My “dreamproject” involving New Media is in cooperation with a school in England; the students will

·        create their own blog and write posts

·        record a video and put it online

·        communicate with English students in a chat room

·        prepare and give a Powerpoint presentation

As this is not a single lesson, but a project consisting of eight double lessons, I will not describe the individual lessons in detail. I prepared the plan on the assumption that

·       I will only have double lessons with the class

·       we will be in a computer lab each lesson

·       students already know the basics about the Internet

·       there is a cooperation between me and a teacher in England who is currently teaching a sixth form German course

·        the size of my class is about the size of the class in England

In the project my year 11 students get in touch with lower sixth form students in England who study German, so that the students are roughly of the same age (16-17 year). The general idea is that the German and English students get to know each other by sharing and writing in one blog, so that at the end of the project they can give a Powerpoint presentation about each other. Each German student will be assigned to one English student, but as it is possible that certain students can not be bothered to write in their blogs, two German and two English students will share one blog, so that there is at least one student they can find out something about. The students will always write in their mother tongue.

In the curriculum for year 11 there are two topics mentioned that are accounted for in my dream project.

·        “Science and Technology: electronic media (internet, e-commerce, etc.)”

·        “One-track mind (prejudice, intolerance, ideologies)”

Some other positive aspects of this projects are:

·        Students improve their media-competence

·        Students improve their socio-cultural competence

·        Students communicate with speakers of the target language

·        Students read authentic and personalized texts

·        Students watch authentic video

In the following part I will describe the lessons and the homework for my German students.

1^st double lesson:

·        The students will collect idea about “The typical English person” (Mindmap, blackboard)

·        The students are introduced to the project: Find out whether our ideas about “the typical English person” are true

·        The students discuss and learn about “netiquette”, e.g.

•  
  • Remember the human
  • Adhere to the same standards of behavior online that you follow in real life
  • Know where you are in cyberspace
  • Respect other people’s time and bandwidth
  • Make yourself look good online
  • Share expert knowledge
  • Help keep flame wars under control
  • Respect other people’s privacy
  • Do not abuse your power
  • Be forgiving of other people’s mistakes

(from the VCT)

·       The students learn how to create a wordpress-blog and create a blog in pairs

·        The students write a welcome message each

 

Homework: Think of what you would like to ask the English students!

2^nd double lesson:

·        The students will get together in groups of four, discuss their ideas about what to ask the English students and agree on four questions/ tasks.

·        Always two groups will get together, discuss their ideas and again agree on 3 questions.

·        The plenum discusses the ideas and decides on 3 questions.

·        The students are taught more about the features of WordPress.

·        The students will put the first question in their blog.

Homework: Answer the question by the English students (in German), read the answer to your question and make notes on it that you bring to the next lesson.

3rd double lesson:

·        Partner activity: Students tell a partner about what “their” English student has written.

·        Students comment in their blog on the English student’s answer, saying what they found interesting/ didn’t know yet, etc.

·        Possible problems with publishing etc. are discussed and solved in class.

·        Students learn how to put pictures in their posts.

·        The students put the second question online.

Homework: Answer the question by the English student including a picture and read the answer to your question.

4^th double lesson:

·        Students discuss what “their” partners have written in plenum

·        Students learn how to use Powerpoint

·        Students are asked to create first slides of their Powerpoint presentation with information about the English student

·        Students publish the next question

Homework: Make notes on what you would answer to the next question!

5^th double lesson:

·        The students answers are recorded on video and send to the students’ email-accounts.

·        The students learn how to include a video in their post.

Homework: Put your video in the blog and watch “your” student’s video to your answer.

6^th double lesson:

·        In the first lesson the students have the opportunity to get more information about the English students in a live chatroom.

·        In the second lesson they can prepare their Powerpoint presentations.

Homework: Prepare your Powerpoint presentations.

7^th double lesson:

·        Powerpoint presentations (5 minutes each) & short Feedback

8^th double lesson.

·        Powerpoint presentations  & short Feedback

Homework: Did the blog-experience change your view on the English?

Although this project is labeled “dream project”, I do not think that it is necessarily unrealistic to carry it out. Depending on the actual teaching situation, slight changes have to be made, but in my opinion as a teacher one should not be deterred by initial problems because this project could be highly motivating and beneficial for the students.