firstrunnerup-cat

First Runner-up of the Activity that Integrates Technology with Teaching English in the Best Way Category
Burcu Kayarkaya, Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi

Information about the Teacher
Grade level(s) the teacher is teaching: Upper Intermediate-Advanced
Year(s) of experience as an English teacher: 12
Information about the Activity
Primary Category: Writing
Students’ English Proficiency Level: Advanced
Students’ Age Group: 19+
Students’ Grade Level: University Departmental
Purpose of the Activity: Students watch and understand an authentic video and be able to generate their own problem to be handled. They work in groups to collaborate on a shared project where they will also need to do individual work building upon the project ground created as a group. Finally, the group will put their work into a presentation task, sharing their final product with the whole class. Consciousness awareness on social and global matters is also intended.
Class size: 20
Group size: 4
Materials Needed: headsets, smart phones or laptops
Technology Needed: Internet connection an authentic video (storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-change/) an online test (storyofstuff.org/changemaker/) Google Docs Glogster Ezvid search engines online dictionaries.
Brief Description of the Activity: WARM-UP The teacher starts with making an introduction to the main issues discussed in the video before referring to the video. He/She talks about the many problems we have in the world – environmental, social, economic, etc. Elaborating on those, he/she tries to draw students’ attention towards how dramatically “conspicuous consumption” is rising in the world and the potential risks it poses for people. Eliciting student response and getting their ideas regarding the subject matter will help form a basic ground to progress. He/She then, asks the students to turn on their computers and access the internet with their headsets on. The students can either watch the video with English subtitles on or off. They start watching the video and the teacher waits until everyone finishes with it, observing how they are doing while they are watching. When everyone is ready, the teacher asks questions to get their reactions towards the video. He/She tries to create an outline of it to make sure everyone gets the main points.
PROCEDURES
1. Watch the video THE STORY OF CHANGE

Story of Change


1. Take the test WHAT KIND OF A CHANGE-MAKER ARE YOU?
storyofstuff.org/changemaker/
3. Gather in groups of 3-4 (employ people with different test results).
4. Think of a problem in the world/ in your country/ in your immediate environment that should be fixed.
5. Consider the “3-step change-making process” in the video and decide how it can contribute to the solution of your group’s problem.
6. Open a document in GOOGLEDOCS and make a brief summary of the video as a group and then state your problem and introduce the “change-makers” of your group.
7. Every change-maker then writes his/her own section explaining how his/her role as a change-maker can contribute to the solution of the problem you stated in the beginning.
8. PROOFREAD and REVISE each other’s section and refer to online dictionaries and spell check where necessary.
9. Use GLOGSTER and prepare a poster for your problem and solution so that you can use it as an attention-grabber for your presentation
10. Present your collaborative project to your classmates either by SHOOTING A VIDEO using your smart phones or using EZVID as a software program to make a video.
ASSESSMENT
The whole process will be guided and supervised by the teacher in case problems arise during class hours. The efficacy of the presentations each group deliver will be the determiner of achievement.