ELL-Strategies-Podcasts

Strategies for Using Technology in the ELL Environment
It can be a challenge to teach ELL students, but with technology tools today, the language barrier can become less of an obstacle. Students can use numerous free websites that offer //the audio and visual support// needed to make connections and to provide that one-on-one assistance. The Teacher Leader's Network published an article in Teachermagazine.org that stated "//The Internet also provides a place for ELL students to take risks, make mistakes, and learn from them without fear of public embarrassment."// The internet allows the freedom of trial and error without humiliation.

Many times the speed of class lessons is tough. **Podcasting lectures or directions** allow students to go back and listen again. Extra time allows them to process and pick up on things they might have missed the first time. [|Podcasting] offers numerous advantages for ELL learners for audio, visual, and expression. Acquiring a new language takes exposure and practice. With podcasting students can pause recordings or videos to take time to reflect, question, and process. Podcasting can be done at anytime and anywhere, a form of student-centered learning on-the-go. Furthermore, simple software programs like [|Audacity] allow for students to record their own voice and create their own podcasts. Such creations will challenge students to organize their thoughts and allow them to orally communicate their understanding and opinions.

Web 2.0 offers other promising tools besides the sites and podcasting. In fact, the next powerful ELL support is the global connection and the social interaction between ELL learners worldwide! **[|Heinle Community] is a new ELL virtual workplace to allow students to interact and collaborate globally**. A trial membership began this January and will be in full effect this summer. What this means is students can connect through blogs, wikis, forums and more to practice English in classrooms from all over the world. Students will use their 21st century technology tools in a culturally rich setting to interact and learn from one another. Thus students are constantly active with their learning through listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Virtual workplaces, such as the Heinle Community will not only challenge ELL learners, but empower them to excel.

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