Using videos is a helpful tool that we as teachers should include in our classrooms when developing the different units of the English syllabus. As it is seen in the video, creating a film is very easy due to the different programs (in this case Go Animate) that make this process simple and fast. Besides, by using this program we can create a variety of videos taking into account not only the topic, but also the audience you have in the class. Furthermore, as stated in the reading Video Publishing, “…older kids have started gravitating to video in a big way” (page 121). This clearly shows that it is a must for teachers to use videos in their classes because students love this instrument and the learning process becomes easier and more interesting for them. So, if we teach our students how to take advantage of this tool they will spend a lot of time practicing and learning more about the topics studied in class, in other words, there will be an environment of autonomous learning process which is fundamental for our students. Regarding my experience as teacher, I have used YouTube videos in class, but I have never used a video created by myself to cover any topic; now that I know about this program I will create a lot of videos to encourage students during the learning process of a foreign language. As a teacher, I will use videos in different ways, for example: • Create videos about the different units of the English syllabus, for example, when studying places around town, I will create a video in which a person goes to town and visits the most important places of the city. • Another example will be that students create a video about a specific topic as a homework assignment; and then, in a horseshoe they will have to present it to rest of the class for their classmates to see it and comment about it.
Another way to make your classess interesting for your students and even for you! No matter if you spend some time by doing videos, but the important fact is that you are creating and making contextualized info in English for your students. I will used as a tool for every single topic due to it provides elements to make impersonal stuff. I mean, students sometimes feel intimitate for the subject itself and for his/her teacher. By using this (go animate)teachers can facilitate students' productivity and learning. It's a good tool that motivates to learn and the cartoons are attractive for students' attention.
A recent survey by the Pew Foundation reports that nine out ten teenage school children, ages twelve through seventeen, have online access (Web Pages in Service of L2 Learning, p. 25) taking advantages of this, teacher can implement internet and technological tools for teaching English as a foreign language. For example, animated videos can be used for teacher to prepare grammatical videos in order to make class more interactive and dynamic. Also, animated videos can be assigned for the teacher to the students to create a video in which students develop their creativity while they improve their English outside the class in a very fun, easy and didactic way.
Not only it is related to the way of making creativity as the plus of videos, but also making videos full of content where students feel emphatetic with the use of the target language. Teachers and students could share many things about their lives by using such videos and YouTube has become the center of it. However, something I disagree with is that some schools block the access to this website. I know sometime it is difficult to control it, but it is not impossible if students have teachers' guidance in the way they use videos for learning English. In fact, "digital storytelling in its most complex form, and it requires a significant amount of thinking and work" (Video publishing, p.121) Is that what do we expect from our students? Work hard when learning, absolutely yes, and that means that even if we spend some time by doing videos and that is a hard task, in a very deeply side of the story is that students can find more oportunities to explore and get involved in contextualized situations where they are protagonists. As I said before, some examples raise when trying to use videos. Common classes: project the video and write about students watched from it. However, making videos 1. teachers can contextualized contents and 2. make classes more dynamic with students participation in the middle of them. So, applications are many when learning English. For example, if it is possible make students make a short video about the topic studied in class and give some minutes to explain what they understood from it. Also, project a video and introduce questions that motivates more than yes/no answers.
Go animated could be an interesting way to call students attention. It is easy to use and it has skills that teachers should improve in classes as speaking, writing, listening, reading comprehension and they become users CALL. In addition, students can use their ideas to create stories and dialogues and they can use they own experiences and become participants of their own learning process. Besides that, it is relevant do not forget that it is just a tool it should not be the most important aspect of the class because it could become a distraction during the lesson.
Examples 1) I would use a video to catch students’ attention and make them think about the topic they will study. I would show vocabulary related to the topic and then prepare some questions about the video in order to prove if students pay attention to the content or just watch the images. 2) I would ask students to create a role -play and then represent the role -play using go animate and using the background of the video to contextualize the situation.
“There is broad consensus among scholars that our culture is more visual than ever before. High school or college students, among other groups, inevitably need to access images for their daily lives” (Frey and Fisher, 2008, p.171)
Frey and Fisher clearly state the importance of images in our culture. That is why, the introduction of an animated video into the classroom (created completely by the teacher) represents a valuable instrument that will aid students focus on the topic being studied. Internet provides us the tools needed in order to make free and easy videos. Go animate for example, as it is stated in the video, is one of them. The combination of images, movement, sound and colors are fundamental to get students attention and to keep them focus on the topic.
For instance I would assign students the making of a video regarding some of the topics studied in class. In that sense students will be able to learn by doing and their knowledge about the topic would increase. Another method of implementing the use of animate videos is to present them as a way for improving the four skills. This represents a fun and useful approach for learning any topic.
