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“The Web 2.0? What is that? And in what way is it concerned with language learning?”

To be honest: When I first read the title of this course, I didn’t have a clue about the Web 2.0 at all. I didn’t really know what it meant and couldn’t possibly imagine how it could be integrated into language learning. So I took the course and soon found out…

I really have to admit that I liked the course because it was different from most of the PH seminars. Of course, we also had to read theoretical texts at home but the sessions always provided a lot of variety. Especially the first session captured my attention: We were not told what the Web 2.0 is but we were given a few questions and had to look for a person in the course who knew the answer. In this way, we got to know each other a little and the questions were answered naturally. That was a great idea!

I think this course provided numerous opportunities to actually try things out. In most seminars, we read a lot of theory and also talk about how this theory can be turned into reality but the actual process of making it real is never realized. That was different in this course. We had to produce our own blogs, podcasts, wikis and collaborative projects, which was a real challenge on the one hand but an enrichment on the other hand. I’m convicted that you are only able to gain an all-embracing understanding of something if you really try it out yourself and experience weak spots and difficulties.

However, no matter how much practice the course involved, it was always connected to our future jobs as language teachers. In most of the sessions, we discussed in what way the tools we had just tried out could be incorporated into the foreign language classroom, we were shown a variety of examples and, in the end, we had to create a collaborative project that could really be put into practice in the future.

By means of many different aids, such as videos or podcasts, the use of the tools became more and more clear to us. A definite advantage of the seminar was that we had the class blog as well as the class wiki where you could always find the current information. So it was not a big problem to catch up with the work when you were ill because you could always go on these pages and check up the accurate task.

During the course, we mainly dealt with the topics weblogs, podcasts, wikis and collaborative projects.

Weblogs

“Enthusiasm” is the right word to describe the feeling that I developed when creating my blog. By the time, I discovered more and more things one is able to do on a blog and this fascinated me. Even though the posts resembled the tasks we have to do in other seminars, it was something special to upload the contributions onto the Internet so that potentially everyone can read it. I found myself editing my posts in a different way than when only writing for a tutor since I knew that my fellow students were also able to read my passages.

When first reading the task that asked us to comment on at least three posts of our fellow students, I wondered at its effectiveness. However, in retrospect, it was a good way to make us browse over each others’ blogs and get some new ideas.

In my opinion, weblogs can really enhance language learning because the students are able to see a purpose in what they are doing: They are writing for a specific audience and they have to use the foreign language in order to communicate, receive and allot information. During the process, they can also observe their development. Furthermore, the Internet is part of the students’ everyday life and especially of their free time and therefore, there is also some fun involved when integrating all the different tools.

Podcasts

Listening to podcasts on the Internet was all I had experienced concerning this topic before the course. I had never thought about producing one myself neither about using it in the classroom!

Meanwhile, my point of view has changed: Through this course, I became aware of the potential podcasts provide for language learning. By using them, listening skills as well as speaking skills can be developed a lot. As a future teacher, I will definitely provide my students with podcasts recorded by myself but also by native speakers because I see a great significance in confronting the students with the native sound of the language as well as different accents. It is also essential to have the students listen to other speakers than the same teacher every day. However, I would also let my students record a podcast. In my eyes, this is both a motivation and a challenge at the same time. I think it takes some courage to record your own voice when knowing that perhaps your pronunciation is still imperfect and that everyone will be able to listen to what you’re saying. But simultaneously, most students want the others to hear what they are able to do and are proud of showing it in public. Creating podcasts can even foster self confidence since the students become aware of how their English sounds and since they are able to detect certain mistakes and avoid them in the future.

Wikis

A wiki is a perfect tool to comprehend the writing process in general. A text does not just flow right off your pen but it has to be changed, edited and re-edited all the time. Fortunately, computers have made this process a lot easier. The main advantage of a wiki is the independence of time and place. A whole group can work on a text even though the members do not really meet. I made good experiences with the wiki during the course since I knew that everything I contributed could be edited so my version did not have to be perfect. On the other hand, I was able to edit all the passages that didn’t seem convincing to me, so the final product contained many different perspectives.

As group work is a part of every language class, wikis can be embedded as well. They facilitate the whole process with regard to organizational aspects and the teacher can also observe the students’ development by looking at the different versions that are stored.

