A presentation outlining some of the ways in which language teachers can positively extend learning with the Internet's aid.

1. FROM TOOLS TO PEDAGOGY:
EXTENDING LANGUAGE LEARNING USING THE INTERNET
Philip Saxon
(Corvinus University, IATEFL BESIG)
Budapest, 24 January 2015

2. Your presenter’s background
• Business English trainer and HE teacher since 2009.
• Previously worked for IT companies for 9 years.
• MA in ELT (ICT/Multimedia) with distinction from
University of Warwick (2014).
• Now speak regularly at IATEFL-Hungary and other
events. Growing following as a blogger, too:
– English for Authentic Purposes:
http://englishforauthenticpurposes.blogspot.hu
– Teaching English with Technology:
http://techieenglishteacher.blogspot.hu

3. Facebook: what do our learners use it for?

4. Here are some of the better uses:
• Connect and interact with family and “friends”.
• Share news, content or opinions – and invite the
audience to respond or “like” it.
• Post engaging pictures/videos – or look at/respond to
those posted by friends and family.
• Join communities of interest and follow discussions, or
content shared there.

5. People interact because they want to!
So what if we could replicate
these effects in our language
teaching? Is there a way?
As language teachers we
certainly want our learners to:
• Be “willing to
communicate”;
• Interact and “negotiate
for meaning”.

6. So what can be gained by learners online?
Potentially, a great deal:
• Practice can be extended;
• Students can share what
they want to;
• Interaction can be
meaningful and authentic;
• Speaking homework can be
set;
• Feedback can be
personalized.
Provided, of course, that the environment is safe and closed.

7. Who this talk is for
If you’re interested in:
• Giving learners opportunities to practise English
meaningfully outside class; or
• Discovering what online environments, tools and tasks
best facilitate this; or
• Making better use of the time you have…
…then this talk is for you!

8. Aim
By the end of this talk
you should understand:
1) How to set up a
virtual classroom on
Edmodo;
2) How to get students
to use it
interactively;
3) How to set speaking
homework and
deliver feedback
online.

9. Today’s Overview
1. What the Internet offers
2. Enter Edmodo!
3. Activities you can try
4. Speaking homework
5. Why it’s worth it

10. 1) WHAT THE
INTERNET OFFERS

11. Our learners’ main problem:
how can they practise outside class?
• Their L1 may be everywhere!
• On your own, who can you
interact with?
• Videos or apps can’t have a
proper conversation with you.
• Not enough exposure = not
enough practice.

12. Enter the Internet! We are now living in
a “Web 2.0” era. The
Internet is now an
interactive medium,
thanks to social
media in particular.
Our learners know
this – but may never
have been offered
the chance to learn
or practice languages
this way. Isn’t it time
we let them?

13. 2) ENTER EDMODO!

14. Over 46 million users can’t be wrong!

15. Impressive. So what’s it all about?
“Devil’s Advocate”

16. What you get with Edmodo
1) Essentially, it’s a “stripped down version of Moodle”
(Russell Stannard). It’s a simple, user-friendly virtual
learning environment (VLE).
2) It’s free, free from ads, secure and requires no
technical support.
3) Straight away, your students can share ideas and
collaborate together.
4) You can create quizzes, polls, add important dates to
the calendar, run discussions and share links, videos,
articles etc.

17. Some nice features there. But how
can it help me and my students?
Fair question. You’re no doubt
wondering how much time this
requires, and how much students
will appreciate it.
Like most things, technology is what
you make of it. Edmodo can help
you in two main ways:
1) Managing courses is easier.
2) There is more opportunity for
skills practice and feedback.

18. So we can use it to help manage courses?
Absolutely. As a VLE, you can use Edmodo to:
• List what happened in class and the homework;
• Give notice of what is planned for the next lesson;
• Upload any relevant material (answer keys, PowerPoint
summaries, scanned handouts, links to dictionaries,
online activities, video clips, etc).
The benefits: a record of everything and no more
redundant student e-mails or claims they were unaware
of requirements!
(Many thanks to Marjorie Rosenberg for pointing all this out)

19. Okay, I get that. But no way is
Edmodo Facebook!
True, despite similarities Edmodo is
NOT Facebook. It’s still a
classroom: students will all be
waiting for instructions.
If we want students to post or
interact on Edmodo, the
responsibility lies with the
teacher, same as in the physical
classroom.

20. But that’s more work, surely?
Not necessarily. If tasks are well
designed, all you do is pose
questions/give instructions, and
then watch the learners post!
Moreover, you can achieve genuine
productivity gains if you’re smart.

21. All right, but I still want to see the
skills work you mentioned.
No problem!

22. A quick tour of Edmodo
Your presenter has made extensive use of Edmodo in his
classes at Corvinus University.
The next few slides will display screen shots illustrating:
• How to get started on Edmodo;
• Specific uses your presenter has made with one class.