Frey, Nancy; Fisher, Douglas.(2008). Teaching visual literacy: Using comic books, graphic novels, anime, cartoons, and more to develop comprehension and thinking skills. Thousand Oaks, California Corwin Press.
Interest is a key concept when we talk about learning. Interest moves people to desire to know more and to go beyond in their learning processes. I consider this animate videos bring teachers the opportunity to interest their students in any topic they can be developed. This tool gives teacher as well as students a motivational way to teach and to learn. For teachers, this is a new form to show topics and catch student’s attention and motivation. They can create funny and educational videos. Moreover, it is a useful tool for students because they can make original presentations for an assignment. Possible activities might be: -I will use this animate video to make a presentation for reviewing a topic, then, I make questions about the video, students make pairs and answer the questions. -I would lead students a homework assignment in which they have to create an animate video. An example could be greetings and leavings, students can make different situations representing the correct expressions people must say depending on the context or the hour.
The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages stated according to the point of view of Brian Tomlinsom (2002 ) that “Materials” include anything which can be used to facilitate the learning of a language. They can be linguistic, visual, auditory or kinesthetic, and they can be presented in print, through live performances or display, or on cassette, CD-ROM, DVD or the Internet (p 66). Therefore, we can only take into account the creation of videos as one of the most revolutionary methods to teach English used to the moment. The creation of animated videos could be used to reinforce the teachers’ work in the four skills. For instance, one could use at the beginning of the class only the audio with the intention to work on listening, then, by using the video one can provide visual examples. To work on reading and writing is also easy since subtitles could be added to them, or other written task could be assigned in relation to the video.
Videos? What`s new? Where is the innovation? These questions could be part of a debate where one side is supporting the idea that videos are just a waste of time but the other side supporting that if a video is used properly by the teacher it could be one of the most effective ways of teaching. The innovation appears when a teacher takes time to prepare a whole strategy based on a video. Just the action of watching a video is not enough because if there`s no task that represents a challenge or that motivates students to go beyond the requirements, the video would be considered as free moment without any educational purpose; in this sense the video must be just an activity instead of an strategy prepared to improve skills. According to Perea (pag.13), “El video didáctico es un medio de comunicación que posee un lenguaje propio, cuya secuencia induce al receptor a sintetizar sentimientos, ideas, concepciones, etc., que pueden reforzar o modificar las que tenia previamente”. It is clearly stated that a didactic video has some features that could help in the teaching-learning process. Faruk (2010) (pag.17) states the following argument “Video-based learning resources have been used extensively throughout education and training to teach a variety of subjects”. This is another aspect that illustrates how useful a video could be. Considering my experience as a teacher, I will use a didactic video as a motivation activity. For example, there are hundreds of videos that portrays cruel realities that sometimes teachers omit because they are considered taboo or any other reason. Of course every single video must have a purpose and some tasks that require criticism and something more than just a brief comment. Another way would be to contextualize some topics by creating a video. This video should be guided by the teacher but students should be free to select the setting and create an interesting plot.
Making a video is always an attractive activity for people. In education, using something as stimulating as the web site “Go Animated” for making it is absolutely genuine. It easily helps students to generate different ideas and to try them while making their video. The motivation is also important, and doing a work of this kind is directly connected with this point because the students are taking part of something that is not very common in their school life. The options they have are diverse; there is a wide variety of possibilities they can use and one of the best aspects about it is the freedom they have to take advantage of their own creativity and imagination. Definitely, making a video can be both a great experience for the students and a way of encouraging and motivating them while learning the target language.