Collaborative Projects

“German French Career Project” – I never thought I would be able to organize something like this! The project was actually the task I enjoyed most. Even though we had some problems at the beginning (we really wanted the project to be realizable), we managed to connect the guidelines from the Bildungsplan with our ideas. The more we worked on the project, the more we got into it – we discussed a lot of problems that could occur and established alternatives. In my opinion, the whole task was very helpful in terms of learning how to organize in general. As future teachers, we should be able to arrange such huge projects, being able to take into account aspects like time frame, clear and detailed tasks, collaboration with other teachers, aspects of security, distinction in mindset between two different cultures etc.  I’m sure that most students will enjoy the diversification although one has to be aware of motivational deficits, too. Therefore, I consider the most significant point in revealing the goal of the project so the students know what they are aiming at and will not experience any unpleasant surprises. Additionally, the fact that the students are able to deal with the necessary autonomy and that they are able to work with computers should be a precondition, otherwise the project could fail because of the absence of such fundamental details. Finally, we should spend enough time planning everything with the partner teacher so the project won’t lack clarity.

All in all, the course broadened my horizon, especially in terms of new technology and its use in the classroom. In my eyes, it is essential to learn things like this because most of the students nowadays know a great deal more about computers than many teachers.

Looking back at the beginning, I can definitely say that I know now what the Web 2.0 is and how I can integrate it into the language classroom. After the experiences of this course, I am really looking forward to starting my first collaborative project in class!

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If you have to write a text in a group, it is often very complicated to find a point of time everyone can meet. Wikis offer the opportunity to work on a text as a group without having to meet at the same place at the same time. Everyone can edit the text that is already written, change sections or delete whole parts etc. In this manner, the outcome is produced by the whole group and the members can be sure that the others have not only dealt with their own section but that they have browsed over everything and edited things, too.

Another advantage of wikis is that one can create separate pages for different topics (for example when organizing a trip) so that a better overview is guaranteed.

Students are able to record themselves and therefore get a chance to listen closely to their own pronunciation. I think it is also highly motivating if you are able to upload your own voice onto the Internet. Furthermore, by using these podcasts, the teacher can assess the students’ oral skills without losing this time during the lessons.

In another course at the PH, the tutor used podcasts to provide us with tutorials. In this way, we were able to access the tutorial at any time we liked, which was perfect because we were not restricted to the course sessions.

At school, the teacher could also record something by himself or upload authentic sources combined with certain tasks in order to check the students’ listening comprehension.

This is one of my favourite podcasts:Lottospieler

http://www.classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=64097

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This blogging project is about an exchange programme from Catalonian and Finnish students who are planning to visit each other. By means of weblogs, the students have the opportunity to exchange information about their country and the trip in general.

The Catalonian teacher has provided a class blog with several tasks the students have to fulfil, such as introducing themselves, talking about specific customs in their country, writing about their expectations concerning the stay in the other country and reflecting on it afterwards.

In addition to this, the students have their own individual blogs where they actually carry out the tasks. They were free to either create a blog on their own or pair up with a fellow student and create a pair blog.

The blogs do not only contain written posts but also other tools, such as podcasts, photos and links.

In my opinion, the project provides a lot of opportunities to enhance language learning. All the students write in English which is not their mother tongue. In this way, their language skills are at a comparable level and nobody has to feel ashamed of making mistakes. I think the general aim of the project is not to correct spelling or grammar mistakes but to use English as a tool for communicating and for finding out information about the other country. Furthermore, they teach each other some Finnish and Catalonian words that could be useful when being at the airport etc.

Without being corrected directly, the students are able to improve their language skills.

First of all, the comments to students’ posts reveal how well their post was written and how much the other students were able to understand from it. Some questions showed that they have not been precise enough etc. That way, the students ameliorate their writing skills.

However, they also practise reading skills during the project since they have to read the others’ posts before they are able to comment on them. Moreover, the tasks on the class blog have to be read carefully in order to be able to write the respective posts.

Listening and speaking skills are also fostered within the project as every student has to create and upload a podcast. I personally regard this as a very good idea because a podcast reveals even more about a person than a usual post. It includes aspects as the student’s voice, his pace of speaking, his accent and so on. This could be quite a challenge for the students since they have to focus very much on their pronunciation and clarity in general. Additionally, it takes some courage to upload one’s own voice onto the internet. But I think the students like this idea because in this way, they get to know their partners even more.

