Research Article 2

In this semester, we put emphasis on web 2.0 tools in our class, and I know more about it. Because this is my first semester, everything is new to me. When Dr. Crawford said the term web 2.0 tools, and I have lots of questions in my mind. What is web 2.0 tool? What is web 2.0 tool used for? Now, I have more understanding about the term.
I found an article which is about web 2.0 tool-An International dimension of the students' attitudes towards the use of English in web 2.0 technology.
Web 2.0 changed people's daily lives, including education. It is often used in language learning. I think if teachers can integrate web 2.0 tool into their teaching, it would be more interesting. Because students would have more interest in learning. Since students like to use the internet and computer, they would put more effort if they can do what they usually do, and it would be more interesting.
This article emphasized on English learning. Web 2.0 can be defined as Web based
applications and services that provide users visual, textual, audial communication, interactive information, shared content, collaboration, authenticity and digital literacy ( Haythorthwaite & Kazme 2004; O’ Reilly, 2005; Giustini, 2006; Maness, 2006; Miller, 2006; Price, 2006; Richardson, 2006; Mcloughlin & Lee, 2007; Lankshear & Knobel 2007; Boyd & Ellison, 2008; Thomas, 2009; Motteram & Sharma, 2009). In this article, the author mentioned that web 2.0 tools have an undeniable effect on improving learners' writing skill.

Reference
Filiz, Y. T.(2011),An International dimension of the students' attitudes towards the use of English in web 2.0 technology. TOJET: The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology.10(3)

Research Article 1

Blog is often used in classroom, and I found one article about blogging- HOT blogging: a framework for blogging to promote higher order thinking. In this article, the author introduced four types of blogs which are used in elementary classrooms.
1. Classroom news blog: used to share news and information with parents and students.
2. Mirror blogs: allow bloggers to reflect on their thinking
3. Showcase blogs: Many teachers post student art projects, podcasts, and  writing in showcase blogs.
4. Literature response blogs: A literature response blog simply moves this idea online where the teacher may sometimes post a prompt and invite student responses to a text.

The HOT blogging consists four recursive steps, and each step integrates both traditional reading comprehension skills and the new higher order thinking skills often required during online reading comprehension.

1. Bolster background: build the background knowledge that students are reading.

2. Prime the pump: in this step, blogging can help students think deeply about the background they have built and what they have read in the beginning chapter(s) of the text to share an initial interpretation (Langer & Close, 2001).

3. Continue the conversation:In this stage, students begin to summarize and synthesize

understanding across multiple textual units.

4. Make multiplicity explicit: Multiplicity is made explicit by inviting students to read, think, and comment on the classroom blog. Students regularly encounter how differently their classmates think from one another.

The teacher, Stephanie, thought that the HOT blogging is useful for her students, and the outcome is visible. I think students can learn from each other's writing when they are blogging. Moreover, when students try to read others' blogs, they have to comprehend it. Therefore, doing blog contains two steps, one is reading and the other is comprehending.

Reference

Lisa,Z. (2009). HOT blogging: a framework for blogging to promote higher order thinking.The Reading Teacher, 62(8), 650–661. DOI:10.1598/RT.62.8.3 

280 slides-presentation made easy

Powerpoint is important in students' lives, especially college students because they have lots of chances to do presentations.
I found a tool that is easy to be used which is 280 slides. I think this is a good tool for both PC or MAC users. The system of MAC is different from PC, and some PC users don't know how to use MAC system. It would be more convenient to make power point on the internet without the restraint of systems.

The features of 280 slides are as follows:
1. import existing documents
2. autosave and recovery
3. take it with you
4. download to powerpoint
5. built-in media search
6. publish to the web
7. quality themes
8. run in your web browser



Teachers or speakers can also use this to do their speech. The file can be stored on the server but the limitation is there should be an internet connection. If the speaker forgets to bring the file, he or she can get it online. Moreover, it can be download to powerpoint and uses can also put photos or music from youtube or flickr. It is really convenient to be use but the disadvantage is it depends on internet. 280 slides can also be published to the web and share to others.
However, the bad news is the tool is going to be closed on 12/21.