Reading: Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, and Live Streaming. At the present time, there are different forms of learning anything. Teachers can use animated videos to teach different topics to their students in a different way. This is an easier manner to teach because students in their current life use web pages to upload and watch videos so they are familiarized with technology. For example: You tube. “…Youtube is already having an enormous disruptive effect on our society, and it’s also becoming a place where more and more of our students go to publish the artifacts of their lives”(121) In this way, we can teach students how to create their own videos for being posted on Facebook. Of course, teachers have to make students create materials that include what was taught in the class. We as teachers can make students create a kind of short story in which elements studied in class have to be included. For example: verb tenses, prepositions, directions and so on. It is funny, easy and an didactic way to learn the language. It is important to know that videos “…are done for real purposes, for real audience, and are a great reminder as to the potential of the Read/Write Web.” (122)
Technology has been a great tool in our everyday activities. It has revolutionized the world that we know. One of the fields that it affects is education. Nowadays, it seems that children are born with technological skills. This simple fact forces teachers to change their teaching strategies/techniques because using handouts or the board as teaching materials isn’t enough anymore. Students are demanding new teaching methods that help them in their learning. Then, technology is a tool that works for this purpose. There are many programs, games, information, software, etc that is available by using the high-tech. One of these new tendencies is the use of videos in classrooms. Videos are entertained, attractive, and interactive for both teaching and learning. They are of great benefit to students because education becomes interesting and call their attention; as it is stated in the reading ‘Learning with Multimedia Tools’, “From the students’ perspective, multimedia authoring presents a rich environment in which to explore information and construct knowledge” (p. 308). On the other hand, videos are easy to use, cheap, engaging for teachers’ usage too. An example of free website is www.GoAnimate.com which anyone has access to and in which making videos is available with multiple backgrounds, characters, music tracks, actions, animations, and so on. It represents a great opportunity for teachers to apply in classroom to improve the class environment and activities. As a teacher, I will use this website in two different ways. First of all, I can create a video to introduce a topic. Students love to watch animations, so instead of using an overuse brainstorming I can use a video that will call their attention. Secondly, I can assign a project to students in which they have to explain the topic by creating a video. The result will be beyond learning the topic itself but also in applying their learning in an interactive and creative way for presenting it. Therefore, videos are very useful in education because they have great advantages for both teachers and students.
We can introduce also the use of Word in order to have a complement the videos. It happens to me that sometimes I run out of ideas and this probably has happened to many teachers. When we are facing that kind of situations is the right time for implementing new teaching techniques or applying different strategies. Improving is fundamental in the learning and teaching processes. That is why; the knowledge of different approaches of a program is needed. To some degree, a program as simple as Word can be oriented in a different way in a sense that a complex web page can turn into something easy. Even if the means are limited “Whether or not you are connected to the internet, you can use Word to create Web page documents, also known as HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)” p. 339. It can be presented as a way to complement a video or simply to show students who do not have access to internet a close approach to it. Thinking in my future work as teacher, I would implement the use of word for creating interacting and appealing web pages for students to practice and to get as many inputs as they need. In this web page the use of videos would two fold. First, students are going to be able to discuss about its relationship whit the topic; and second, students are going to be asked to recall information about the different subtopics studied throughout the web page.
Learning a second language is a very difficult task for many people, due to everybody learns different, that’s way, teachers should look for different ways of teaching; for that reason, using this kind of videos is appealing to students because they are stimulated and motivated to learn, besides it is a different strategy in which they learn while having fun. People learn more when they enjoy what they are doing rather than just receiving information from the teacher. This Go! Animate website shows us that through creating a video, students really express their creativity and originality; moreover it is an unusual form of teaching in which it let students express their knowledge through a cartoon. These short videos are an amazing way of starting a lesson of any topic, as a warm up it can motivate student for what is coming up through the class. I strongly believe that we must update ourselves in general terms, that’s why, adapting technology in our learning process may represent a relevant form of awaking student’s motivation. However, we must be really careful of how students use technology, because as it represents a powerful tool for learning, it can also be a dangerous weapon for students depending on how they are using it.
Jhonser said… Through implementing the use of animate videos in English classes, the students will be able to use creativity to express their thoughts and feelings freely. When students create their own videos, they have the opportunity to be creative while applying the knowledge and abilities they have. In this sense, teachers can motivate their students by presenting teacher’s own videos related to the studied topics in the class or even assigning it to be watched at home. This, on time, makes the lesson more attractive because the web is a medium that our students understand, pay attention to and like to use (in Web Pages in Service of L2 Learning. pp. 25). Spolsky (in Introduction: Foundation for Teaching and Learning. pp. 2) establishes four conditions needed for language acquisition: knowledge, abilities, motivation and opportunity. Using web videos is a great opportunity for students to create their own videos by using the tools they like the most. However, it is important that students feel comfortable when they produce their own videos. Walther and Boyd (in Theory and Research: Interaction via Computers, pp 22) state that research have showed that people feel free to express their feelings online than in person. This is also supported by Jiang and Ramsay (in Edbert, pp 22) when they say that students may feel more comfortable asking questions and expressing ideas to their teachers and other students in online environments. In other words, when students use characters that “talk” for them, they fell more comfortable when giving opinions and expressing how they feel. After all, this is the main purpose of communication: express to others what you think and how you feel. In the classroom, teachers could incorporate GoAnimate videos to present, for example, means of transportation. The video will present a situation where two characters are taking about the kind of transportations available in a city. Characters could use comparatives and superlatives like more expensive, faster, cheaper, slower, newest, oldest and so on. After watching the video, students could be evaluated by asking then questions about the conversation of the characters. These questions can be orally or writing. Then, students, guided by the teacher, could create their own video and upload it the web so the other students can watch them. This would be an extra activity and would be evaluated taking into account creativity, spelling, content and participation.