As a matter of course, speaking skills are also practised when they actually meet their partners. During the course of the project, the students develop intercultural communicative competence since they find out relevant aspects about the other students by communicating with them.

In my eyes, this is a great project. The purpose is very clear: The project aims at the visit in the other country, and beforehand, the students have to find out as much as they can about the foreign students and their country. Learner autonomy is fostered because the students have to search in the internet and find out everything on their own. I really like the idea that they have to research aspects on the foreign country and not on their own country, so they get more and more interested in the country they are going to visit.

Furthermore, the students are involved in the planning of the whole project as they have to look for flights and suggest sights they would like to visit. I think this is important for the future because the students will have to plan trips on their own.

In this manner, the communication is meaningful and not constructed.

I like the fact that the students were able to choose if they want to create a blog on their own or with a partner. It was interesting to see that mainly the boys paired up and created shared blogs.

One can clearly observe that the students liked the project and made a lot out of it because the posts are comparatively long and a variety of students have commented on them.

However, as far as I could see, the Catalonian students contributed a lot more to the project than the Finnish students. The Finnish individual blogs mostly all consist of not much more than the introduction of the students. I think, at this point, the teachers should have cooperated more. I could imagine that it is not very motivating for the Catalonian students to have to write that much without getting much back from their partners. It would have been reasonable if both classes had to do the same on their individual blogs.

Furthermore, I found the class blog a little unstructured. It took some time to figure out if it was the Catalonian or the Finnish or a shared class blog. Moreover, one does not have a direct overview of the tasks. As a suggestion, the teacher could have created two different pages: On one page, she could have posted the tasks the students had to do and on the other page, the classes could introduce themselves etc.

It also occurred to me that all the students had to have nearly the same layout which does not allow much individuality. Yet, as the students were to get to know their partners face to face, it would have been reasonable to let them have individual layouts.

With regard to assessment, there was no information on the blog how the teacher handled this aspect. However, as the project took place for at least three months, the teacher would have had to grade it somehow. Therefore, I find it important to let the students know the criteria beforehand and perhaps even post them on a separate page on the blog.

What I really liked about the project was that the communication was not simply over after the students have visited each other. They had the chance to reflect on their visit and stay in contact with their partners, which gave the project even more relevance with regard to the students’ lives.

First of all, one has to think of the overall goal of language learning: It’s communication. And that’s basically what the Web 2.0 is all about, too. Therefore, the two aspects fit together perfectly. Since everyone can comment on posts, for instance, communication is enhanced. Furthermore, the Web 2.0 tools encourage social skills which are important for learning in general.

Another major aspect is motivation. Using Web 2.0 tools is just more modern than writing in an exercise book, for example. This way, you can raise interest in the language indirectly. The students also see a purpose in writing an essay, for instance. They know that others will read it and, therefore, they perhaps put more effort into it.

Writing texts on a computer is simply more practical than writing on a usual piece of paper since you can revise and edit the passages over and over again without making the whole text look messy. When using tools such as wikis, for instance, even whole groups can edit one text and the different versions can be stored.

Moreover, using computers, chatting etc. is part of learners’ daily routine. In this manner, the Web 2.0 ties in with the pupils’ everyday life. Another interesting aspect is that using the Web 2.0 decreases inhibitions. Since you are not in a face-to-face situation, you are more likely to write something you would not dare to say.

At this point, however, one can clearly see the negative effects. Thus, I would say that the Web 2.0 tools can support language learning but they should not be used as the one and only.  I would suggest to use them in combination with “traditional methods”.

During Year 11, I went to England for 7 months. This stay actually played a major role in my English language learning biography. I simply had to communicate in order to get along. However, I must say that without the grammar knowledge I had acquired at school, I would not have been able to benefit that much from my stay in England. The grammar and vocab I had learnt in school were my basis that I was then able to apply in real communication.

Thus, as an English teacher, I will try to connect both – give much input in vocab and grammar but also let the pupils talk a lot so they can make use of what they have learnt. Furthermore, motivation is a significant aspect. In my opinion, it is essential to let the pupils know WHY they are learning a language, what benefits they have from it etc. That way, it will be easier for them to understand why they have to do the exercise parts in a lesson, too. Basically, I think it’s all about finding the right balance.