Technologies that your students use (and that you should, too)

Dennie HoopingarnerMichigan State University

Purpose of this Presentation:

• Show you some technologies that you might not be aware of

• Talk about "banned technologies"• Give some reasons for un-banning them• Raise some topics for discussion• Challenge some assumptions

Before I get to far…

• There are extenuating circumstances• Many of you will say, "yes, but..."• Respecting the “but,” let's think outside the box

Let’s try an experiment

• As we examine technologies, if you have a "good reason" not to use them, offer them up.

• Definition of "good reason?" 

On new technology: an historical perspective

" ... the parent or inventor of an art is not always the best judge of the utility or inutility of his own inventions to the users of them...this discovery of yours will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls, because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external ... and not remember of themselves. The specific which you have discovered is an aid not to memory, but to reminiscence, and you give your disciples not truth, but only the semblance of truth; they will be hearers of many things and will have learned nothing; they will appear to be omniscient and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality."

 from The Phaedrus, a dialogue between

Socrates and Phaedrus, on the invention of writing. c 370 BC.

Socrates’ bottom line:Introducing the new invention of

writing to education is bad, because it will change things.

Another perspective:

• "If you open the window, the flies will come in"

• --Deng Xiaoping

Let’s dive right in

Poll: Whose school DOESN’T ban these?

What’s the big deal with cell phones?

They’re powerful!

How far we’ve come in 20 years…

What do students do with their cell phone?

Text!

For the language mavens: yes, it’s a verb now

tr.v. text·ed, text·ing, texts1.To send a text message to: She texted me when she arrived.2.To communicate by text message: He texted that he would be late.

American Heritage Dictionary

Usage patterns have changed

14-year old 70-year old

120 Minutes 220 Minutes

0 Messages2215Messages

What are the implications of texting for learning?

Video on texting and language:“English 101”

Source: YouTube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GliKm-4uTYU

Feel free to chime in…

Why are cell phones banned in your school?

I believe there is a place for cell phones in the language classroom

Why? Because cell phones are

“communicative”

At the appropriate time, the teacher should say, “Now take out your cell

phones and begin this task…”

I know what you’re thinking:

• They will text each other personal messages• They’re just going to goof off• I’m going to lose control of the class

Valid concerns

But…

<soapbox>

Beware the assumption thatEyeballs = Attention = Learning

Best class EVER!They’re eating out of my hand!

Will this be on the test? How long

until lunch?

Big gametonight…

I don’tunderstand

any of this sh*t

</soapbox>

My point: Technology is neither the source of the problem, nor a solution

to all of our problems It’s just another tool

Keeping it pedagogical

• Keep activities task-based• Give students specific instructions• Make students accountable for results• Make it clear that this is class work with

technology, not free time to play with technology

Cell phones can be used in the language classroom for:

• Pair work• Info gap or jigsaw tasks via voice or

text messaging (who needs a language lab?)• Audio Blog (Gcast)

Demo of a cell phone task

Let’s call Russ and play “password”

Done with cell phones

Any “buts” that we need to take care of?

Next topic: Facebook

Who here is “on Facebook?”

What is Facebook?

• “Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected”

• Online community:• Find people• Share photos• Communicate (connect)

Why is Facebook significant?

• Your students are there already• They are logged into the site a LOT• They are passionate about their community• Anything that your students are enthusiastic

about should be seen as a potential way to relate to learning

Why you should use Facebook:

• Communicate with students• Learn more about students• Connect with native speakers• Live chat

Cautions:• Online safety precautions apply• Facebook is still a social tool

– Pedagogy is not built in– Onus is on teacher to structure activities and keep

students on task• Students see Facebook as their territory

– You, as a teacher, are an invasive species in their environment

– Don’t approach them, let them approach you

Demo of Facebook

Let’s talk with Russ

Done with Facebook

Any “buts?”

Online Communication

A Look Back to the Future

Remember these commercials from AT&T?

Skype

• Online telephone• VOIP (Uses your Internet connection as a

telephone line)• Audio, Video• Worldwide calls between computers are free• FREE!

No special equipment needed

Let’s call Russ

How your students are using Skype:

• Call each other• Text (IM)

Skype in the language classroom:

• Telephone-based interaction tasks• Use conference call function to listen in (spy?)• Record phone calls (create a “Skypecast”)• Bring in virtual guest speakers

Done with Skype

Any “buts?”

Next topic: iPods

Whose school DOESN’T ban these?

What do students do with iPods?

• Listen to music• Watch videos

What else can you do with iPods?

• Audio support materials that accompany textbooks

• Podcast– Third-party– Teacher-created– Student-created

Podcast finder: iTunes

• Free• Windows or Mac• Manage your music• Sync with iPod• Listen on computer• Get podcasts

Getting a podcast with iTunes

1

2

3

4

Clarification points on podcasts

• You don’t need an iPod to listen– Listen on computer– Generic MP3 player– Cell phone

• Many tools exist for creating podcasts– Gcast – podcast with your cell phone– CLEAR’s Broadcast tool – podcast from your web

browser

Let’s get pedagogical

• Podcast with Gcast• Podcast with Broadcasts

That’s it for iPods

Any “buts?”

Virtual Worlds

More than video games

What do students do in virtual worlds?

Playing MMORPGs: Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games

(e.g., WoW World of Warcraft)

Why should we care?

• Simulations were touted as the “next big thing” since the early 1980s

• Immersive environment• Interact with other people• Lower the affective barrier?

Second Life

Videoshttp://clear.msu.edu/dennie/secondlife/

Virtual Worlds and Language Teaching

• Simulations / Immersive environments• Interactions• Distance learning

Any buts?

Let me put on my body armor…

Online Translators

What are students doing with them?

“Cheating!”

What’s the big deal?

• Falling back on the L1, leaving the L2 environment

• Incorrect assumption that L2 is a translation of L1

Translators can be useful tools

Computer translators can lend valuable insight into the L2

Example: Learn Vocabulary

• 信用卡 另一個金融未爆彈？• Another unexploded ordnance financial credit

card?• “Are credit cards another financial unexploded

ordnance?”

Example: Show L2 loanword conventions

• 花旗集團財務長柯瑞騰（ Gary Crittenden）說：「如果失業繼續增加，信用卡淨壞帳率

可能超過歷史水準。」• Citigroup Chief Financial Officer John Kerry

Teng (Gary Crittenden), said: "If unemployment continues to increase, the net credit card default rate is likely to exceed the standard of history."

Let’s get pedagogical• Give students a translation from L2 to L1

– Structure questions– Vocabulary questions– “Recover” the L2 structure

• Show that idioms don’t translate:– “一份錢一份貨 A cargo of a money”

(you get what you pay for)• Show semantic distinctions:

– “run cross country”– “break a record”

Any buts?

In conclusion…

• Technology is here to stay – it isn’t going away• Students see technology as another tool• Students use technology not to “cheat,” but to try

to be more productive• Technology isn’t (necessarily) your enemy• Technology can be a force for good, not evil• If your students are using it, maybe you should,

too

CLEAR’s booth in exhibit hall

Further information, resources, demonstrations of technologies, Q&A

Thanks!