Possible Language Learning Activities for Web 2.0 Sites

8/14/2019 Possible Language Learning Activities for Web 2.0 Sites

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Possible Learning Activities for

Learning English online.

The activities that follow are designed under the following assumptions:

1. The online site has voice and video capability.2. There is a text to speech component to all video.

3. There is member interaction / networking/ discussion

4. The site has a personalized play list / my page component.

Overall Learning Sequence

There are a number of possible frameworks or sequences through which the learningactivity can take place. They typically follow a 1. pre activity 2. activity 3. post activity

format.

Several possible ways to present this would be;

ESA Engage / Study / Activate (the current mantra in EFL / ESL)PPP - Prepare / practice / produce (personalize/perform might be a 4th)

It would be beneficial for the learner to really simplify this into clear language.

Perhaps -- READ / REVIEW / REDO / REACT

The learner first reads the video. Text support of voice/audio.

The learner second reviews the video with some prompts/missing language etc....

The learner third, creates something new from the content of the videoThe learner fourth, states their own feelings and has a conversation/discussion about the

video content.

Categories of Activities

The activities would fall into general categories and which would represent increasing

complexity and language freedom as the learner moves from mere repetition to moreself produced and synthesized forms of language/thought.

1. Vocabulary2. Comprehension

3. Sequencing / reordering

4. Creation

5. Discussion / Extension


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All video or content should have a very brief introduction as previewing. This

facilitates the learning by channeling the learners mind towards the specific

concepts / images / language which will be necessary for the given topic. It shouldtherefore be TOPICAL or THEMATIC.

A possible example would be a photo and asking the learner...

Have you ever........ or When did you last .............

Both these prompts work with any topic and work well to get the learners thinking

about the forthcoming activity. This could be presented in a dreamy bubble or by

asking for a specific prompt....

1. Vocabulary

Each activity /video should have a Word Wall (what I use in my class, just a graffiti

place where students can put the new vocabulary they learned, up in plain view. ). Ifthis could have actual pronunciation, click and hear functioning all the better. Also,

click to a dictionary explanation. This Wall could be either a personal one or better,along the lines of a wiki where it is created and / or added to by individual learners.

Types of activities

A. Phrase match. after viewing the video, learners are presented with a box where

phrases containing the new vocabulary are chopped in half. They have a time limit to

drag them together. Best time is posted to compare with the network as a whole. See anexample of this at this site www.quizlet.com (both his Scatter and Space Race games

are excellent examples of way to both engage and learn vocab. and also make it into an

interactive game to challenge learners. ) [use eflclassroom as the id/pw and see my ownexamples.]

B. Mind maps / brain storming. Tony Buzan has made the term mind map intosomething every educator knows. Using computer technology, on an interactive page,

learners can build a concept map and edit/correct other users. Or just create their own

unique one. It is simply starting from the middle with the theme and then creating

branches of thought ....... a very easy web 2.0 language learning activity/idea.

C. An alphabet chart / personal dictionary. learners have a calendar like chart ,

each box represents the letters of the alphabet. Into these boxes, learners deposit thedifficult vocabulary and organize the content. Learners should be prompted to provide an

example usage for each word entry.

D. Click it down. Learners are given a list of selected words. They listen / watch the

content and then must click on the word when it appears/is spoken. They get points for

being correct and a bell or buzzer goes off...
http://www.quizlet.com/http://www.quizlet.com/


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2. Comprehension

Comprehension activities allow the user to review vocabulary. They can be very simple

Q and A or more complex. Learners should generate the questions and this is probably

the most effective way of using comprehension activities it also facilitates questionmaking ability, an essential part of language and conversation.

A). 5Ws -- Learners are prompted with the 5ws and act as journalists to create the fivequestions and to answer them. Other learners can answer their questions , creating further

content. And so on..... Doesnt just have to be the 5ws. Also How long, How far, Which ,

Whose etc....

B) Picture prompts. Same as the above but learners are give frames from the video or

sound bites. They are then asked to comment using the 5ws. Who/what etc.......

C) Listening Prompts the learner is given a selected portion of the audio and mustfinish the audio excerpt either with their own voice or by text.

3. Sequencing and Re-ordering

This is a very powerful kind of activity which combines lower level knowledge and also

high level processing skills. Here begins the real scaffolding of learning and gettinglearners to really acquire language through purposeful activity.

A) Reorganize. Learners are given 5-8 frames from the video or audio. They then haveto put them in order and label them with a phrase or sentence detailing their meaning

(like a Table of Contents). Audio could be used here to prompt learners to retell the

story/video, in their own words and language. Instructions work well too, for any kind ofhow to content. Learners could also be asked to reorganize sentences to sequence the

video. They could drag the sentences into order and a time component could be added for

further motivation (as per the vocabulary activities).

B) Time line. this is a basic comprehension activity and after the content video,

learners are prompted with a line and enter the appropriate details in order. See Andrew

Finchs stuff (Ill mention him again later) atwww.classtool.net (these also relate to theabove mind mapping...) for examples of the use of timelines generated by the learner.

C) Make it Comical. There are many kinds of comic generators out there. Learnerscould be asked to generate a comic of the video, adding language etc....they could then

share this across the theme or network. See the web 2.0 folder of links for many

examples http://eflclassroom.buzka.com/Web_20 - in particular,http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/index.html This buzka folder also has

examples of many web 2.0 language activities/applications that could generically be used

on any content. Much like a comic generator.
http://www.classtool.net/http://www.classtool.net/http://www.classtool.net/http://eflclassroom.buzka.com/Web_20http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/index.htmlhttp://www.classtool.net/http://eflclassroom.buzka.com/Web_20http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/comic/index.html


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B) Chat/video rooms. This I see as the future of language learning. Bringing together

native speakers and English learners into a thematic room for discussion on specifictopics. Flash chat/video technology is such that this could be a very profitable add-on.

Users pay a flat yearly/monthly fee to participate in rooms which offer discussion on

Music, Movies, Books, Teaching, Sports, TV, Travel, etc........There they can find otherlanguage learners as well as native speaking experts. This would allow the full

extension of the learning process into the infosphere as I call it.

Obviously, all these ideas have to be filtered, streamlined and judged on their

technological doability. Also judged on their cost effectiveness and for issues of safety

/ privacy.

Conclusion

The ideas above reinforce the ethos that any successful language learning site will beabout:

a) great content

b) learner control / experience

c) community

A language learning site that is international in scope should bring native speakers

(supply) into contact with English Language Learners (demand). If it is done in a very

understated and engaging manner, this can be very successful. Essentially, replacing theteacher with interesting native speakers and replacing the classroom with an online

learning space.

Documents

Possible Language Learning Activities for Web 2.0 Sites