Using the internet to teach

Hi, everyone,

Has anyone used the internet to tutor, yet? I was thinking that it would be fun to have a student go to a site, view a video clip, and then discuss it with you, as a way to practice a language. For instance, if you go to www.ted.com and find a video of a performance or lecture with a movie, you can view it and then talk about it with your student , to some degree, in the language they are learning. This would be an interesting way to teach and learn. If you haven’t seen this site, yet, then try it out. It has amazing subject matter to view. You can adapt a lesson to a student’s interest through the use of sites such as this one.

Hey Candy!

That’s a great way to use new media as a tool to help broaden the “boundaries” of education.

TED is also an incredible resource for learning and inspiration. I’m really interested in seeing how you end up using these tools in your sessions.

I just looked at this site and it is amazing. I love technology :)

Great idea Candy. We’ve been discussing something along the lines of what you suggest and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with it when we do the unveiling.

BTW, TED is one of my absolute favorite conferences/sites. Over two years ago I shared my “dream” of having the content from TED available to people around the world in this blog post. A few days after my post I was contacted by Chris Anderson, TED’s curator, who said I’d be really happy by what they were about to roll out. Sure enough, a few weeks later we had all this amazing content available to us.

I love the Internets. :)

I have learned so much on the internet that I think I have a true addiction to it, don’t you? Well, of course you do! Otherwise you wouldn’t be doing this line of work! I scour the internet each day for new ways to teach, as well as new sources to use. This site is amazing!
Google Earth is another site that could be used for teaching geography. From your computer, you can fly through mountain passes and over various geographical features. I know many of you have done that already as you are computer gurus. What a great age we live in. Of course, it can’t outdo the sixties for music, but this era does generate awesome possibilities for education. As far as the unveiling, Jon, I really can’t wait to see it and use it.
I just used iChat for the first time and I loved blowing up the screen as large as a life-sized head, dragging and dropping documents and pictures into the window, sending documents or videos to someone, and even sharing my screen with someone, if I wanted, which I don’t. I could also have an amazing waterfall cascade behind me if I wanted. This is called iChat theater. WOW! (To think that people used to sit at their desks in a classroom for twelve or more years of their life!)
I know this site is going to be impressive! Sorry, I must get up early tomorrow, so I must leave ya’ll.

Glad you love iChat. It’s pretty cool isn’t it. The biggest bummer with iChat is that it hasn’t to be Mac-to-Mac which means a lot of people can’t use it. Over time we’re going to be building a lot of iChat-like features into our product. If there’s anything specific that you see in iChat or any other video chat applications that you think we should add to eduFire please let us know. We’re incredibly excited to build the best application on the Net for teachers to teach students with. Fun fun fun.

Jon, how do you manage to respond to many comments on this site? I hope you take breaks now and then. Yeah! I know what you are saying…with iChat it’s great for Mac users who have a .mac account. They have all the features. Supposedly, it can hook up with AIM, Googletalk, and Jabber, but I bet they don’t get all the goodies.

I think what your site is creating is phenomenal! I can’t even imagine all the hard work behind the scenes. I like the fact that you guys really listen and take into account, what tutors need and want in a site like EduFire. Thank you for doing all that you do!

I have a beeper attached to my hip that notifies me when anyone posts a new message to the boards. Kidding of course… ;)

Thanks for the kind words. We really wanna hear from all of tutors. This site isn’t about us. It’s about you. I used to be a tutor and if eduFire had existed back when I was shuttling all around the city teaching classes and doing one-on-ones my life would have been a lot easier.

Our goal is to make it super simple and convenient for both the tutor and the student. And with $4/gallon gas fast approaching, a lot more affordable as well! :)

Ciao a tutti!
I read about TED, and it reminded me the use I do of YouTube.
I really love to teach Italian through the listening to the Italian music. I usually work on the text after the watching of the video and the singer’s interview. My students can add their vocabulary having fun!
Maybe you can do the same ;-P
Buon divertimento! Laura