How do we really use the New Media?

Computers and the internet are often described as the new means of gaining information (a former teacher of mine even called our decade the “information era”), but in my experience (that is my use of said technology), it is used more for entertainment than for gathering information. I asked some friends of mine about their typical use of computer and internet and found out the following: they mainly are online to regularly check websites on scifi, fantasy, feminism, follow tweets (e.g. television stars), play facebook and other online games, or visit fun websites such as youtube or collegehumor. Some play online poker, chat with friends, check and write emails, read webcomics, or order things via amazon and ebay. Also, watchig movies and tv online was mentioned a lot, too. Research for university (papers, presentations, sessions… ) was mentioned as well, but usually is not nearly used as often as as the entertaining parts of the web.

I must admit that my friends’ use of computers and the internet very strongly correlates with my own experience: I use the web for entertainment and hobbies much more regularly than for learning purpose (which is probably why I have so many youtube videos integrated into my blog…). I do research for termpapers etc. via internet, but usually information overflow and the questionable reliability of the sources makes me prefer literature provided by the university. Not using the internet but solely my computer (offline, so to say), I play video games etc. much more often than I work on termpapers or presentations.

Like the TV, the world wide web seems to have transformed from being a medium for education, to being a medium of entertaining purpose… but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing , does it now?

Shakespeare and New Media

Here’s a collection of videos about Shakespeare and his plays. Most of them are rather funny and make a great opener for a lesson on Shakespeare’s plays:

The curse of Macbeth is an fun fact video about the supposed curse of Macbeth: Actors and other cast and crew members saying “Macbeth” in a theatre outside the performance bring upon themselves a curse…

The Reduced Shakespeare Company (RSC) performs the essential parts Shakespeare’s plays and thereby reduces the lenght notably to a matter of minutes. They make sense more towards the end of a unit on Shakespeare, because the students most likely wouldn’t understand the jokes and scenes refered to. There are a lot of plays online, here’ s Macbeth…

BBC Animated Versions are also often to be found online. This one (also Macbeth) is subtitled, so it’s easier to understand for students. The animated versions might be more suitable for lower grade students, students in higher classes might find them childish and prefer “real versions”…

Hugh Laurie (Dr. House) and Rowan Atkinson (Mr. Bean) perform this sketch about the … challenging parts of a Shakespearean play …

This on is admittedly my personal favorite: A trailer for the fictive adaptation of Hamlet featuring the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger…

There are many more videos on and around Shakespeare out there, here’s a link to the Simpsons version of Hamlet (I couldn’t find it on youtube and wordpress does not support the site I found it on).

There are also a lot of websites and webquests on Shakespeare online, one you can find here.

Also, there is an Episode of BBC’s Doctor Who, where the Doctor and his companion travel back in time to see an original Shakespeare play. The episode contains many a quote from Shakespeare’s plays and in my opinion depicts Elizabethan England quite interesting, so you could use it for higher grade students who have gained some experience with William Shakepeare and his plays. Here’s the preview…

Wikipedia

I was just doing some research for another class and thought that it might be interesting to publish something about the “forbidden pages”* , i.e. wikipedia (* That’s what a study buddy of mine always calls it ).  Most teachers and docents advise their students against using wikipedia, but I think there are arguments on both using and not using it.

Since wikipedia can be edited by pretty much any internet user, the reliability and accuracy of wikipedia articles is often questionable, but then again, just because someone printed something does not mean his sources are any more reliable. Wikipedia offers many articles on basically every topic, it is very up-to-date and depite its reputation surprisingly accurat. Also it can provide a valuable overview on certain topics and often offers links and a list of resources to star further research.

I found a youtube video on wikipedia (its more of an entertaining than informing video), that brings up some of the issues that I just mentioned, along with further arguments, so enjoy!

In my opinion, wikipedia should not be generally banned, but instead be advised to use with caution and to check the facts it provides.

AHA!

I finally understood what del.icio.us is all about!!! There’s a great article on Ruwen Schick’s My New Media ePortfolio. It’s most definitely worth checking out and includes a general description, pros and cons of del.icio.us, as well as its possible uses for teachers.

HTMeLtdown

I’ve been working on an entry on tense forthe VLC’s wiki today and almost had a nervous breakdown due to all the technical background knowledge that I was supposed to have.

I’ve successfully shipped around any sort of html (hypertext markup language)-related work so far, but the VLC-wiki just won’t allow that. Luckily, I had a course introducing me to html this semester. I would have been totally lost if I had not had any previous experience with html – so thank you Mr Sperl !!!! .

I attatched the html-cheat-sheet that Mr Sperl gave us, because it turned out to be very helpful.

Also, when in trouble, you should check out wikipedia, they have a large section on how to work with html.

Webcomics

Students probably learn foreign languages best when they see that they can use the things that they have learned. Especially for English, the internet proves to be just that: students can read and communicate by using a language other than their own. One of many ways to get them interested in visiting websites using foreign languages could be webcomics. They are basically like traditional comics posted on the internet, but instead of whole issues, pages usually are published singly. Ideally, students will find the story interesting or the jokes funny and come back to the website even if it is not part of the class anymore.

There are various webcomics online, some of which are funny, others are for example horror stories. Before you recommend a webcomics to your students or show it to them you should very carefully check it out! Some webcomics might not be age appropriate, because they depict violence, or are explicit in term of language or sexual content.

But, if the webcomic is age appropriate, it can motivate your students to learn English and even teach them new vocabulary.

A comic that I have come to like very much is Evil Diva. (It is more likely to attract girls than boys, though. So you should look for further webcomics to get the male students interested as well.)

VLC and VCT

This semester, I had my first time ever blended courses at university, using VLC (Virtual Linguistic Campus) and the VCT/VZL (Virtual Center for Teacher Training/Virtuelles Zentrum für Lehrerbildung). Both platforms are aimed to teaching students, while VLC concentrates on properties of Linguistics (mainly English), the VCT tries to focus more on the field of teaching, especially the use of New Media in and for school.

VLC:

Among various other things the VLC features the “language of the week“, authentic samples of a large number of languages all over the world, a research lab in which you can participate, chats, message boards, feedback, a wiki and of course virtual session including a tutor, worksheets and e-worksheets, as well as e-exams and further extra work. The courses I took also had a handbook available that included most of the data and information given in the virtual sessions. Some of the courses are free, others cost to register for. As it turned out during the end of the semester (see below), the server which host the VLC (and probably the VCT, too) is not always stable and reliable.

The VCT:

Like the VLC, the VCT offeres a wiki, chats, fedback and virtual sessions with e-worksheets and regular worksheets. In addition, you can see important dates and deadlines maked in a calendar, so you are less likely to forget handing in important work.

Concerning both platforms, I very much enjoyed the possibilies of interactivity with other users as well as its accessability. Especially the sessions in the VCT included a number of useful links etc., which were very interesting and helpful. Very often, however, the virtual sessions felt less like an actual substitute for sessions, but were used more like “homework” and preparation for the next in-class session. Also it was very unpleasant to find out our virtual “attendance” was checked on, giving detailed information on when and how long we were online in which particular session. Another rather unpleasant thing was the server error(s) which occured during and immediately before our e-exam, leaving many students insecure and overly agitated.

All in all, working with both VLC and VCT was a very interesting experience. However, they both need to be improved, before they can actually count as a substitute for in-class sessions.

WATCH MORE TV!!!

In recent years, TV has constantly been said to be a method of entertainment and not a method of education. There is no doubt that there are programmes that are purely entertaining without much of an educational value, but there are also programmes  that are aimed at teaching children as well as adults about all kinds of things (e.g. Sendung mit der Maus, Löwenzahn for children).

However, it can be argued that programmes that are not primarily aimed at education can still have an not neglectable educational value, especially when it comes to cultural studies. For example: TV series from the United States can offer an interesting experience and insight into the way of life in the United States as well as on the way the American people see themselves and other cultures. This also goes for any other cultuer, of course.

The experience gained this way is much more authentic then most books would offer them. Additionally, students might enjoy it more and not even realize that they are actually learning something about another culture. What is more, they can watch many series and movies from foreign countries (especially USA and Great Britain) at home (although they are usually synchronized), m0st of them probably already are.

For school, it is possible, to watch DVDs in English, or to download English trailers from the internet and show and discuss them in class.They can be very useful as a source of inspiration for creative writing. You can find an interesting article on this in Franziska’s E-Portfolio. It is also possible to read webcomics etc.

So, parents, maybe your children are not lazy, but intensely investigating a foreign culture

Digital Schoolbag

If you think of your time being a student you might remember carrying around that awful lot of books, that sometimes seemed to weigh more that yourself. That probably hasn’t changed much since our days, so Ms. Gallus introduced us to a nice alternative you can offer your students: its a digital schoolbag, which is a usb pendrive that stores not only your students data, but also includes software they might need to open their documents. Besides Open Office, the digital schoolbag also includes learning software and (although I’m not really convinced about that part) some games such as sudoku and chess (maybe it’s supposed to motivate the students, but its more likely gonna distract them).

The digital schoolbag is for free, and USB pen drives aren’t that expensive either (some companies give them away as freebies, so if you’re lucky they might be for free as well). Students can use the applications stored on their pendrives on every computer (given that it has a USB port) without installing additional software.

However, using the digital schoolbag in school requires the use of computers which might be complicated to achieve very often (unless you’re lucky enough to work at a school like the AWS in Kirchhain, see below).

How to work with Weebly

weebly is a free webservice, that enables its users to easily create interesting  and very elaborate looking pages on the internet. To use it, you first have to create a weebly account (if you don’t already have one).
For that, you have to choose a username and a password, also you have to type in cour current email adress. Don’t forget to mark the “I accept the terms of service” button.While you are typing in your user name, directly above the type field, you will see a small sign that either sais “not available” or “available”. If it says “not available” you have to think of another username instead. That’s pretty much all that you have to do to get started.

On the left half of your screen is a button that should say “no title“. Click on it to determin your websites name and its web adress, in my case that would e.g. be: goQuidditch! (as a name) and goquidditch.weebly.com (as a web adress). It is also possible to upgrade to use your own domain (e.g. www.goquidditch.com) but that service is not free (its about 30-40 $ a year).

When I first used weebly I was kind of baffled at this point. The main page said “drag element here” and I was like, “huh?”. But its actually pritty simple once you know: click on “elements” and chose between several elements, such as “paragraph”, “paragraph with title”, “paragraph with picture” and so on. Drag the element (that is keep the left button of your mouse pressed while moving the cursor from the top to the page).

You can write or insert your text into a paragraph, chose where to put the pictures. There also is a “two column layout” button, which enables you to put two paragraphs next to each other (or pictures etc.).  Additionally you can insert multimedia elements (such as youtube videos), forums and contactforms. You can also place advertisements on your page using the “Revenue” section, you can change the arrangement of the elements you use several times, also you can move elements from one page to another.

You create new pages by first clicking on the “Pages” button (1). In this section, you can either create new pages (click on “New Page”) or edit existing ones (their names (2) or their arrangements), as well as delete them (3). To change the pages’ arrangement you need to click on a page in the left column and drag it to the postion you want it to be. That way you can also create subpages by simply draging the page a little to the left. When you’re done changing names and arrangements, don’t forget to click on “Save” (4).

Another important feature is the “Design” section. Click on “Designs” and choose from several finished design versions.Hover above the different versions to get a preview on what your page would look like if you used it (if you click on it, you chose the design). Chose a design that goes well with your topic. Should it be modern or not, retro, playful or strict…? Designs give your sites visitor a first impression on your page, it can attrack or repell him/her, so you should chose your design carefully.

Your design could look like this

or this

or many, many more. Changing your design does not change your layout, and you can change between different designs as you see fit. The same design is used for all the websites pages, however.

You can further costomize those, of course, e.g. by adding your personal header or changing font-type, -size or -style… However, changing fonts is a little more tricky than changing the header because for doing it you need to know about basic use of css (cascading style sheet). If you do not know about css you should probabyl stick to the basics, if you don’t want to however, you can enter the “Advanced Editing” zone,

where you can work on your pages css and html (hypertext markup language).

After your page looks the way you want it to, you can click on “Publish” (right upper corner), to make your website available for internet users. Don’t worry, you can still work on the pages after you have published your website. Just work on the pages as you’re used to and click “Publish” to update the website.

I have never used weebly before and I have never created a website before, either (except maybe this one ) but it turned out to be rather easy and fun. For future teachers, this information could be of interest: go to education.weebly.com , to find out more about using weebly for school.

Have fun using weebly!