Similar environments: [|Pikistrips] allow you to create comic strips from your photos. [|Toondoo]allows you to create your own comic characters and comic strips. [|Glogster] allows you to create posters [|Scrapblog] takes scrapbooking online. [|Xtranormal] is a web-based animated movie-making environment

D. [|BubblePLY]
Allows you to add speech and thought bubbles to any online video. Great for drawing students' attention to specific features of a video clip, for encouraging them to use their language skills to comment on the content of the video by having them insert text, graphics, or analysis - they create their own mash-up!

E. [|GCast]
Use your cell phone to create a podcast. No special equipment needed, simply call in! Users can upload audio files from the computer as well.


 * [|K12 Online Conference 2008 with Laurie Fowler] is actually a conference presentation where she explains how she uses podcasts on gcast and has some suggestions on getting started with podcasts, and here is her [|podcast for her 2nd grade class called Ready, Set, Think!].
 * [|GroveFM] is an elementary podcast at gcast.

==Discussion. Here are the ideas brainstormed by small groups on how the above technology applications could be used in the world language classroom. Many of these ideas actually apply to multiple authoring environments== VoiceThread
 * Help explain the sequence of events (introduction, body, change of event, conclusion)
 * Reflection and editing of student language production
 * Students narrate photo(s), spontaneous commentary in the target language
 * Students record descriptions of pictures, play recordings, guess pictures that correspond with the audio
 * TPRS video or comic strips
 * Retell story with different time references (past, present, future) and different people (point of view)
 * Turn in to a travel blog or highlight experiences in other countries
 * Speaking and listening assignments
 * Personal narration
 * Vocabulary
 * Oral assessments
 * Peer evaluation through commenting
 * Interactive presentations
 * Paperless projects with real-time feedback
 * Children's stories
 * Stagger presentations

Bubble-Ply
 * See a video clip and come up with possible ending (different students may have different endings)
 * Layer target language key vocabulary
 * Layer pictures and/or graphics to aid comprehension
 * Cloze activity - fill in missing word
 * Add subtitles to video
 * Karaoke

Gcast
 * Pick two political (etc.) figures and create a fictitious conversation
 * Updates: news, partner classrooms, weather, group updates
 * Teacher asks question, students call in answers
 * Weekly journal
 * Oral proficiency
 * Competency integration (listening, speaking, writing, etc.)

Voki
 * Pick a well-known figure and make him/her talk about his/her daily life.
 * Appeals to anime artists
 * Great preparation for AP exams
 * Describe self an dothers

Comic genre
 * Create comic from video with own words
 * Poster projects
 * 1st year language class
 * Comic book version of novels
 * Retelling of stories and sequences of events
 * Modern version of a classic story
 * Recaption in past, present and future, etc.
 * Present and describe (vocabulary, grammar, etc.)

or, as one group put it - Tech infused unit: Vacations
 * Video/graphics of students acting vocabulary/grammar (YouTube, tube captions, voki, comiqs)
 * Add captions using target vocabulary (Bubbleply)
 * Peer feedback (Gcast)
 * Paraphrase peer work (Voicethread)
 * Assessment (Google Forms or Poll Everywhere)

Other suggested/noted websites by small groups
 * [|Chinswing.com] - audio and text conversations
 * [|12seconds.tv] - 12 seconds to create video

=Group 3: Creating a digital home =

A. Wikispaces
A wiki is a type of website where multiple authors can be designated to edit and create content. Wikis have discussion pages, history to view previous edits, and can be public, semi-private, or private.

Ah-Bon French middle school wiki [|Bishop Blog Wiki] is a high school Spanish teacher's wiki [|David Warlick's CoLearners] shows how a presenter can put presentations, notes, handouts, and invite participants. Dorman Data Digest is a history or social studies teacher's wiki FrauLyon high school German wiki LanguageLinks2006 and specifically the Intern Level Methods shows how wikis can be an interactive tool for World Language Methods courses Latin wiki - high school Mme Mina Kim, French Teacher, has a fantastic wiki. Mme Thomas French class wiki Youth Wiki is a collaborative project across several schools

So if students are creating wikis, how can you assess them? [|Vicki Davis] has a [|wiki grading rubric] and [|Read*Write*Think] has a [|wiki rubric and interesting lesson on protest songs.]

Ready to start your own wiki? [|Visit this page to get the advertisement-free wikispace or click the image below]. media type="custom" key="2698673"

And, **need help**? Check out the [|video tours] of Wikispaces to learn how to begin editing your page, add images and media, and personalize your space.

The main page of the Wikispaces Help has quite an array of help topics to chose from. For more specific information that has been asked for by teachers, it can be found in the Teachers Section of the Wikispaces help. There are a few more resources about halfway down the page under heading number 8 (a couple PDFs and PowerPoints)

B. Edublogs
A blog is simply a website that has an author(s) who publishes some content, then has a place where others can comment on the content. Posts are on one page, appearing in reverse chronological order. A blog website may have additional pages as well.
 * Blogs**

//classroom-focused blogs// [|K-107 Internet Classroom] - Chinese classroom blog [|deutschlernen] - a unversity level German class blog [|How Beautiful You Are] - a first grade classroom in California (caution - sound automatically plays) [|Kinderkids Classroom] - kindergarten blog in a New Hampshire school [|Kirklandneuk Primary Blog] - French class in a UK primary school [|Las Palabras Son Poder] - a high school Spanish teacher blog [|Mr. Mayo Student Weblogs] - each student has his or her own blog [|Songhai Concepts] - a Philadelphia information technology class blog [|South Paris Collaborative Chat] - a fifth grade classroom blog [|Two Stars and a Wish] - French class blog from Newport, Isle of Wright, middle school level (more or less) [|TGS MFL Resource and Homework Blog] - French and German class blog

//education-focused blogs// [|Moving at the Speed of Creativity] [|Cool Cat Teacher] [|David Warlick's $.02 worth] [|The Fischbowl] [|Mr. P's Blog] - a principal's blog [|Weblogged]

Establish classroom blogs and blogs for students at [|Class Blogmeister] (created and maintainted by [|David Warlick]) or [|Edublogs]. Both of these environments provide teacher management features to enable students to be bloggers and teachers to moderate the environment.

Utilities of interest
[|Zamzar] can help capture those web-based videos as well as convert a wide range of file types from one format to another.
 * File Conversion**

[|Jing] will enable you to capture all or part of your screen in a still shot, or capture you screen in action (thereby creating a brief video). It is free!
 * Screen Capture**

[|Jumpcut] - Allows free, online video editing [|Picnik] and [|SnipShot] provide free photo editing
 * Web-based Video and Photo Editing**