23. Edmodo – how to get started

24. How to set up a class

25. How students can register

26. A recent class!
xxxxxxxxxx

27. A homework assignment

28. Classwork, plus teacher feedback

29. Benefits for language learning (1)
1) Students can practice writing for a real audience. Let
them write their own questions, and respond!
2) Students can upload content here with ease! Or
provide links to it.
3) You can use Edmodo to give feedback, possibly
focusing on error correction.

30. Benefits for language learning (2)
4) Speaking homework is possible – about which more
soon. Ideal if students have an exam coming!
5) You can ask more advanced learners to
summarize/critique articles they’ve read on Edmodo,
and afterwards respond. This teaches critical thinking.
6) You can form sub-groups and co-ordinate project-
based learning this way, too.

31. Okay, I’ve said enough for now. Let’s
see what the audience has to say.

32. 3) ACTIVITIES YOU CAN TRY

33. Audience: over to you!
In groups of 4 or so, be ready to review the activities
described on the next two slides.
In particular, consider:
• What are the benefits for learners?
• What is the teacher’s role?
• Compared with the ordinary classroom, what
difference does Edmodo make?
• Can you anticipate any problems?
.

34. Activity 1: Content sharing, discussion
Level: Upper Intermediate/Advanced
Aim: Students will engage in meaningful discussion about
online content. They will also practise sharing opinions.
Instructions:
Invite learners to post a link to interesting content, briefly
also explaining why they think it’s interesting, and offering
an opinion. They can invite others to respond, too.
Students respond to each other as they see fit. The
discussion continues on each thread until exhausted.
Source: Lizzie Pinard (2014), adapted.

35. Activity 2: A grammar video
Level: Intermediate
Aim: Learners will be able to distinguish between “say”
and “tell” and form correct sentences using them. Also,
those who do homework ahead of class will start in a
stronger position.
Instructions:
Post the following Vicki Hollett video on Edmodo – and
invite students to watch it ahead of class:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efhYDTP6A8k.
You can repeat the video during your lesson, too.

36. 4) SPEAKING HOMEWORK

37. You’re kidding me! Is this really
possible?

38. Yes, it is. Here are two tools teachers can use:
VOCAROO
MYBRAINSHARK

39. Vocaroo: it’s easy!
Vocaroo is very simple to use.
Here’s a recording I made
earlier:
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0yTFEC9
nXQX
Students should get the hang of
it quickly. Just remind them that
they must pay attention to
recording quality.

40. MyBrainshark: an introduction
This is a really powerful tool, which allows your students to add
voice-over to PowerPoint slides, documents etc.
And in its basic form, it’s free to use! Using a microphone,
students narrate their presentations, slide by slide.
Used well, the results can be impressive. Here is one of my
students’ efforts, shared with his permission:
http://my.brainshark.com/The-customer-is-NOT-always-right-
552969432

41. Audience: over to you again!
Can you think of ways to use
Vocaroo or MyBrainshark with
your students?
Discuss with a partner. We’ll
reconvene in a couple of minutes.

42. Tips for speaking homework (1)
DO:
1) Demonstrate the technology properly first.
2) Reassure learners their content is private and won’t be
shared outside the group without their consent.
3) Make tasks relevant to your learners and the benefits
obvious. You have to motivate them.
4) Offer students choices. You don’t always have to
prescribe a topic, for example.
5) Make your expectations clear – a rubric can be helpful.
6) Give encouragement in your feedback. Praise what’s
good, and suggest practical ways to improve.

43. Tips for speaking homework (2)
DON’T
1) Forget to remind students to activate MyBrainshark
presentations before sharing! No one can view them
unless they do.
2) Encourage uploading audio/video files. Encourage
students to share links instead.
3) Forget to remind students to record themselves where
there is little background noise, and to test their sound
quality before making longer recordings.
4) Get stressed! Expect “teething problems” to begin
with. With time, the benefits ought to justify the effort.

44. 5) WHY IT’S WORTH IT

45. It’s worth it because:
• Meaningful, authentic practice is extended!
• More personalized feedback is possible.
• Students can get ready for speaking tests or
presentations in a shorter timeframe.
• Students can see you are helping them – if you make
the right choice of tasks.
• Students can go back and repeat videos or re-read posts
if they wish to.

46. All right, I give in! I’m sold!

47. So, audience: why not give it a go?

48. ANY QUESTIONS?

49. References
Hollett, V. (2015). Vicki Hollett: Business English Teaching and Video.
http://www.vickihollett.com.
Pinard, E. (2014). Reflections of an English Language Teacher.
http://reflectiveteachingreflectivelearning.com/2014/02/20/5-ways-of-
using-edmodo-with-language-learners-part-2/.
Stannard, R. (2015). Teacher Training Videos: Free Online Technology and
ICT Tutorials for Use in Education.
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com.
Walker, A. & White, G. (2013). Technology Enhanced Language Learning:
Connecting theory and practice. Oxford Handbooks for Language
Teachers – Oxford University Press.