The use of videos in the classroom is a dynamic resource that has many advantages for teachers and students. In the case of teachers, videos are used as supporting material because they can illustrate the content being studied with images and sounds; besides, teachers can create their own animated videos according to the curricula using “Go Animate” which is relatively easy to use. In the case of students, videos motivate them since they are immersed in a technological world where videos are part of their lives. What we see, listen, and do at the same time is more memorable than just doing one of them in isolation. There are a bunch of educational videos that can be used by teachers in the classroom. One of the activities teachers can do with this tool is a round table discussion about a topic with pros and cons: Economical benefits and environmental damages of a hotel. The creation of an animated video based on the curricula is another activity that can be implemented in the classroom; it can be done by the teacher, students or both.
There is no doubt that whatever tool makes learning more appealing for students, it will have a positive effect. As stated in Chapter 10, Students’ involvement in the learning process increases as more senses are used by the learner to acquire information (Learning with Multimedia Tools, page 303) GoAnimate is an application that enables students to express their creativity in a funny and easy way but combining a lot of features to make their work really attractive and sense-appealing. There are many possibilities for using it. For example, currently, we are having a fair at high school to give information about the vocational programs available. Students were asked to prepare presentations for visitors. Having students make cartoons about it rather than the traditional power point presentations would be great! In the classroom, I would have two sessions in the lab just to explore the way the program works with the students. Then, I’d schedule maybe around three or four additional sessions for developing a project based on one of the topics of the Conversational English program or Oral Communication in English Program for Technical High Schools. Finally, I’d ask them to show their projects to the class and make comments about their experience for feedback.
Nowadays, students could have in theirs hands the access to the technology every day. For that reason I believe that the use of that technology to help the professor to call their attention is essential; by using videos teachers could teach the units of the English syllabus provided by the MEP; but also he or she could keep his/hers students focused. “Go Animate” is awesome; that make this process s incredibly simple and concrete. Creating something with movement is always eye-catching to the audience as is stated in ‘Learning with Multimedia Tools’, “From the students’ perspective, multimedia authoring presents a rich environment in which to explore information and construct knowledge” (p. 308). So, creating a video to teach some topic is better than to present a simple chart full of vocabulary related to the topic. From my point of view I would utilize this source to teach vocabulary building lessons such as: means of transportation, classroom objects, or body parts. The technology is there to use it in our advantage; it is our responsibility to take it and use it to help our students to grow.
I’m almost 100% sure that if any teacher makes a survey in their classroom asking what would students prefer in their classes, a bunch of information presented in a plain way by the professor, or the opportunity to see an entertained video in which the information is offered in an attractive way, they will choose the latter. So if we have the technology necessary to do that, why don’t we adventure a little bit into this modern world and create our own videos? “Teachers must use technology in ways that support the goals of language learning and the creation of optimal language learning environments” (9) in that sense, with the use of pages like Go Animate, professors have at hand a powerful tool to improve the dynamic of an English class and creating those environments. There are many advantages within this website, just to mention some, you can select any topic from the syllabus to create your video, adapt it to your students’ level and interests, and also you can interact with your students by the use of different characters. In short, a lot of positive aspects besides that the use of the page is not very complex. I will definitely use it in future classes to make lessons more attractive.
I find this material very interesting and fun to work with. Following my coleague Junior´s discussion about whether videos are or not effective or innovated tools to use in clasrooms, I believe and agree that including activities in which students watch a video related to the topic in study and then the make comments o develop a second activity based on the video, is nothing new at all. However, teachers creating videos based on the contents that are to be developed in the classroom sounds very appealing when it comes to think about different strategies that teachers and students could apply by using multimedial tools such as the video. We can be confident that videos would always catch the audience´s attention in different ways. Since most educators´ main gold is to improve quality and provide innovation in their teaching process, implementing multimedial tools may be and effective and succesfull strategy to apply in wich learners will get involve in stimulationg and interactive experiences, as it is stated in the reading LEARNING WITH MULTIMEDIA TOOLS: "...eduactional researches have been telling us that people learn better when thay are invoved in their learning, and that involvementincreases as more senses are used by the learner to acquire information" (Pag 303). So, we could say that trough videos, learnes are motivated and stimulated, which may lead to the response of more senses during their learning experience. The video is very useful, it shows us how to create animated videos, but an interesting point is that this alternative seems such as easy, fun and interactive that even students are able to explore and play with their creativity in wich they learn vocabulary, expressions, grammar, etc reaching listening, speaking, reading, writing.
