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Using Podcast with ESL Students

I believe utilizing Podcasts with ESL students is a great tool to improve and enhance learning the language. Podcasts uses visuals and voice overs to create a teaching moment digitally.  Providing visuals and oral language to a concept being learned is very beneficial to language learners because they are seeing the idea and hearing the language associated with the image; or they are simply hearing the language. Furthermore, Podcasts allows for students to learn the material anytime, anywhere since they can be viewed on any device.  Podcasts always provides students with access to the content at all times- to review what was taught in class to gain a better understanding or to study and make up for missed class time. Essentially, they can re-listening to a lesson whenever they want, instead of just hearing the concepts once in class. There are several ways that Podcasts can be used with ESL students.  A teacher can create or download a Podcast for the students to listen too and creat
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Week Six Blog: Tech Skills and Jobs

For this week's article, I read about the gaps between the skills college graduates have upon entering the workforce and the skills companies are requiring.  While STEM like jobs are in high demand, Human Resource departments in various companies are seeing the lack of ability for new hires to work 40 hours a week or send an email free of grammar errors, which to me is scary! Essentially, companies cannot find young adults who are able to communicate on a professional level and work independently.  This statement was included in the article by a spokeswoman and really stuck out to me: " That’s usually one of the bigger problems. They’re lacking in good business etiquette communication skills [and] they’re used to working in groups so sometimes getting them to work independently can also be another thing. Working on their own is more challenging to them”.  While I was not shocked that young adults lost the capability to communicate professionally and work on their own, I thin
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Week 5 Blog: How technology can boost equity in education

Week Five Blog: How technology can boost equity in education This weeks article examined how technology can help achieve goals in the classroom.   Teachers have several responsibilities, but one of them are preparing students for the workforce and sometimes for jobs that do not even exist yet!   In education, there are always new trends and this article in particular mentioned virtual reality, student-directed learning, and collaboration. These skills are what the students need in order to be successful in their careers.   These skills/trends can be “covered” through Create Your Own Classroom (CYOC), which is a new flexible learning environment to meet the needs of all learners because it allows the teachers and students the freedom to choose how their learning is delivered and obtained. The article stated that by students choosing what content they utilized and the ways they collaborate with peers and teachers allows for life-long learning.   While I do see their point, I think t
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Week Four Blog: Technology and Student Engagement

Week Four Blog: Technology and Engagement             This week’s article discussed how bringing technology into the classroom increased student engagement.   Technology allows for learning to go beyond the four walls of a classroom and more collaboration among students and teachers. More specifically, they mentioned G Suite for Education and code.org, where students are taking “…what they find and show teachers what they know.” Furthermore, coding was touched upon because of the growing necessity for it to be taught in school since those are the skills students are going to need when they enter the job force.   The article stated: “A lot of research will tell you if you’re not teaching coding to young children, it’s like teaching them not to read.” That statement caught my attention for two reasons- 1. How much is coding being taught in schools; and 2. I have NO idea how to code…does that make me unskilled or unskilled in the future? With that aside, simply i
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Week Three Blog: Language Labs

This article is about teaching English to students in Fiji, since English is seen as a “supreme mode of language”. Without communication people cannot function in school or the workplace, which is what the article is focused around.   The article also mentions the four-macro skills of English language that must mastered to achieve competence. To deploy these skills, Fiji education is implementing language labs. In these labs, students will utilize products such as: wireless headsets, microphones, and multimedia to help students learn English. These labs will be “ …useful to assess students' speech. It provides students with the technical tools to get the best samples of enunciation the language. The electronic devices used in the laboratory will stimulate the ears and eyes of the learner to acquire language easily and quickly. The collection of ICT tools in the laboratory is designed to assist learners acquire and maintain aural comprehension, oral competency,
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Week 2 Blog: Music and ESL Classroom

This article discussed the value that music could bring to ESL classrooms.  Music in general is very popular among students and plays a vital role in their lives.  However, music is rarely used in an educational setting to assist learners in understanding language. The author explained how it is harder to incorporate music into high school classrooms than elementary or middle school classrooms, since there are several songs to memorize or learn concepts (states, ABCs, etc). The writer mentioned another source who suggested utilizing music and songs to teach grammar (ex: many confuse the use of "can't" with ability and "may" with permission), which is a subject area students do not really enjoy. However, the content and engagement can be enhanced through music! She also included this information in your article: To find suitable pop songs, busyteacher.org a great resource with more than 1,700 song worksheets submitted by teachers and organized by ESL l
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Week One Blog: Language Learning Software

For the week one blog, I chose to read about language learning software.   The article, discussed how the free language app, Duolingo, added Japanese to their “gamified” software program.   Duolingo is one of the most popular language applications that makes learning interactive and engaging by incorporating games.   Students receive points and advance in levels as they acquire accurate vocabulary and grammar skills. Currently, the application has over 170 million users and offers over 20 languages. Duolingo appears to be a great application! First, the application is free, which is great for school districts that are facing budget deficits.   In addition, the application provides a gaming platform for English Language Learner’s, where they advance through the levels and are awarded points after successfully completing vocabulary and grammar content.   This application allows the students to practice and improve their skills anywhere and anytime where access to
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