Incorporating Technology into my L2 Classroom

Salvete omnes, today I want to talk about you about introducing podcasts into your classroom. Now I know what you are thinking. “But Brittany, why should I give podcasting the time of day when I can look up videos on a variety topics on YouTube? What’s the difference between the two?” Ah, my dear reader, as always you bring up an excellent point. Why don’t we take a look at these two applications and decide for ourselves which we would implement in the classroom. The first and possibly biggest point of each one is that anyone can view and create either a YouTube video or podcast. This means that there is a wide variety of videos and podcasts available for users to explore. The second similarity between the two is the ability to subscribe. So if you find a YouTube channel or a podcast that consistently puts out content you enjoy, then you can subscribe to that channel or site and receive notifications about when new content becomes available. The only difference between the two i...

Salvete omnes. In my last post I introduced an increasingly popular education concept known as a flipped classroom. As I’m sure you, my sweet reader, have realized by now is that I am a very curious person. I always enjoy try out the new technology, or the new ways to use already existing technology, that I discover as I am working my way through my graduate studies. So I hope it does not surprise you to learn that after I posted my previous blog entry, in which I gave a general introduction to flipped classrooms, that I went out into the wilderness of the Internet to try my hand at creating a lesson for a flipped classroom. It was during this journey that I was lead to TED-Ed.com , where I was able to create and publish my lesson. It was a relatively easy process. I searched through the videos provided on TED-Ed, and with the topic of Roman engineering and technology on my mind I settled on the idea of creating a lesson on aqueducts. Really I think choosing the video may have b...

Salvete omnes, I know it hasn’t been very long since we last spoke, but I’ve never had a penpal before so I hope you can forgive my overbearing enthusiasm. I’ve always really liked the idea of having a penpal, especially in a foreign language classroom, because there are so many benefits to being able to practice your second language with a native speaker.   The most amazing, and possibly most scary, thing about technology is its ability to affect even the most ordinary aspects of our lives. Snail-mail is steadily becoming a thing of the past, soon to be reserved only for Amazon orders and unwanted bills. While I personally think that is a little sad because I love snail mail, I can acknowledge that many life skills needed in today’s world and in the foreseeable future will require computer literacy. This brings me to a website called ePals which is an online education platform that allows teachers to connect with other educators and classrooms from all over the world. I...