Using videos is a helpful tool that we as teachers should include in our classrooms when developing the different units of the English syllabus. As it is seen in the video, creating a film is very easy due to the different programs (in this case Go Animate) that make this process simple and fast. Besides, by using this program we can create a variety of videos taking into account not only the topic, but also the audience you have in the class. Furthermore, as stated in the reading Video Publishing, “…older kids have started gravitating to video in a big way” (page 121). This clearly shows that it is a must for teachers to use videos in their classes because students love this instrument and the learning process becomes easier and more interesting for them. So, if we teach our students how to take advantage of this tool they will spend a lot of time practicing and learning more about the topics studied in class, in other words, there will be an environment of autonomous learning process which is fundamental for our students.
ReplyDeleteRegarding my experience as teacher, I have used YouTube videos in class, but I have never used a video created by myself to cover any topic; now that I know about this program I will create a lot of videos to encourage students during the learning process of a foreign language.
As a teacher, I will use videos in different ways, for example:
• Create videos about the different units of the English syllabus, for example, when studying places around town, I will create a video in which a person goes to town and visits the most important places of the city.
• Another example will be that students create a video about a specific topic as a homework assignment; and then, in a horseshoe they will have to present it to rest of the class for their classmates to see it and comment about it.
Another way to make your classess interesting for your students and even for you! No matter if you spend some time by doing videos, but the important fact is that you are creating and making contextualized info in English for your students. I will used as a tool for every single topic due to it provides elements to make impersonal stuff. I mean, students sometimes feel intimitate for the subject itself and for his/her teacher. By using this (go animate)teachers can facilitate students' productivity and learning. It's a good tool that motivates to learn and the cartoons are attractive for students' attention.
ReplyDeleteA recent survey by the Pew Foundation reports that nine out ten teenage school children, ages twelve through seventeen, have online access (Web Pages in Service of L2 Learning, p. 25) taking advantages of this, teacher can implement internet and technological tools for teaching English as a foreign language. For example, animated videos can be used for teacher to prepare grammatical videos in order to make class more interactive and dynamic. Also, animated videos can be assigned for the teacher to the students to create a video in which students develop their creativity while they improve their English outside the class in a very fun, easy and didactic way.
ReplyDeleteNot only it is related to the way of making creativity as the plus of videos, but also making videos full of content where students feel emphatetic with the use of the target language. Teachers and students could share many things about their lives by using such videos and YouTube has become the center of it. However, something I disagree with is that some schools block the access to this website. I know sometime it is difficult to control it, but it is not impossible if students have teachers' guidance in the way they use videos for learning English. In fact, "digital storytelling in its most complex form, and it requires a significant amount of thinking and work" (Video publishing, p.121) Is that what do we expect from our students? Work hard when learning, absolutely yes, and that means that even if we spend some time by doing videos and that is a hard task, in a very deeply side of the story is that students can find more oportunities to explore and get involved in contextualized situations where they are protagonists. As I said before, some examples raise when trying to use videos. Common classes: project the video and write about students watched from it. However, making videos 1. teachers can contextualized contents and 2. make classes more dynamic with students participation in the middle of them. So, applications are many when learning English. For example, if it is possible make students make a short video about the topic studied in class and give some minutes to explain what they understood from it. Also, project a video and introduce questions that motivates more than yes/no answers.
ReplyDeleteGo animated could be an interesting way to call students attention. It is easy to use and it has skills that teachers should improve in classes as speaking, writing, listening, reading comprehension and they become users CALL. In addition, students can use their ideas to create stories and dialogues and they can use they own experiences and become participants of their own learning process. Besides that, it is relevant do not forget that it is just a tool it should not be the most important aspect of the class because it could become a distraction during the lesson.
ReplyDeleteExamples
1) I would use a video to catch students’ attention and make them think about the topic they will study. I would show vocabulary related to the topic and then prepare some questions about the video in order to prove if students pay attention to the content or just watch the images.
2) I would ask students to create a role -play and then represent the role -play using go animate and using the background of the video to contextualize the situation.
“There is broad consensus among scholars that our culture is more visual than ever before. High school or college students, among other groups, inevitably need to access images for their daily lives”
ReplyDelete(Frey and Fisher, 2008, p.171)
Frey and Fisher clearly state the importance of images in our culture. That is why, the introduction of an animated video into the classroom (created completely by the teacher) represents a valuable instrument that will aid students focus on the topic being studied. Internet provides us the tools needed in order to make free and easy videos. Go animate for example, as it is stated in the video, is one of them. The combination of images, movement, sound and colors are fundamental to get students attention and to keep them focus on the topic.
For instance I would assign students the making of a video regarding some of the topics studied in class. In that sense students will be able to learn by doing and their knowledge about the topic would increase. Another method of implementing the use of animate videos is to present them as a way for improving the four skills. This represents a fun and useful approach for learning any topic.
