ELL+and+Geotagging

//**ELL and Geotagging**// As I worked on a previous project for this class, I became intrigued by the way the ELL teacher (also Spanish class teacher), her brother in Paraguay, and I kept adding ideas to our original one of letting our students do some Geotagging for each other. We began this project with Skype live chats and lesson exchanges, and then included Flickr for our Geotagging. I found this to be an excellent way to allow all of our students to assist each other with their language learning. Students can express their interest in something of the other classes’ culture or language, and be tutored by another student instead of an adult. The ability to add sound and pictures also increases understanding for all of the students. As an added bonus, I found that my poor command of Spanish was improving and I was starting to include myself in the Geotagging for the things I became interested in while reviewing the student’s logs. One of the tangible benefits I can already see is from one of my students who came to us 2 years ago and only spoke Swahili. She is actively exploring both of our cultures and adding hers into it. Her parents have also gotten involved to help us all learn about their culture and homeland in South Africa. A barrier of using Geotagging for ELL students is the English language itself. We have so many different accents, have several different ways to say things, and use more slang than proper English words it presents a barrier to those who are learning traditional English. To reduce the barrier, it would help to use clear proper basic English terms, words, and phrases when creating tags and explanations to others. As an example: If you tag a location at a river, do not call it a creek, stream, or brook.