I am touched.

Last week, we had a guest speaker to share what she had done on her teaching when she was in Korea. I was so impressed to know how she taught her students and I wondered why I did not meet a foreign teacher like her when I was learning English. Honestly, she is the best foreign English teacher that I have ever seen. I met many foreign English teacher in Taiwan, but none of them did the same thing to improve students' motivation on learning English. During her sharing, I kept thinking in my mind that those students were so lucky to have her. She really integrated technology into her teaching, and students all did a good job. 

She also talked about the educational situation in Korea, and I would like to share my experience with you since I am from Taiwan. What she shared about the educational situation in Korea is general in Asian countries. Students in Taiwan, Korea, China, and Japan have to learn so many subjects and they are asked to be great so that students can go to great colleges in the future. Compared to American children, children in Asia have no childhood because they have to learn so many in their children. What they have to do is study and learn instruments such as violin and piano. Therefore, children have lots of pressure before they go to college. What's more, because of the teaching style, many children don't have critical thinking. They don't know how to think, and they just wait for others' instruction. It is a culture shock when I first had class in America because everyone is willing to express themselves. This would not happen in Taiwan.  

I keep thinking about why I cannot integrate so many interesting activities into my teaching. The main reason is we have to catch up with progress, and we won't have enough time if we do activities in class. The other reason is we don't have enough technology materials such as computers and projectors. Most of the schools don't have computers in classrooms, so it would be quite difficult to do some technology things in the class. If I can integrate some web 2.0 tools, my students would have interest in it. After I go back to Taiwan, I hope I can figure out how to stimulate students motivation to learn English. 

Use blog in my teaching.

     It seems that it is normal to integrate blogging into classroom teaching in America. This makes me think of my own country. Would it be possible to integrate blogging in my teaching? I have asked myself this question for a long time since we blogged in this class. Or can I integrate any web 2.0 tool that we have learned in this class into my teaching. I really want to introduce my students what I have learned in America because it is so amazing and different.  

     Students in Taiwan also like to use blogs to record their lives and post photos on their blogs in order to share with their classmates. When I was teaching in Taiwan, I found that some students tried to use English in their blogs even though there might be some grammatical errors. I was so happy when I saw them use English. They would use  simple words or sentences in their blogs and I think it is a good try. 

     English is an important language in the world and so many parents in Taiwan put emphasis on learning English. However, children don't understand why they should learn the language and they have no desire to learn. Many of my students told me that they won't go to America in the future, so there is no need to learn English. When I heard this, I felt so sad because I know they will regret in the future. 

     I would try to use blog or other web 2.0 tools in my classroom teaching. As a matter of fact, we seldom use  web 2.0 tools in our class because we have to catch up the progress. If I can use it in my class, my students would feel interesting because no other teachers have done this before. I would ask them to write two or three sentences a day and they can write whatever they want. And then I would ask my students to give feed back to their peers. 

     However, there are some limitations to blog. Many students would go to cram schools after they go home, so they might have no time to do the additional work. What's more, students have to use computer so that they can post something in their blog, but some parents don't want their children to use computer so often. Therefore, there are many difficulties that I have to overcome before I start to use blog in my teaching. Hope I can have the chance to do what I want them to do. 

Classroom tools

When I was searching on the Internet, I found an website which makes learning become interesting. This website "create free educational games, quizzes, activities and diagrams in seconds." 
This website contains 24 templates that are available for teachers to use in their own classrooms or classroom blogs. It is not only useful for teachers but also for students. Some students are visual and kinesthetic, and they can use some templates such as Venn diagrams and timelines to reinforce their learning. 

Teachers can even create some games that would attract students' attention, and students can learn what they should learn by playing. It would be more attractive if students can play games in class, and they may not feel bored in class. I think this tool can be use from K1 to K12 or even college. There are many different templates and teachers or students can choose what is the most suitable for them. Users can make good use of the "sample files". There are many subjects and users can choose what subject they want and choose the template they want to use in order to find the example. 


