Tuesday, 5 May 2015

Video killed the Cranium’s job….or did it?



In my teaching I have used video clips from YouTube and others sources in order to emphasise a point or help enhance students’ understanding about a particular aspect of English. Many may think that watching a bunch of Asian men and a female, prance around shooting tomatoes at trees would in no way help develop a student’s learning. 

Well in fact, clips from Mulan helped to introduce the students to aspects of irony, feminism, metaphor, rhyme and juxtaposition. Now who said that English wasn’t fun?? 
Film and animation is such a big part of this generation’s world that it would be futile to ignore its value and stick with the old and battered ideas about teaching, and especially about teaching English. Keeping a student engaged will inevitably promote their learning, and making a topic relevant or relatable to students is just one way of doing it. Technology has many advantages in teaching and one part of it is in film/video. Using video clips in my teaching has helped to break up the teaching episodes and uses the entertainment value to teach students. From Disney clips to comedy shows, all of these forms of video entertainment that our students have access to and are exposed to on a daily basis more often than not, can be utilised to extend their learning and make teaching that much more exciting than it already is. Sarcasm could have been implied there… SO…. Don’t forget the value of technology that you may view as merely useful for entertainment purposes; this is the stuff that our students love, use and are engaged with, so take advantage of it!

                                                  

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