Frey, Nancy; Fisher, Douglas.(2008). Teaching visual literacy: Using comic books,
graphic novels, anime, cartoons, and more to develop comprehension and thinking skills. Thousand Oaks, California Corwin Press.
Interest is a key concept when we talk about learning. Interest moves people to desire to know more and to go beyond in their learning processes. I consider this animate videos bring teachers the opportunity to interest their students in any topic they can be developed. This tool gives teacher as well as students a motivational way to teach and to learn. For teachers, this is a new form to show topics and catch student’s attention and motivation. They can create funny and educational videos. Moreover, it is a useful tool for students because they can make original presentations for an assignment. Possible activities might be:
ReplyDelete-I will use this animate video to make a presentation for reviewing a topic, then, I make questions about the video, students make pairs and answer the questions.
-I would lead students a homework assignment in which they have to create an animate video. An example could be greetings and leavings, students can make different situations representing the correct expressions people must say depending on the context or the hour.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages stated according to the point of view of Brian Tomlinsom (2002 ) that “Materials” include anything which can be used to facilitate the learning of a language. They can be linguistic, visual, auditory or kinesthetic, and they can be presented in print, through live performances or display, or on cassette, CD-ROM, DVD or the Internet (p 66). Therefore, we can only take into account the creation of videos as one of the most revolutionary methods to teach English used to the moment. The creation of animated videos could be used to reinforce the teachers’ work in the four skills. For instance, one could use at the beginning of the class only the audio with the intention to work on listening, then, by using the video one can provide visual examples. To work on reading and writing is also easy since subtitles could be added to them, or other written task could be assigned in relation to the video.
ReplyDeleteVideos? What`s new? Where is the innovation? These questions could be part of a debate where one side is supporting the idea that videos are just a waste of time but the other side supporting that if a video is used properly by the teacher it could be one of the most effective ways of teaching.
ReplyDeleteThe innovation appears when a teacher takes time to prepare a whole strategy based on a video. Just the action of watching a video is not enough because if there`s no task that represents a challenge or that motivates students to go beyond the requirements, the video would be considered as free moment without any educational purpose; in this sense the video must be just an activity instead of an strategy prepared to improve skills.
According to Perea (pag.13), “El video didáctico es un medio de comunicación que posee un lenguaje propio, cuya secuencia induce al receptor a sintetizar sentimientos, ideas, concepciones, etc., que pueden reforzar o modificar las que tenia previamente”. It is clearly stated that a didactic video has some features that could help in the teaching-learning process.
Faruk (2010) (pag.17) states the following argument “Video-based learning resources have been used extensively throughout education and training to teach a variety of subjects”. This is another aspect that illustrates how useful a video could be.
Considering my experience as a teacher, I will use a didactic video as a motivation activity. For example, there are hundreds of videos that portrays cruel realities that sometimes teachers omit because they are considered taboo or any other reason. Of course every single video must have a purpose and some tasks that require criticism and something more than just a brief comment. Another way would be to contextualize some topics by creating a video. This video should be guided by the teacher but students should be free to select the setting and create an interesting plot.
Making a video is always an attractive activity for people. In education, using something as stimulating as the web site “Go Animated” for making it is absolutely genuine. It easily helps students to generate different ideas and to try them while making their video. The motivation is also important, and doing a work of this kind is directly connected with this point because the students are taking part of something that is not very common in their school life. The options they have are diverse; there is a wide variety of possibilities they can use and one of the best aspects about it is the freedom they have to take advantage of their own creativity and imagination. Definitely, making a video can be both a great experience for the students and a way of encouraging and motivating them while learning the target language.
ReplyDeleteReading: Podcasting, Video and Screencasting, and Live Streaming.
