Uses of Technology for Teaching, Spring 2013.
Mark Thamert
Dear Friends: I admire those
colleagues who use technology that excites not only the teacher but is
meaningful and inspiring for students as well.
I have to admit that I have discarded some uses of technology after
finding that student reactions were less than enthusiastic.
I believe that good technology in the classroom is a trial-and-error
process. These two pages present
some of the ways which seem to be working well with students. My use of
technology is based on the following five beliefs:
1.
Students will learn more from course materials if they can
access them easily.
Students can study when and where they like and review materials when
they are most ready to learn. In many cases, students can download audio and
text files onto mobile devices for even better access.
3.
Students learn better from instant and thorough feedback on writing.
Computer-based instruction can give
instant feedback for student writing.
Leading students to the correct answers rather than giving them full
corrections helps them invest more energy into assignments.
I have noticed a significant rise in motivation in classes for which
I have created video demonstrations and instantaneous essay corrections.
As I describe below, students make more progress in writing in German
through timely e-corrections compared with the traditional method of handing
back papers, sometimes days later.
4.
Keeping track of the most frequent e-corrections helps me modify my teaching
to highlight topics giving students the most trouble.
As a
result of electronic feedback, I
can spend less class time
covering ideas which students have already mastered adequately.
I can assign demonstration videos for topics needing more review.
5.
Students learn more if some instruction is focused on their
individual needs. If only a
couple of students are having trouble with verb tenses, I can attach a video
on the topic in an email to just those students. I can have them write
additional sentences practicing just that modality – which I can then
correct quickly while their interest is still focused.
If others need work on word order, I can assign videos and writing
exercises just to them. More
than ever, I hear students say, "I love grammar,"
something I did not hear before using this technology.
6.
Better contact with students through technology outside the classroom frees
us to work on more interactive skills in class.
Students are particularly appreciative of increased time for
conversations, presentations, debates, and other kinds of oral
communication.
1. The Flipped Classroom: I created 57 Video Tutorials for German Grammar using Camtasia Software. Here are the lessons I created for 112: Kontakte Grammar Video Tutorials This program enables students to watch demonstrations and lectures about German grammar points at home, review the lessons frequently and review efficiently for grammar tests and final exams. I used these e-lessons for two semesters and the student reviews of them are very positive. I also sent out examples of this program to faculty members of MCL, explaining to colleagues how it frees time in class to have more oral, listening and written practice. 9 of the 17 MCLL faculty members have signed up for training in Camtasia software which will take place in fall 2013. Student reactions to the flipped classroom are here: Student reviews of Kontakte videos. Here is an article about the Flipped Classroom.
2. New Program for
Correcting Student Essays.
Based on research on effective feedback for student writing in
foreign languages, I created a program of nearly 100 codes to
correct student writing much more easily and with greater results than
other traditional methods. I simply type a shorthand code into the student essay,
and the computer types out an entire set of questions and instructions
leading students to the correct answer for every part of their writing that
needs editing. -- I will
be giving a talk on this project at the next ACTFL (American Council on
Teaching Foreign Languages) national conference and I hope to conduct further research into its longitudinal effectiveness.
-- Students reaction to this method of e-correcting are recorded
here:
Student comments about value of
corrections Preliminary data on the
effectiveness of these corrections can be found on this PowerPoint:
PowerPoint on effectiveness of e-corrections.
The first and final slides give the summary results for all the
students in the class. Here is a
video showing how I correct a student email paper:
Email Corrections. The
codes I type and the messages students receive for each correction are
listed here:
http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/mthamert/AUTOCORRECT/autocorrect%20list%20for%20emails%20Jan%202013.html
3. Creation of 174 Audio MP3
Tutorials for 111-211.
A.
A Practical Review of German Grammar
(150
audio tutorials).
B. German in Review (24
audio tutorials).
4. A new discography with links of 550 musical versions of German poems.
When I teach German Poetry in lower- and upper-division German
Studies, I am able to search this webpage for multiple compositions based on the
same poem. I play these in class
as a basis for interpretation and class discussion. These tracks come from
DVDs in my own library. For
copyright reasons, I do not share this web address with students, but I
use
this website extensively for teaching:
550 Audio Versions of Classic German Poems. Now I am
in the process of extending this list to include
shareable YouTube versions of the most studied and taught of German poems.
I chose these poems after a careful study of the most anthologized
poems in the German language.
6. Talks at national
conferences about uses of technology in the teaching of foreign
languages.
·
"Recent Research on Best Practices for Teaching
Writing in Foreign Languages: Computer-Assisted Feedback that Works."
National Conference of the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages, Orlando, FL. November, 2013
(proposal accepted)
·
“Rilke, Goethe, Heine; Schubert, Schumann and
Loewe: An Analysis of major German poems and musical compositions based on
them.” National Conference of the American Council on the Teaching of
Foreign Languages, Denver CO.
November, 2011
·
"Five Technology Secrets for the Modern Language
Classroom." National Conference
of the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, Nashville, TN
from November, 2006
7.
Regional and on-campus presentations:
· "Recent Research on Best Practices for Teaching Writing in Foreign Languages: Computer-Assisted Feedback that Works." April 3, 2013 as an MCLL/Hispanic Studies Roundtable. Some comments from colleagues here.
·
"Music and Text in the Modern Language classroom."
MCTLC Fall Conference 2009, October 15, 2009
Brooklyn Center, MN – with Karen Erickson.
· "Approaches to Technology for the Millennial Student -- new Approaches to Teaching Language, Culture and Literature," given as a talk for the MCL department, January 23, 2008.
8. Uses of Technology in
Modern and Classical Languages.
For our recent Departmental review, I surveyed MCLL faculty on their
uses of technology and what technology skills they want to develop in the
months ahead. I created a report
which was included in the 2013 MCLL Department review. I plan to take initiatives to address colleagues' need for training in
the areas highlighted in
this link.
9. Annotated Webpage of Library
Holdings.
I created an annotated Discography of 160 DVDs in the CSB/SJU libraries in the
German Language and made this discography available for students and faculty
on the web:
http://www.csbsju.edu/MCL/German-Studies/Film-Offerings.htm
10.
Electronic Flashcard sets and quizzes
to practice vocabulary and grammatical
structures.
(142
sets)
These also received very positive
reviews from students. Many
students downloaded the application and these sets onto their iPads or
iPhones for mobile studying.
Link:
11. New website for the
Minnesota Chapter of the American Association of Teachers of German
(MNAATG). As
communications and website manager for MNAATG,
I created and maintain the website
for 450 Minnesota German teachers as well as a listserve for current events.
http://mnaatg.blogspot.com/
11.
18 new webpages for the
German Studies Program with MCL Department Coordinator Mary Niedenfuer.
These webpages serve as an electronic handbook for current and
prospective students as well a go-to resource for German Studies Faculty.
http://www.csbsju.edu/MCL/German-Studies.htm
12. German Studies Program Newsletter. For eleven years I has maintained a German Studies Newsletter in webpage format (2004-2008) and then in blog format (2008-present). The purpose of these newsletters is to help prospective students, students, faculty and administrators become more aware of events, curricular developments, grants and other news in the German Studies Program. New Version: http://csbsjugerman.blogspot.com/ 22,000 hits since 2008