Part+2 Digital+Tools+for+Secondary+Project

__**Part 2:**__ __**Digital Tools for Secondary Project Work**__

Project work can be one of the most engaging and rewarding activities for learners to be involved in, especially if it draws upon a subject or hobby they are interested in, and the project is something they have some choice about. Here are some ideas for projects that should work well with this age group.

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__**Projects with audio**__

Audio projects give you a chance to practise a number of different skills, but the focus can be on speaking in particular. Planning and creating a podcast in particular is a great way of engaging learners. There are many different ways of approaching this, but here is one that should be popular with secondary learners

**Class Radio Show**

A great project to involve secondary learners in is for them to create their own radio programme. They can each take on different roles (news presenter, political commentator, music DJ, weather forecaster, sports reporter, etc). The programme can be written, rehearsed, recorded and then shared online. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

**a) Planning**

Much of the valuable practice will come in the planning stage. Engage the learners in discussion about the project, decide on the name of the radio station and talk about the different sections that you can find (brainstorm the vocabulary on the board and get the learners to make a record of this)

You can encourage the learners to apply for jobs on the radio station and hold interviews if you like.

Then, when the roles are decided, ask the learners to write scripts of what they are going to say. Encourage the reporters to interview people in the school, etc. Make sure they do a lot of rehearsing and they can work on their pronunciation. The DJs can choose music ( __ http://ccmixter.org __  and __ http://freemusicarchive.org __  are sites that provide music learners can use copyright free).

**B) Recording**

Recording the audio requires a degree of forward planning. You can decide to record the audio in order or out of order and then put it together using audio editing software.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">If you decide on the latter, then the free audio editing software, Audacity will come in very handy. Find out more about recording using a voice recorder (in the classroom) or directly onto computers (using Audacity) here:

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">__http://webtoolsforefl.wikispaces.com/Audio+Recording__

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**C) Sharing the audio**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">When you have finished the recording and editing of the radio programme, you can then upload it to the Web (turning it into a <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">// podcast // <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">). The advantages of making the student work available to a wider audience are:


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">It can be shared with parents, other students, etc
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">It is more motivating for students to know they have an audience outside the classroom
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Publishing should mean the students will work harder to make sure their written work is accurate and their pronunciation is good.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">There are many options when it comes to sharing the audio. Your choice will depend on the length of the audio you produce


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**Audio that is under 5 minutes**



**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Audio Boo : **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">http://audioboo.fm ||


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**Audio that is 5-10 minutes long**



**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Posterous **<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">http://www.posterous.com ||


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**Audio that is more than 10 minutes long**

**<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Soundcloud : ** __[|http://soundcloud.com]__ <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> (up to 2 hours of audio) ||

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">__**Projects with images**__

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">There are many projects that involve working with images to encourage language production from your students. We'll be <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"> looking at a project that involves making animated cartoons

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**Film Festival**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Go Animate http://goanimate.com is just one of many sites that can be used to create simple animated films.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">We'll be looking at the best ways for students to work in groups to produce a short animated film that can then be presented as part of a class 'film festival'

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**a) Planning**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">First of all, show the students the characters and backgrounds, etc that are available – let them explore the site but don't let them create anything at this stage. Ask them to talk in pairs or threes about possible stories using existing images and props.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">After they have brainstormed a rough plot, ask them to break down the story into three parts – a beginning, middle and end, and to start writing notes about this. Here you are interested in persuading the learners to work through the process of story writing, pulling together ideas but not writing anything in detail.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**b) First draft presentation**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">The first draft of their stories can be presented orally to the whole class, or just to you while the others are working on their story. Listen to the students and suggest improvements that will make their story better.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**c) First written draft**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Ask the learners now to write their first draft story, with dialogue. You can take this in and suggest improvements and correct mistakes

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**d) Creating the film**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Once the learners have a version of the story they and you are happy with, you can use the animation software to create the film version

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">**e) Film festival preparations**

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Finally, with the films finished, tell them you are going to hold a class screening and that there will be prizes ( <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">// Oscars // <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">) for the best directors, best comedy, best drama, etc. You can work together to decide on the categories and the students can also prepare their acceptance speeches (just in case!)

<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal;">**f) The** <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">//**Oscars**// <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal;"> **film festival**

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Hold the film screening and ask the learners to award marks out of ten for the categories they have decided previously (they cannot vote for themselves!)

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">At the end of the screening, hold the awards ceremony, count the votes and award the prizes, asking the winners to give their speeches.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">__**Other projects**__

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">If there is time, we will also be looking at projects using the following tools:


 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Voicethread http://voicethread.com
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Web Poster Wizard http://poster.4teachers.org
 * <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Survey Monkey http://surveymonkey.com

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