ReplyDeleteAt the present time, there are different forms of learning anything. Teachers can use animated videos to teach different topics to their students in a different way. This is an easier manner to teach because students in their current life use web pages to upload and watch videos so they are familiarized with technology. For example: You tube. “…Youtube is already having an enormous disruptive effect on our society, and it’s also becoming a place where more and more of our students go to publish the artifacts of their lives”(121) In this way, we can teach students how to create their own videos for being posted on Facebook. Of course, teachers have to make students create materials that include what was taught in the class. We as teachers can make students create a kind of short story in which elements studied in class have to be included. For example: verb tenses, prepositions, directions and so on. It is funny, easy and an didactic way to learn the language. It is important to know that videos “…are done for real purposes, for real audience, and are a great reminder as to the potential of the Read/Write Web.” (122)
Technology has been a great tool in our everyday activities. It has revolutionized the world that we know. One of the fields that it affects is education. Nowadays, it seems that children are born with technological skills. This simple fact forces teachers to change their teaching strategies/techniques because using handouts or the board as teaching materials isn’t enough anymore. Students are demanding new teaching methods that help them in their learning. Then, technology is a tool that works for this purpose. There are many programs, games, information, software, etc that is available by using the high-tech. One of these new tendencies is the use of videos in classrooms. Videos are entertained, attractive, and interactive for both teaching and learning. They are of great benefit to students because education becomes interesting and call their attention; as it is stated in the reading ‘Learning with Multimedia Tools’, “From the students’ perspective, multimedia authoring presents a rich environment in which to explore information and construct knowledge” (p. 308). On the other hand, videos are easy to use, cheap, engaging for teachers’ usage too. An example of free website is www.GoAnimate.com which anyone has access to and in which making videos is available with multiple backgrounds, characters, music tracks, actions, animations, and so on. It represents a great opportunity for teachers to apply in classroom to improve the class environment and activities. As a teacher, I will use this website in two different ways. First of all, I can create a video to introduce a topic. Students love to watch animations, so instead of using an overuse brainstorming I can use a video that will call their attention. Secondly, I can assign a project to students in which they have to explain the topic by creating a video. The result will be beyond learning the topic itself but also in applying their learning in an interactive and creative way for presenting it. Therefore, videos are very useful in education because they have great advantages for both teachers and students.
ReplyDeleteWe can introduce also the use of Word in order to have a complement the videos. It happens to me that sometimes I run out of ideas and this probably has happened to many teachers. When we are facing that kind of situations is the right time for implementing new teaching techniques or applying different strategies. Improving is fundamental in the learning and teaching processes. That is why; the knowledge of different approaches of a program is needed. To some degree, a program as simple as Word can be oriented in a different way in a sense that a complex web page can turn into something easy. Even if the means are limited “Whether or not you are connected to the internet, you can use Word to create Web page documents, also known as HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language)” p. 339. It can be presented as a way to complement a video or simply to show students who do not have access to internet a close approach to it.
ReplyDeleteThinking in my future work as teacher, I would implement the use of word for creating interacting and appealing web pages for students to practice and to get as many inputs as they need. In this web page the use of videos would two fold. First, students are going to be able to discuss about its relationship whit the topic; and second, students are going to be asked to recall information about the different subtopics studied throughout the web page.
Learning a second language is a very difficult task for many people, due to everybody learns different, that’s way, teachers should look for different ways of teaching; for that reason, using this kind of videos is appealing to students because they are stimulated and motivated to learn, besides it is a different strategy in which they learn while having fun. People learn more when they enjoy what they are doing rather than just receiving information from the teacher. This Go! Animate website shows us that through creating a video, students really express their creativity and originality; moreover it is an unusual form of teaching in which it let students express their knowledge through a cartoon. These short videos are an amazing way of starting a lesson of any topic, as a warm up it can motivate student for what is coming up through the class. I strongly believe that we must update ourselves in general terms, that’s why, adapting technology in our learning process may represent a relevant form of awaking student’s motivation. However, we must be really careful of how students use technology, because as it represents a powerful tool for learning, it can also be a dangerous weapon for students depending on how they are using it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJhonser said…
ReplyDeleteThrough implementing the use of animate videos in English classes, the students will be able to use creativity to express their thoughts and feelings freely.
When students create their own videos, they have the opportunity to be creative while applying the knowledge and abilities they have. In this sense, teachers can motivate their students by presenting teacher’s own videos related to the studied topics in the class or even assigning it to be watched at home. This, on time, makes the lesson more attractive because the web is a medium that our students understand, pay attention to and like to use (in Web Pages in Service of L2 Learning. pp. 25). Spolsky (in Introduction: Foundation for Teaching and Learning. pp. 2) establishes four conditions needed for language acquisition: knowledge, abilities, motivation and opportunity. Using web videos is a great opportunity for students to create their own videos by using the tools they like the most.
However, it is important that students feel comfortable when they produce their own videos. Walther and Boyd (in Theory and Research: Interaction via Computers, pp 22) state that research have showed that people feel free to express their feelings online than in person. This is also supported by Jiang and Ramsay (in Edbert, pp 22) when they say that students may feel more comfortable asking questions and expressing ideas to their teachers and other students in online environments. In other words, when students use characters that “talk” for them, they fell more comfortable when giving opinions and expressing how they feel. After all, this is the main purpose of communication: express to others what you think and how you feel.
In the classroom, teachers could incorporate GoAnimate videos to present, for example, means of transportation. The video will present a situation where two characters are taking about the kind of transportations available in a city. Characters could use comparatives and superlatives like more expensive, faster, cheaper, slower, newest, oldest and so on. After watching the video, students could be evaluated by asking then questions about the conversation of the characters. These questions can be orally or writing.
