The activities we did this week on digital storytelling are exactly the kinds of things that I am hoping to get out of this class - information on useful websites that can be adapted for ESL learners, hands-on practice using some of those websites, and then translating that practice into a teaching activity (see previous post) that I can envision one day using in class. Plus, I had a lot of fun creating the stories and activities. I mainly focused on Storybird because I ended up really liking it, but I'd also like to check out the GoAnimate and Domo sites.
I like the idea of a webquest, too, but it sounds like they take a lot of work to create. I found some pre-made webquests by searching QuestGarden, but the majority of them are for native speakers in elementary to middle school. These kinds of quests might work well for intermediate to advanced CBI classes, which are often designed to mimic middle school content courses.
Hot Potatoes did not work well for me and I've used websites in the past, such as Discovery's free puzzle maker to create similar activities, such as crossword and word-search puzzles, and have used Compleat Lexical Tutor to create cloze activities. I should, however, try out Hot Potatoes at home. It would be nice to have one application (instead of having to use the internet) on my computer that can do all of those things.
Finally, I don't know where to begin with a teaching philosophy, or where to place technology in that philosophy. A teaching philosophy is something that has come up in several classes, but has never been fully addressed. I know I need to start working on one, especially because I'm now applying to job openings for next year. But I don't think I'll actually force myself to write one unless it is made an assignment, sadly.
I also liked some of the digital storytelling tools we looked at. I chose GoAnimate to make a listening/speaking activity (you can read about it here: http://dancallblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/a-digital-storytelling-assisted.html) and was pretty impressed with it. On the logistical side, the site supports Google and Facebook logins, making it easy for students and teachers to manage their access to the site.
ReplyDeleteI also found WebQuests and Hot Potatoes to be... a bit dated. Total agreement about the Discovery free puzzle maker!
Yes, it's important to start working on a teaching philosophy. It doesn't have to be perfect, just set. This is one of the numerous "out-there" interview questions that employers ask along with "What is your definition of curriculum?"
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