Essential Question: What is the
appropriateness of (the software you choose) to your students, your classroom
and your unit?
This week I choose to evaluate DuoLingo.
This program would be great to use for junior high and older. It could work for younger students if it was
teacher directed and maybe the whole class went through it together. Students
would be able to access DuoLingo online or the classroom could download it onto
tablets. The lessons seemed to start off casually, so it would not be overwhelming.
The classroom could have less
worksheets around with the program being online. If there are students who do
not speak English, they could use the program to help them learn and the rest
of the class could use the program to help them learn and be more understanding
of their classmate’s language. I do not have my own classroom right now, but I
would like to teach in the younger Elementary grades, so DuoLingo would be more
of stretch to bring into my classroom, but I do think it would be possible.
My unit is going to be about
cultures and how cultures are different in different areas of the world. So, it
could be great to have the class try DouLingo together at first and if they
really catch on maybe let them keep going with it if they choose to during choice
time or when they are done with their other assignments.
Overall, I thought that DuoLingo
has been very well thought out and programed nicely. It seems to have been
around long enough for most of the bugs or things that don’t work right to have
been fixed already. If you are looking for a program for your students to
practice or learn a new language, this program could be just what you needed.
Okay, so I almost chose to evaluate this same program but I felt like I was cheating a bit. It just so happens as a school we launched it during our Brave Block period--the kids love it. They do it at home. I love seeing students so engaged. I'm not too sure I would have been cheating since it was new to all of us, but I opted not to so I could learn a new program.
ReplyDeleteI agree it does seem to be a very well thought out program. There were a few things that might seem on the verge of inappropriate in the classroom setting (for middle schoolers, anyways). Did you notice that? For instance, kids get hysterical when it floats across the screen "do you want to learn how to flirt in a specific language such as Spanish?" Who knows maybe this adds to the engagement factor. My only concern is it can possibly get the kids acting silly.
I also wanted to commend you on using this and adding the cultural element to your unit. Kudos to you! It sounds challenging for myself since it is out of my realm.
I did not see the flirting aspect, maybe it can be turned off for the classroom part of it. I do think that there could be a few words that are close to English words but mean something different. So, there might need to be a discussion about being culturally respectful and what that looks like.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know what language you would choose to use it for, but it sounds like a great way to learn a second language, and like you said, learn English for those that don’t know it that well. Our school seems to have quite a few students from the Phillipines and it would be nice to have this kind of resource for them to learn more about English. I like you would use it to learn more about a culture. A culture is definitely influenced by its language!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea if you have a cross cultural class. To allow the students to engage in various cultures with the use of this tool sounds like a strong way to expose students to different ways of life. Cross culture is a passion of mine and I wish you the best in creating your learning unit.
ReplyDeleteI like DouLingo, I looked at it when I was trying to learn my mother’s foreign language of Tagalog. However, the Filipino language was not available. I Memrise, they have a much larger base of options. I think that these apps are great to bridge the gap for ESL students. The apps are easy to use and are formatted like a video game which is very appealing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing,
Josie
I am definitely going to check out this program since so many of my students and their parents speak Spanish and I don't know Spanish. It might be something I could use now with my student that does not speak English. I understand that it might be better for older students, but maybe I could find a way to make it work in 4th grade. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete