The DIESOL Podcast | EdTech in ESL

In this episode we dive into the use of interactive video and the role of captions in language learning. What value is there in including videos in our teaching? How do interactive videos help content retention in learners? How do captions support literacy for language learners? Join us as we discuss these questions and talk through some tools to enhance your teaching!

Teachers can talk all day long about what's working and what's not working, but it's important that we hear directly from students to hear what's engaging them and how they learn on their own. This episode features one of Brent's current students, Luna, who takes her English Language Learning into her own hands and shares some of the things that keep her going.

While reading is a huge topic with too many areas to give justice in just 40 minutes, Brent & Ixchell take a first swing at it here. A look at a little bit of research on L2 reading strategies, along with some articles that give some structural advice, and then some thoughts on how to integrate tech and reading. 

WARNING: <> silliness ahead!

On 5th Mondays, we open up the floodgates to the #DIESOLcrew for games, trivia, and drinks. Hair down, feet up, manners out. 

This time we did some Mad-Libs and other stuff in a decompress from all the conferences happening in March. Listen in for some laughs - back to our normal scheduled programming next week.

And if you want to join in on Drinks with DIESOL next time around... YOU ARE INVITED!

Many of our interviews have been with instructors of adult learners, so this time around we are fortunate to sit down with Angela Barnett (@MrsBarnett_tchr), third-grade teacher, and educator for close to 20 years to talk about the challenges and changes she's faced with ELLs during the pandemic.

In an age of unparalleled stress around high-stakes testing from home and proctoring problems across the globe, digital portfolios can offer students a better way to show the depth and breadth of their work as they're developing their language. This episode looks into some of the research supporting e-portfolios for language learners, and some tools and tips to make them a valued part of your students' learning journey.

Dayamudra Dennehy shares insights on how to create a friendly and accepting online community with your English Language Learning Students. From creating a liquid syllabus that's open before class starts, to showing a better understanding of student needs and respecting their personal situations at home, Daya has ideas to help us all reflect on our approach to online teaching.

Punctuation causes all sorts of disagreements among native English speakers, and despite seemingly straightforward rules, there are always exceptions, variations, and style differences. Still, students need help understanding when and where to use different forms of punctuation, and many rely on well-meaning myths that should have been thrown out years ago.

In this episode, Ixchell & Brent explore some resources to build a foundation with, and some tools that you can use to help students explore and build on their punctuation knowledge.

We sit down with Dustin from Board Gaming with Education to talk about understanding and using board games, both physically and digitally to help engage students. Dustin shares ideas on games and how to integrate them into your class needs while keeping students coming back for more.

We made it to 2021! Congratulations on making it through, and we're excited to shake off "that year" and explore some more fun with twenty twenty-one! The truth is that 21 tools is probably an overwhelming number of things to look at and explore, but remember that you should NOT be using all of these, it's just meant to see what matches your needs and hopefully can help you out.

Listen in as Ixchell & Brent talk about what each tool is, then if one tickles your fancy, give it a spin! Not sure if a tool is right for you? You can join our Patreon and every month we'll explore something together and see how it works.

Matt Miller joins us to give a positive ending to a trying year! Listen in as he shares how he transitioned from being a textbook-dependent teacher to an innovative educator in his language classes and beyond. Matt shares how to Ditch That Textbook (gently) and build that language (quickly)!

We've spent two episodes looking at the TESOL Technology standards and in our final installment of this series we explore the ISTE standards. Why is it important to look at the ISTE Standards when we already have TESOL technology ones? What can we glean from them that we can strive to include in the TESOL standards? Join us for a discussion on the importance of including the concepts of the ISTE standards as we blend technology in ESOL.

In this episode we meet up with ESL Instructor, Robert Jonte, to discuss several games that translate well into Zoom! He discusses how to recreate classic favorites as Zoom versions; best of all, these require little to no prep because as Robert shares, all you need is the ability to share a screen, annotate, and use the chat function. Listen in as we dive into ways to use up those few minutes left of class and target specific language areas!

In the second installment of a three-part series, we take time to discuss understanding technology standards for ELLs. Why is it important to have a plan when introducing students to technology? How can we approach what can be a daunting task in an organized way? What approach should we take when teaching media literacy skills? Brent and Ixchell review the rationale for a framework and discuss the TESOL Tech Standards Framework and its three goals and eleven standard. Finally, we share ways to apply the standards in our own classrooms.

Breakout rooms are a great way to get your students communicating, and they're more likely to share and practice in small groups, but you can't just send them away and hope that it will work. In this episode, Brent & Ixchell talk with Savyonne Steindler about the ins and outs, the technical setups, and the activities you can do with breakout rooms in your online ESOL classrooms.

With the COVID rush to teach from home and meet the needs of our students, we’ve been pushed to sample all sorts of tech tools. This urgency has exposed us to testing a plethora of educational technology. That has been both exciting and overwhelming. How do we make decisions on what the best tool is? Do we have a framework to apply when choosing something? What standards exist in our approach to selecting tech tools? Join us in this episode to find out!

Weina Li Chen is a Visiting Instructor of the MA in TESOL program at Pepperdine University and teaches MA TESOL candidates, MS in Educational Leadership, and Learning Design and Innovation. She has extensive experience and passion for multilingualism, educational technology, hybrid, and online learning. Join our conversation on the importance of creating a risk-free environment for language learners and on the importance of supporting teacher candidates in creating habits to foster creativity and life-long learning.

What are some of the challenges students face when learning verb tenses? In what order should teachers present the tenses? In this episode, we explore what some experts in the field recommend and we offer some practical ideas as to apply them.

School has started and we already need something to take our mind off of things! On Fifth Mondays we join up for an informal get-together with the #DIESOLcrew - including you! Join Brent & Ixchell along with Daya, Mark, Denise, Simone, Brian, Michelle, JPB as we have a couple drinks and play a couple of games, including Ixchell's already infamous "Stump the Teacher"!

Flipgrid has recently launched a whole new roll-out, just in time for the 2020 school year, when many of us are still working to figure out better online engagement. 

Ixchell & Brent chat with Educator Innovation Lead at Flipgrid, Ann Kozma, and Flipgrid Ambassador & ELL teacher Luis Oliveira to discuss fun, meaningful, and innovative ways to use Flipgrid to support our ESL students. Listen in to hear the powerful ways giving the opportunity for student voice can empower language learners.