Computers in Secondary Schools

reap-a-rat

Hi all!

I'm not a teacher, but I agreed to help a techonophobe friend of mine who is a teacher leartn how to incorporate technology more into her teaching. She teaches German and Irish, and has recently got her new data projector installed in her classroom and doesn't want it gathering dust!

I just want to know, how do any of you teachers on here use technology to liven up yer subjects and grab students' attention? When my friend taught me I was so in love with the language there was no hassle keeping me entertained, but the rest of the class were there because they hated German less than they hated French, and had to do a language to get into college:rolleyes:!

I'd be very interested to hear some methods !

Thanks!

Delphi91

Here's a link to start you off:

http://www.teachers.tv/videos/resource-review-secondary-ict-special-secondary-mfl

In my school one of our French teachers (who's actually French) has installed a program on the pc's in our multimedia lab - called Teleme (I think!). It's a web-based program where a student gets an avatar when logged on and as they go around and meet others, they have to converse with them in French.

If the school has a Moodle page, then there is a program you can get which will allow students to record themselves speaking and then submit the file to the teacher. This is great for setting oral homework.

Here's another link: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod1-1.htm#anchor96411

niall3r

Im not sure about the languages but I know that kids do benefit greatly from the use of pictures. We can talk about Mecca or an Ogham stone till the cows come home but nothing can compare with actually seeing it in front of you.
(incorporated into a powerpoint)

Then there are vide-clips, simulations, virtual tours, video-chats etc. Its brilliant. I try and go old school now and then and use the white board and it feels wierd. Those are the days where group work gets extended.

mick kk

for irish go to youtube and search the following:

Lady Gaeilge
amhran na mbo [kids love it]
JJ ceol
Celtic women at powerscourt [nil se ina la]
Amhran na bhfiann
yu ming is ainm dom
oro se do bheatha bhaile - the wolf tones
mo ghile mear [specsavers add] mary black
beidh aonach amarach
des bishop talking about the modh coinniolach [a great way to explain what MC means]
Bes bishop, leimigi thart
peigin leitir mor, the wolf tones

Then, Tg4.tv [not ie]
The juniour cert story An tAdh is there - click drama, click an t-udar, then click An tAdh - its excellent - however, they usually remove things after a month or so, so watch it now before its gone off the site]
Also, kids like an Aifric now and again

also, for oral work i sometimes use it as follows - if I am doing timpiste ar an mbothar, you could search for a car accident scene on youtube [check its appropriate in advance] and play it - then get them to describe orally what they just saw using vocab you have just taught them - or, if i do the weather, i search for a scene of a tornado...you get the idea

I don't actually have a computer in my class but I use my own laptop - Youtube is the greatest resource of all. some schools ban it so she may have to bring her laptop home and use it at home to download things she wants to use to get around the ban

Also, go to tg lurgan

I have to say, it has totally changed the way i teach Irish - it gets them actively listening and talking in Irish if done the right way - better than listening to tapes of 70 year old men pretending to be 14,..crazy!!

let us know how she gets on

reap-a-rat

Thanks for all the help so far!

I was in the other day to her, giving her pointers (in general) about computers, coz she's a bit useless with technology, but she really wants to learn, so its great! (As a sidenote actually, she always used to say I was easy to teach coz I wanted to learn, oh how the tables have turned )!

But I'll definitely recommend all these things to her! I already suggested getting videos and images and getting the students to tell her back what happened! I think its really important to use internet resources like this because not only will the student want to come in for fear they'll miss something really interesting or funny, but its such a vast resource, and when you're only learning how to use it yourself, the more YOU yourself as a teacher WANT to learn about it, so automatically you're more excited about teaching the stuff, when its not EXACTLY the same A4 sheet year in year out!

I wish IT became more important in schools. Is there proper in-service course thingies to inform teachers of how best to use technology in the classroom? Or would it be worth my while setting one up when I finish my IT degree? I know I wouldn't get to use half the stuff, no ANY of the stuff I learn about, but it seems that even young teachers struggle a bit when it comes to using technology in the classroom, and some of the older ones can't work a DVD player :rolleyes:!

*goes away to research potential money-making opportunity*

mick kk

btw, if she is not great with computers, then i suggest that in every class she delegate the job of finding what she wants to a student - instead of her sweating it at top of class, kids will find what she wants 10 times faster if she delegates.

Also, she needs speakers if she is using a laptop as laptop speakers are useless in a classroom.

Another thing she can do is to use cds from exam papers - pop into the computer and they display the tapescript while students are listening to them

RH149

She might not be able to get youtube in school due to the firewall - most teachers I know who have good IT facilities in their classrooms bemoan the fact they their firewall stops them using youtube which is a great resource if you use it probably.

For German tell her to have a look at www.tageschau.de -its a German newspaper site and great if you have a data projector. Or look at www.german.ie which also has some good links to German resources.

spurious

Just download anything you want on youtube as .flv and play it in VLC.