Using EDPUZZLE in class

 

Nowadays, there are many ways to practise listening in class thanks to the wide range of audio and video material available online.

 This time, I have chosen EDPUZZLE, which is a great tool which allows us to cut long videos and edit and elaborate interactive sequences of listening activities. This means that we can adapt authentic materials in our classes or set it as homework and carry out post-listening tasks in class afterwards.

Our aims in this task are:

• to use authentic materials: this means written or spoken texts to be used by native speakers and not adapted (we will adapt it for our needs using EDPUZZLE)
• to plan effectively the focus of the tasks and learning process step-by-step (pre, during and post tasks)
• make the experience significative and interactive (look for topics which are attractive and increase opportunities for oral communication)
• give a greater degree of autonomy to students (flipped learning).

To achieve them, I have planned the lesson in different steps as follows:

The topic is festivities. As a pre-listening task, they are asked to think about different festivities they know, introducing some useful vocabulary about that. At this stage, I increase opportunities for oral communication and promote collaborative work, since they can work in groups to make their contributions.

The next step is to choose the video. I have chosen a short video about Guy Fawks Night, a typical celebration in Britain. The reasons for my choice of this video are that this is authentic material (it is spoken by a native speaker) and it is also an attractive topic of their interest.

Then, I have written five questions they have to answer. I have combined open questions and multiple choice questions in order to deal with the different levels in the class. In this way, I adapt the activities that match my students’ needs.

After that, I have assigned the task to my class and they have to do it as homework. This is an opportunity to work at their own pace and in an autonomous way (flipped learning).

Finally, as a post-listening task, we have related different festivities around the world to celebrations here in Andalucía, and they have discussed about their favourite celebration. So, I mave made the experience significative and interactive.

The high points of the task are that the students enjoyed it a lot, as videos are a motivating resource for them.

However,  it can be difficult to solve their doubts when they are working alone at home.

All in all, it has been a great experience that we will continue practising in class.

You can watch the video here

Guy Fawks Night