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Implementing Class website
I developped a class website/blog where students and parents could find the following:- Course outline
- Homework
- Project information
- Important dates (Tests and Projects)
- Resources
- Ask Mme D (post a course related question on the blog)
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Class registration
It took a few weeks but everyone is now registered on the site! -
Ask Mme D
Some students have used the contact Mme D option. I have asked for their feedback and all who have posted said they find the instant communication beneficial and feel more comfortable asking questions through this means when at home studying. One student said it was “cool to be able to ask questions at any time of the day”. -
First Dictée podcast
I'm using Garageband to create the Dictée podcasts and exporting as an mp3 file. It be uploaded tomorrow with the pdf version. -
Motivated Honours Class
Spoke with my grade 10 students, and have discovered that the students who do follow the Twitter feed are in my French 10 Honours course. They are actually avid Twitter users. -
Online dictations
I started doing dictations with my students in class in order to improve their oral understanding as well as their sentence structure. After each 'practice' dictation I upload the pdf version of the text and create a downloadable pod-cast of the dictation so students can practice at home. The following week we do the same dictation in class, and see if they have improved from the previous one. -
Twitter Tools
I've signed up for a Twitter account (mmd_d), which will be used only with students and parents. I've also installed the Twitter Tools plug-in on the class site which integrates my Twitter account into WordPress. When I tweet from this account it automatically appears on the homepage of class site, (and vice-versa). Through this means I am able to tweet out any information I need to communicate immediately to my followers as well as to anyone who uses the class site. -
Francophone music videos
Started a bi-monthly feature on the home page of the class site: music videos by francophone artists from around the world with a bio. This weekly feature will expose student to authentic material in the target language and brings a cultural component to the course. -
Twitter popularity?
Thinking that this was an innovative “cool tool,” I was surprised to learn that the majority of my students did not have a Twitter account. They do however have a Facebook account, and use that quite regularly. Even after explaining how the class site worked, and that they could get extra information and keep up to date if they signed up to Twitter and followed me, many of them
(grade 8-9) did not sign up for an account. On the same note I have 10 followers after a day! (Fr.10 Honours) -
Podcast update
Dictées are going well, with the audio podcast and pdf on the site. Students are downloading the podcasts and practicing. 4 students came to see me and wanted to learn how to make them themselves. I informed them that they will be making their own in French to practice pronunciation. They were eager to begin, as they have never made them before. Engagement = Novelty? -
Online comments on videos
French 10 honours students were encouraged to comment on the videos and interact online. At first a couple commented, but that was it. When I told them that posting was 'participation' they all started commenting! Extrinsic motivation! It was great to see them interact in French, as it was not a requirement. Perhaps they thought they would get higher participation marks? I wanted to simply get an online interaction/particapation going in whichever language they chose. -
First interactive session
I had my first collaborative and interactive blog session with my Enriched Fr.10 group. They had to log on the class site and post their thoughts on “Comment est-ce qu’un produit devient populaire? ” for our Bon consommateur (Good consumer) unit. Each student added their thoughts and were responsible to reading at least 3 other comments and commenting on their peers thoughts. I’m not sure if the results from this are typical or atypical as this group is a motivated group who love technology. -
Followup questions
Feedback: ( The following questions were asked to 3 students following the online responses and comments.) Question 1: Was the assignment online easy to do?
Question 2: Have you ever had to do a similar assignment for another class where you had to blog your opinion and respond to your peers on a similar platform?
Question 3: Compared with having had a f2f discussion, how would you compare the assignment?
