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 BLOGGING, PODCASTING AND MORE FREE TECHNOLOGY TOOLS TO HELP STUDENTS WITH THE SECOND LANGUAGE  Blogging is a new tool that help teachers open a window from their classroom to the world. It also allows for the creation of resources that really meet our students' needs. From my point of view this is the most interesting aspect of a blog. At the beginning, I used the blog to broadcast what we did in the classroom and also to encourage my students continue their second language learning at home, using materials appropriate for their age and level in a child-safe environment.

The story gave an important switch when I became a second language teacher in Canada, in 2011. Here it was very difficult for me to find genuine materials in Spanish for my students that were not seated for native spanish speakers, since they were too difficult for them. Furthermore, following the Inquiry-based approach that our school ( Escuela Canyon Meadows, International Spanish Academy, Calgary) adopted, it was another twist for the search of appropriate materials.

I started using D2L, the platform that the CBE provides for teachers and students, but it was not very user friendly and it did not allow student participation more than uploading a word document.

I felt curious about podcasting and I was wondering if this could be a useful tool to create genuine material that met my students' needs. A workshop hosted by Valeria Palladino in 2012 was an inspiration for me and other colleague that sewed the seed of the wiki work in our classroom. Wikispaces together with screencast-o-matic was the perfect match that I was looking for. Learning to Listen, is the first skill implied in the learning of a language. For some students, with luck, they get two to three hours for the learning of the second language. In a country like Spain, where the chance to view a film in V.O.S. is something you really have to pursue...the hours of exposure to the second language are quite reduced and limited. We all know that if we want to develop efficient listeners we must :

> "The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are 'ready', recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production." Stephen Krashen > > This theory has always inspired my life as a second language teacher. And the exceptional potential that student and teacher- created podcasts in combination with the wikis, make a very powerful tool. I have already seen the results with my students, check out my wikis and you will see them too. With little practice and no cost, soon your students will be creating podcasts.
 * Increase the hours of exposure to the target language.[[image:http://api.ning.com/files/2su8G6B6Je*IiVv7WhWkovJrvTjY0LSEsMgBLRJ0-7eOzjuITF8AufYfEHL73-hhtfvP2*VGca4qVg17bPz09g__/activelistening.jpg align="right"]]
 * Expose them to authentic and genuine materials, meaningful for the listener.
 * As Krashen stated in his theory of Language Acquisition:
 * With guidance and structure, students are able to create their own material that will arouse interest in other students for listening.
 * Moreover, the stress can be managed by the student since they can repeat it several times until they have the recording that satisfies them.
 * Students can access the content as many times as they wish, not only during school times.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">A little bit about the author... <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">Lali Molina García <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 130%;">I was born in Murcia where I taught English as Second Language for 15 years. Since 2011 I am teaching Spanish at Escuela Canyon Meadows International Spanish Academy. Anthropologist, ICT lover and long life learner.Interested in knowing how emotions affect Second Language Aquisition.

lalitronch@gmail.com