L-derBobEd: 1/30/05

Finance

Music

On the road again!

*Baby You Can Drive My Car

Place a small fan somewhere near your monitor screen. Now turn it so it blows in your face. Put on your finest sunglasses and your best driving hat. We are going for a ride.

The idea behind the video on the left, is that too often, we are overcome, by the visual to the point of not being aware of the audio. I believe that the language instructor has to walk a tightrope balancing the learners desire for both audio and visual input in order to teach the finer points of language. So here, I have tried to force the viewer to pay little attention to the visual, and much greater attention to the audio. I’ve done so by creating a blurry repetitive video and an audio that requires one to listen very closely to hear the actual words of the song..

Finally, I have printed McCartney’s and Lennon’s lyrics in the text message of this post. That gives the listener and increased opportunity to focus on the words of the song without getting embroiled in the meaning of the video.

Elderbob

Lyrics for “Baby, you can drive my car“. By John Lennon and Paul McCartney:

Asked a girl what she wanted to be
She said baby, can't you see
I wanna be famous, a star on the screen
But you can do something in between
Baby you can drive my car
Yes I'm gonna be a star
Baby you can drive my car
And baby I love you
I told a girl that my prospects were good
And she said baby, it's understood
Working for peanuts is all very fine
But I can show you a better time
Baby you can drive my car...
Beep beep'm beep beep yeah
Baby you can drive my car...
I told a girl I can start right away
And she said listen babe I got something to say
I got no car and it's breaking my heart
But I've found a driver and that's a start
Baby you can drive my car...
Beep beep'm beep beep yeah

Thursday, February 03, 2005 at 6:30 AM

Blogging or Boring

In the EFL/ESL class I am currently in, there seems to be a re-current theme regarding what to have students "blog" about or how to get them to "blog", or other matters relating more to class-time than "blog-time". I guess in that sense, I am a very poor "blogger". I "blog" when I want, and usually on a subject that I desire to "blog" about. I think that is why I find it enjoyable. Writing, in it's essence is good for the soul. The ability to put one's inner feelings in words or in print, is a skill that ought to be desirable for all of us.

It is one matter to feel a thing internally, but it is another to be able to proclaim it out loud in such a way that others would understand that feeling. "Blogging" (at least to the "blogger") is just another way of putting one's thoughts into print.I can't help but wonder, this morning, if we are not destroying the very tool we are studying, by making it a "required" mode of communication.

Obviously, a "blog" can be a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but I have a concern about making kids "blog" when they don't like to "blog". And even within the "blogosphere", where does it say that I have to print what I feel? Why can't I post a photo or a drawing? Or maybe I had rather sing a song or play an instrument to express myself? Maybe we have forgotten about Gardener and his different modes of learning. The technological set of tools that we have come to know as "blogging" allows for at least this much latitude.I think it is marvelous that so many instructors are willing to explore the limits of technology and to think about how it may play a role in the classroom, but let's not forget, that not everyone will find "blogging" their desired mode of communication. It has to be seen as just another tool.

I keep going back to Tze's idea of attempting to put a language course on a cell phone.This seems like a real leap to me. Not only in the sense that it uses a technology that so many young people already have adopted, but also because it requires us to re-think communication all together.

Sometimes, I wonder if we adopt tools not because of their effectiveness or efficiency, but because we want to be in the early adopter group. Is this tool as great as we think or are we just impressed with the newness or uniqueness of the tool? When I see instructors say that they had trouble getting their students to "blog", I want to ask, "then how did you get them to communicate?" Does this mean that if the student didn't "blog", then they didn't do anything? Does it mean that there was no alternative manner in which to speak or express their thoughts? If I gave a class a choice between making a video, making an audio disk, or producing a blog to express themselves; how many would choose which one? And what if I made communication even more open ended? What if I said, you have to have a project in which you express your inner feelings, but the medium in which you wish to work is strictly up to you. Would I have a greater level of participation? What if someone had told Da Vinci, that he could ONLY keep a blog? Or maybe we told Wagner, that the only way he would be allowed to express himself was in a blog. Or Frank Lloyd Wright. Or Mother Theresa.

Now, I suspect that there will be those who read this post, who will respond that they are not teaching the expression of feelings, but instead that they are simply teaching the techniques of language. Well, you are indeed correct, and perhaps "blogging" is an appropriate tool to use. But shouldn't we be going beyond technique? I remember years ago, going to see the Rolling Stones in Berlin. The German youth loved them. They sang every word from every song, but didn't know the meaning of any of the words that they sang. I would like to think that the reason that they sang with such gusto, was not because they understood the technique of the language, but that they instead understood the emotions behind the language being used. Maybe teaching a language is beyond the technique. Maybe teaching a language is to teach it in such a way that one can express their emotions through it.You see we are all seeking our own path here, and if that path is too constricted, then we will be less likely to travel down it. By allowing for a wide path, we encourage others to traverse it.

So explore the use of blogs to your hearts desire, but please be aware that they may not meet all the needs of all of the students all of the time....they are but one of many tools.

elderbob

at 4:32 AM