How podcasts can facilitate language learning

Technically, a podcast is a digital audio file that is located on a web server (1 + 2). Teachers or students can subscribe to the podcast using a program that can read these files such as iTunes, Netvibes etc (3). This program is then automatically informed when the podcast is updated and the audio file is sent to the user’s computer. The user can then listen to the audio on their computer (4) or download it onto a portable device (MP3 player, iPod etc) (5).

Podcasts are great for language learning because:

• a podcast is usually a structured audio text (has a beginning, middle and end section),
• a podcast usually follows a common entertainment genre such as a talk show or magazine type programme.
• content is usually scheduled at regular intervals (each day/week) and each episode often follows the same or similar structure to build into a series.

Benefits for teachers include:

• they are updated regularly
• easy to access
• copyright free for classroom use
• often free of charge
• and often have additional materials for teachers to use in class to teach extensive and intensive listening skills. 

How will my learners listen to podcasts?

As a class your learners can listen to a podcast in their normal classroom via a computer or portable device such as i-Pod, Mp3 player, mobile phone, PDA with speakers. In the computer room learners can listen to the audio files via a computer with headphones. Alternatively you can arrange for your learners to save the audio files to their own portable devices and complete tasks individually, in small groups or as homework.

Podcasts can make your teaching more effective and amazing:

• There is a huge variety of podcasts available
• They are easily searched online via topics, themes, poems, stories etc.
• Latest up to the minute stories and articles are available
• Digital audio files are easier to store than CDs and cassettes
• Lots of online audio files are accompanied by video, pictures etc
• Podcast software can automatically save the latest audio files
• Internet access is widely available outside the classroom and your learners can learn how to access and register for podcasts on their own.

You can listen to BritishCouncilPodcasts on different topics here.

Practising directions with Google Maps

Overview of technology

Google Maps is a free mapping service accessed at http://maps.google.com/. As well as zooming in on any corner of the world it allows users to create directions between any two locations.

Lesson plan Choose an area of your town and print off a map from Google maps that contains two landmarks. In class give students this map and read aloud directions from point A to point B. Students must follow your instructions and say where they are. Ask students to choose two points on the same map and decide how they would provide these directions. Ask students to locate this route on Google Maps and check against the directions provided by Google. Ask students to revise their directions accordingly, then work in pairs giving their partner directions from A to B without showing their partner their map. Their partner must follow the directions on their own map.

Example
An example route, from Trafalgar Square to Piccadilly Circus in London can be seen below:

Practising tenses using Bubblr

Overview of technology

Bubblr (http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr) is a tool that allows users to create strips of photos and add text through the addition of speech bubbles.

The images are all from Flickr (http://www.flickr.com), an online photo-sharing website where users can upload their photos and tag them so that they are easily searchable.
Lesson plan
This lesson plan would be used as a revision of tenses.

1. Show students three pre-prepared sentences on a Bubblr strip and ask a student to read the sentences out.
   
   See http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/?id=13297 for an example of the verb jump.
2. Elicit the tenses used in the sentences.
3. Explain to students that they need to think of a verb and come up with their own strip showing the use of the verb in three different tenses.
4. Ask students to go to Bubblr (http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr) and enter their verb (e.g. cook, cooked, cooking) into the Search flickr images by…Tag box.
5. Ask students to find three suitable pictures that could be used with three different tenses: one in the present simple, one in the past simple and one in the present continuous.
6. Ask students to write their three sentences in speech bubbles – one speech bubble per picture. Ask students to consider carefully which type of speech bubble best illustrates their tense.

6. Students click on Publish and give the project a title.
7. Ask students to share their set of pictures with each other by sharing the name of their strip on the whiteboard. Students can then see each other’s strips in the archive.