Question 4: What were some advantages/disadvantages of the assignment? -
Student-centred mini-unit with technology start
Today I started teaching a mini-unit of 8 lessons (3-weeks) with one block of grade 10 French students. These lessons will be all student-centered and involve technology in some form (videos, podcasts and interactive presentations, online games and review, iPad). This will be contrasted with a student-centred mini-unit without technology with a second group of students of the same course and grade. -
Student-centered mini-unit with-out technology
Today I started teaching a mini-unit of 8 lessons (3-weeks) with one block of grade 10 French students. These lessons will be all student-centered and not involve technology. Instead all material will be presented on the board, over-head projector and through worksheets. Through these mini-units I hope to observe feelings and changes in movitation and engagement from students in relation to the curriculum being taught. -
Period: to
Mini-unit
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Song
A little culture for both groups. Both worked a French song which had vocab and grammar structures from the unit. As well the artist was the artist is from the area in France being explored. The exercise was a close text of the song where they listened to it and filled in the missing words, after learning a little about the artist. The NTG heard the song played from a CD, while the TG watched the Music video broadcasted via You Tube. -
Complaints from students
Students in the non-technology group are wondering why the other block is doing "different things" and are "having fun". I didn't share with my students that one group is doing the same unit with technology and the other without. But as I expected students talk, and the discussions are getting pretty interesting. They don't realize they are learniing the same curriculum just through different means. -
cont...
For the entire block students were on-task and engaged. Groups took turns going up to the laptop and inserting answers and playing the games. They were all engaged during the listening component as the voices used were Francophone (authentic) and realistic situations. They had never done an online interactive activity for a French course before, so perhaps for this reason the technology was novelty and kept them engaged. -
Non-tech group
I decided to do a similar activity/game with this group to see if games (no matter what kind) resulted in the same amount of engagement. Students played a similar game as the TG, only paper-based. Students were engaged at the start but after 15 minutes became distracted. Numerous paper-based actvities were completely, but continuously students were off-task during the period. -
Technology Engagement
I decided to facilitate an on-line interactive activity with my 'tech' group today. There is a great website www.tapis.com.au which is composed of modules. One module fits perfectly with the mini-unit I am currently teaching my gr.10s. The modules consist of a listening exercise, interactive grammar exercises, interactive vocabulary exercises and a cultural exercise at the end. In groups students completely the activity and were eager to do another module. -
quiz results
Both groups of stuents received the same quiz at the beginning of class. Consequently the 'tech' group averaged 2 marks higher than the 'non-tech' group. TG: 9/10; NTG: 7/10 averages.
Did the technoogy help the students to understand the material better? or did the longer on-task time help students learn the material quicker and more efficiently? -
student help
2 students from the non-tech group came to ask for help on the material they learned last class. They said their groups weren't doing the activity properly and were having trouble following along. -
Authentic clips
Tech-group : Students watched a video on Alsace today from TV5 learning resources in the target language and had to complete various activites in pairs. Students enjoyed the clip and were fully engaged during the clips and the activities. I asked students what they liked about the activity and clip at the end of class and many said they liked hearing the authentic "French" accent. Many also enjoyed the content as they has learned some of it in their social studies course. (Interdisciplinary!!) -
Authentic pictures?
Non-tech group: This group did not watch the video on Alsace, but instead looked at pictures of the region and read descriptions of each in groups. They completed worksheets based on what they read and the images they saw. Students enjoyed looking at the images but had some trouble with the reading. Again they heard what the other class had done and wanted to watch the video as well. They completed the task at hand, but some students were off-task and had to be reminded to return to the task. -
End of mini-unit
Today is the last day of the mini-unit with both groups. The tech group completed the class survey in relation to their technology experience and preferences. As well, individual discussions as well as a class discussion was conducted with both classes about the methods used during the last 3 weeks. Next class both groups have a test on the content learned. I'm curious to look at the quantitative data to see if there is any relation between student engagement and academic performance. -
Mini-unit test
Both groups are completing a traditional test on the content, vocab, and grammar concepts learned over the last 3 weeks. Will results be different or similar between the tech-group and non-tech group? Will student engagement in the classroom reflect academically? Many researchers don't believe that there is a correlation between the two. Is there a correlation between the two? -
Resuts are in!
Interesting results! The non-tech group did better on average than the tech-group. [TG = 77% N-TG: 82% ] Many factors could have contributed to this: traditional test which NTG were used to, study time, engaged with the technology but not understanding the material, ability of students, etc.) To me, this proves that achievement doesn't necessarily mean the students was more engaged or vice-versa. This leaves me with the internal debate: what is more important, engagement or understanding?