Where to find : http://www.classtools.net/
Brief introduction:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_suA923NBgM

Mindomo---Mind Mapping Made Easy

MINDOMO is an online mapping tool that lets users create mind maps to organize their ideas. It is like bubbl.us, but MINDOMO has another advantage. That is, users can linked multimedia, such as photographs, video and hyperlinks to web sites, to subtopics to help organize information and to make it more interactive. 

This tool is good for visual learners because they can benefit from the images. Teachers can use it before they start a new lesson in order to give students a complete concept map. I think teachers can also use it as an assessment tool. After a new lesson, teachers can ask students to delineate the concept map of the lesson so that teachers can know how many the students understand. I think it would be more interesting for students to do it and it may alleviate some students pressure because some students are not good at paper test. 
I think MINDOMO can stimulate students critical thinking. Students can be separated into groups and they can share their ideas or give others feedback.


Where to find :http://www.mindomo.com/
tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fjgWNC-4Ns&feature=related&noredirect=1

SlideShare---The Sharing Platform

Last week we used skype and invited a guest speaker to show us her project, and it was really interesting to me because I didn’t have this experience in Taiwan. I posted on my facebook and told my friends about the experience. Most of my friends felt very interesting that we could use skype to do a presentation in class. 

Slideshare is a sharing platform where you can put your documents on the Internet. Individuals and organizations upload documents to SlideShare to share ideas, and documents can be downloaded if people find something that interests them. It can be used as an educational material as well. When I found this web 2.0 tool, I thought that maybe our guest speaker can put her powerpoint on slideshare and Dr. Crawford did not have to change the slide for us. Moreover, teachers can put their documents on slideshare, and students can download it if they want. It is really convenient for both teachers and students.

Something that you can do on Slideshare (Extract from the website)

1. Upload presentations publicly or privately

2. Download presentations on any topic and reuse or remix

3. Embed on blogs, websites, company intranets

4. Share on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

5. Zipcast: free, no download, 1 click web meetings

6. Leadshare: generate business leads with your presentations, documents, pdfs, videos

7. Slidecast: sync mp3 audio with slides to create a webinar

8. Embed YouTube videos inside SlideShare presentations

9. Use SlideShare PRO for premium features like branded channels, analytics, ad free pages etc

Where to find the interesting tool?

Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/

Video tutorial

http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/mrplough07-176896-slideshare-lesson-final-entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/

Mixbook---Design your own photo book

Mixbook is a free tool that can be used to create completely customizable photo books, calendars, and cards on the Internet. Users can use it individually or collaboratively which means users can invite their friends and family to join in and create projects together. Everyone can upload their photos to the same project, and then design their pages. People can upload photos not only from their computers, but also from many popular photo sharing website such as Facebook, Picasa and Flickr.

 

How to integrate into classroom teaching?

Mixbook is like an ebook and the difference is that students can be the designer and creator of the book. It is similar to Smilebox, but Mixbook has more functions than Smilebox. I have thought one way to integrate Mixbook into classroom teaching, but this is only my assumption because I have no class for me to implement my idea. In my opinion, Mixbook can be used in every content area and it can make students collaborate with each other which is also a good way for students learn how to cooperate with their peers.

If students just come back from their field trip with lots of wonderful photos, I would ask them to separate into groups and finish a photo book, which describes what happened during their trip. In this case, students can discuss and work with each other in order to finish the photo book.

Teachers can also integrate the tool into geography class. America is a big country, which has fifty states, and it is not possible for students to know every state thoroughly. Teachers can ask students to choose one state which they are really interested in, and make a briefly introduction about the state. Before students create their own ebook, they have to read some information about the state that they are going to introduce, and they can practice reading at the same time. When they are creating, they can practice writing as well.

Where to find the interesting tool?

Mixbook:http://www.mixbook.com/ 

Video tutorial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh5y3qaYhfI&feature=related

An example to use Mixbook

http://langwitches.org/blog/2008/05/15/another-mixbook-classroom-project-explorers/

Smilebox

There are more and more immigrants in America such as Hispanics and Asians, and they have different language systems and cultures. Children may speak their first language with their family at home, and speak English outside. As a result, immigrant children can be defined as English Language Learners (ELL). How to help children get balance between their first language and English becomes an important issue. Even though they come to America, people still have to respect their cultures and languages. Besides, children can learn different cultures from their peers and develop a global perspective which means they can  learn how to respect and admire each other. Here comes a question. How to make children know each other more? When I was reading a textbook, Reading and learning to read, the author mentioned in chapter 3 that teachers can help students build classroom community such as making autobiography or biography. When I read this, I really thought that it is a great idea to help students know each other better. I started to think is there any ways to integrate technology into this activity.

