Lesson: Technology, Social Media_B class lyceum

It was interesting for  me, the teacher, to get students to reflect on the data analysis of surveys they have taken part in.  One was on the students' use of Messenger for the European Parliament School Programme (EPAS) and the other was a chart from our SELFIE school report on students' use of technology outside school.

  To be exact, I created a questionnaire on SurveyMonkey so as to see the impact of the use of Facebook Messenger  on two classes involved in the EPAS programme.  I find it interesting for me to start using Messenger after discussing with students ways to learn more about the EU Parliament and EU issues that affect them and all of us for that matter. 

  Some of the learning outcomes in the English language curriculum at B1+ B2 level is students to be able to interprete graphs, charts, draw conclusions and evaluate findings, make an argument and support it.  In light of this, the lesson was designed to serve this purpose.  

The following experiences and thoughts came out from this lesson:

-students provided reasons for claims they made

-they interpreted charts well using appropriate words and expressions for charts ( such expressions were taught in a previous lesson on unemployment in Cyprus and the EU, and they were brought up again)

-they evaluated the data and drew conclusions on them

-they discussed the use of Messenger for educational purposes

-the use of messenger (sharing material mainly in the form of videos and putting no restraints on students - it is up to them if they will watch them or not - overall, had a positive effect on student learning

-it was a motivation and challenge for students to post their comments on the European Youth Event website.  Some interesting and well-thought claims were made by the students

-f2fdiscussion in class extends to online via wiki discussion forums and other websites/blogs.  I must confess that there has been a good reason to increase  discussions for my classes; that is the results of the questionnaire entitled  Language awareness and Learning that was administered in our school in they year 2016-17.  Discussions was one of the top 3 activities that help students learn a language best. 

-it makes a lot of sense to get students watch videos for school work/programmes as indicated in the results of the questionnaire Language awareness and Learning.  Students prefer  to do  speaking, viewing and listening in class than reading and writing. (see Questionnaire results at:http://edleventslykeiokykkosb.wikispaces.com/Questionnaire

-I am glad that I have learned to be make instruction data driven

Overall, I think the lesson provided opportunities for students to develop 21st century skills. 

Informal interview via skype_1/2/2018

 

This lesson was an opportunity for the students to connect with a person living in another country, learn about life/studies/work in the UK which is an authentic, real life situation. It links to the thematic units of lifestyle, work, unemployment, education, culture. It has been students’ request to connect with people in other countries so this served as a motivation for students to learn.  What’s more, our school involvement in the “European Parliament Ambassador School Programme" (EPAS) inspired and urged me and my students to connect with people in other countries and learn about lifestyle and EU issues.

This lesson exemplified what I consider as one of the greatest uses of technology – that of connecting people from anywhere in the world.  In this case, skype was used for educational purposes where students applied their knowledge and skills to make an informal interview.

Specifically, the lesson offered students:

-a real audience

-an authentic task (real interview in real time)

-the experience of practising their listening and speaking skills in an interview

-developing cultural awareness by learning about culture in another country, the impact it has on people and comparing that culture with their own

-the chance to use social media (skype application) for educational purposes

I consider important to receive students’ feedback on lessons in general, especially when trying something new, for lesson evaluation and instruction planning.  This is why I got my students' feedback using voice recording. 

Lesson preparation: Frankly, the technical preparation for the skype session was little as it was limited to a laptop with a camera, speakers and internet access. That was what I had available for the day the skype session was arranged (1/2/2018), but we did it. Of course, this was adequate for the small group of students I had but for larger groups, a larger screen and headphones would be required. 


Overall, it was interesting to see my students' participating in the interview and being engaged throughout the lesson.  Interestingly, they adapted the questions when the interviewee gave information relating to questions they were planning to ask. They could retell the interviewee's answers and pinpointed key elements.  

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The draft of  questions the students' prepared were shared via messenger for quick access but also posted on the class wiki (only seen by users).