Then, students, guided by the teacher, could create their own video and upload it the web so the other students can watch them. This would be an extra activity and would be evaluated taking into account creativity, spelling, content and participation.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThe use of videos in the classroom is a dynamic resource that has many advantages for teachers and students. In the case of teachers, videos are used as supporting material because they can illustrate the content being studied with images and sounds; besides, teachers can create their own animated videos according to the curricula using “Go Animate” which is relatively easy to use. In the case of students, videos motivate them since they are immersed in a technological world where videos are part of their lives. What we see, listen, and do at the same time is more memorable than just doing one of them in isolation.
ReplyDeleteThere are a bunch of educational videos that can be used by teachers in the classroom. One of the activities teachers can do with this tool is a round table discussion about a topic with pros and cons: Economical benefits and environmental damages of a hotel. The creation of an animated video based on the curricula is another activity that can be implemented in the classroom; it can be done by the teacher, students or both.
There is no doubt that whatever tool makes learning more appealing for students, it will have a positive effect. As stated in Chapter 10, Students’ involvement in the learning process increases as more senses are used by the learner to acquire information (Learning with Multimedia Tools, page 303) GoAnimate is an application that enables students to express their creativity in a funny and easy way but combining a lot of features to make their work really attractive and sense-appealing. There are many possibilities for using it. For example, currently, we are having a fair at high school to give information about the vocational programs available. Students were asked to prepare presentations for visitors. Having students make cartoons about it rather than the traditional power point presentations would be great! In the classroom, I would have two sessions in the lab just to explore the way the program works with the students. Then, I’d schedule maybe around three or four additional sessions for developing a project based on one of the topics of the Conversational English program or Oral Communication in English Program for Technical High Schools. Finally, I’d ask them to show their projects to the class and make comments about their experience for feedback.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, students could have in theirs hands the access to the technology every day. For that reason I believe that the use of that technology to help the professor to call their attention is essential; by using videos teachers could teach the units of the English syllabus provided by the MEP; but also he or she could keep his/hers students focused. “Go Animate” is awesome; that make this process s incredibly simple and concrete. Creating something with movement is always eye-catching to the audience as is stated in ‘Learning with Multimedia Tools’, “From the students’ perspective, multimedia authoring presents a rich environment in which to explore information and construct knowledge” (p. 308). So, creating a video to teach some topic is better than to present a simple chart full of vocabulary related to the topic. From my point of view I would utilize this source to teach vocabulary building lessons such as: means of transportation, classroom objects, or body parts. The technology is there to use it in our advantage; it is our responsibility to take it and use it to help our students to grow.
ReplyDeleteI’m almost 100% sure that if any teacher makes a survey in their classroom asking what would students prefer in their classes, a bunch of information presented in a plain way by the professor, or the opportunity to see an entertained video in which the information is offered in an attractive way, they will choose the latter. So if we have the technology necessary to do that, why don’t we adventure a little bit into this modern world and create our own videos?
ReplyDelete“Teachers must use technology in ways that support the goals of language learning and the creation of optimal language learning environments” (9) in that sense, with the use of pages like Go Animate, professors have at hand a powerful tool to improve the dynamic of an English class and creating those environments. There are many advantages within this website, just to mention some, you can select any topic from the syllabus to create your video, adapt it to your students’ level and interests, and also you can interact with your students by the use of different characters. In short, a lot of positive aspects besides that the use of the page is not very complex. I will definitely use it in future classes to make lessons more attractive.
I find this material very interesting and fun to work with. Following my coleague Junior´s discussion about whether videos are or not effective or innovated tools to use in clasrooms, I believe and agree that including activities in which students watch a video related to the topic in study and then the make comments o develop a second activity based on the video, is nothing new at all. However, teachers creating videos based on the contents that are to be developed in the classroom sounds very appealing when it comes to think about different strategies that teachers and students could apply by using multimedial tools such as the video. We can be confident that videos would always catch the audience´s attention in different ways. Since most educators´ main gold is to improve quality and provide innovation in their teaching process, implementing multimedial tools may be and effective and succesfull strategy to apply in wich learners will get involve in stimulationg and interactive experiences, as it is stated in the reading LEARNING WITH MULTIMEDIA TOOLS: "...eduactional researches have been telling us that people learn better when thay are invoved in their learning, and that involvementincreases as more senses are used by the learner to acquire information" (Pag 303). So, we could say that trough videos, learnes are motivated and stimulated, which may lead to the response of more senses during their learning experience.
ReplyDeleteThe video is very useful, it shows us how to create animated videos, but an interesting point is that this alternative seems such as easy, fun and interactive that even students are able to explore and play with their creativity in wich they learn vocabulary, expressions, grammar, etc reaching listening, speaking, reading, writing.