I found an interesting web 2.0 tool which is "Smilebox"

Smilebox is a free software that lets you upload photographs, music and video clips to create multimedia projects.

How to integrate into classroom teaching?

I've tried this software, and I think it is easy to be used. Students can choose what template they like and make it personalized. Moreover, students can describe themselves or introduce their own cultures by using photos which may be easier for them to "write". It can be used as a digital story- telling tool. If I were one of the students to do the work, I would be very nervous because I would not know how to start my work. Therefore, if students can use the tool, it might help them decrease their anxiety. However, that is only my assumption.

Smilebox can also be printed out after children finish their editing. Students can make their autobiography or introduction without using this tool, but I think it would be more interesting if they can use a colorful and convenient tool to finish their autobiography and show it to their peers. Students can share their work with others and do a presentation in front of their peers which can also train their speaking ability. 

Where to find the interesting tool?

Smilebox: http://smilebox.com/

Diigo

Diigo!!!
What is Diigo?
Collect and Highlight, Then Remember.
This is the slogan of Diigo.

Because of the advance in technology, people can find their materials on the Internet. Key in your key words, and you can find lots of websites which are related to your subject. However, you cannot remember all the important points on websites. Here comes Diigo, an information management system.


When I first used the tool, I thought it is fabulous. You can highlight what you think is important and even make a sticky note on the website. Diigo helps you build a personal library on the Internet. Everything is stored in the "Cloud" in your library. When you revisit the website, you can see what you have highlighted on the page no matter what browser, computer or devices you use. People may ask what if the page is removed. Another amazing function of Diigo is that it can snapshot the page so that you don't have to worry about the missing page.


How to combine Diigo into classroom teaching?
Diigo can be used not only on personal but also on group work. Many teachers would like to ask their students to write their own blogs and teachers would give them feedback. Students might get lost if there are too much feedback from the teacher or classmates. What comes in my mind is if the teacher use Diigo and highlights or puts a sticky note in the content directly, it would be more powerful and visualized. Moreover, Diigo provides educators to form a class group and class forums which only allows their teacher and classmates to contact them and access their personal profile information. Students can share bookmarks and resources with their classmates, and they can learn together to form a leaning community. I think Diigo is not only useful for K-12 but also useful for every reader who is reading online. 


Here is the link.  http://www.diigo.com/

Technology in classrooms

     This is my first time to take a course which relates to technology. Dr. Crawford provides many interesting web 2.0 tools that would definitely attract students in classrooms. I am surprised that there are so many useful websites that I have never seen before. 
      I try to think about how to integrate some of the tools into my class in Taiwan. However, I think it is kind of difficult to transplant the "American experience" to Taiwan. I have two reasons. One is students' English ability, and the other is the equipment limitation in a classroom. Let me tell you the situation in Taiwan. Students start to learn English in 3rd grade, but many of them don't have a complete concept toward English. They even don't want to learn English and they don't know the reason why they have to learn it. Many students told me that they won't use English in the future, and they won't go to America. Why should they learn English? When they first entered junior high school, teachers have to teach them ABCD from the beginning and teach them how to pronounce. Moreover, we have 3 exams in a semester which means we have to teach 3 lessons before every exam. We only have 5 English classes a week, so it would be a little bit difficult to use web 2.0 tools in class. Moreover, we don't have computers in our classrooms. Classrooms may equip projectors but not all of them. Therefore, it is difficult to integrate those technological things into my teaching. 
     Many schools have white board just like the one in CTLT, but it is the beginning. Many of us don't know how to use it even though it is a great equipment. Hope I can figure out how to use web 2.0 tools to facilitate my teaching and make my students love leaning English.