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How have you used video with your students?

Thank you for all your suggestions. This topic has now closed.

Mohammd Siefan, Palestine
Actually, using video is a very interactive teaching tool. My students find it a very unusual way to see short clips about English Language structures in "real life situations". I support this method strongly.

Steve Leiong, Malaysia
We do not have such collaborative of professional who are knowledgeable in putting the program into Video. Being a teacher in Malaysia our salary is limited.Fun is not available. Graphic work is not easy obtainable. Our sources of teaching material library is none available. Also, a multi languages make things harder. I am teaching at a Chinese school. However, I need to teach English n Bahasa as well.Finance wise, technical know-how wise make us teacher no where to go.

Elsa, Peru
Video is a great way to introduce a new topic and/or motivate the students. However, teachers shouldn´t become too dependent on video tools...kids see enough TV, video and computer games.

Larry Muies, Basque Country.
Once learners come to terms with the fact that video is not the introduction to a lie-around- Friday-afternoon session, they realise what a powerful language generator it is. Even "corny" commercially-produced materials can be given lots of life if learners are taught to participate in the plots. They learn how to view for details and comment on them; they sharpen their listening skills with the help of the images (surely, this is a more natural way to communicate?); they exercise their powers of imagination if only listening or viewing; and if the teacher needs to revise and practise grammar or vocabulary, just about every structure under the sun can be hammered away at with a little bit of creativity. When used sparingly ( I think about 5-10% of total class time is what is recommended) video can be an outstanding aid.

Paul Berry, France
I believe it to be a vital teaching aid, but it's important to use it in a structured, pedagogical manner. It should never be used as a time-filler and there is a danger that the students fall under the spell of T.V docility, i.e. they passively look at the images without really taking note of what is being said. One of the ways around this is to create interactive worksheets and as a teacher, never be afraid of making frequent pauses to question the students understanding of what is being shown.

Kujur, Albert R.P., India
Well it's a an excellent methodology for language teching in general and English teaching in particular. But so far I didn't have chance to use this method as the aid is not available in the institutin and due to poor background of the students.

Masoumeh Nobarany, Iran
Hi.Being a teacher of English Language , I have used different audio visual aids in my class in order to make my teaching more interesting and it really worked.The students are very interested to learn the language in a real situation so watching videos is a great help.I usually use it as a reward after an exam.Thank you. All the best

Hugo Plasencia, Peru
Actually, I`ve performed many activities for learners in english. I think most people need and should use useful technologies for getting more than we´ve never learned before. This new century brings more and more information. We are going to receive a lot of things.

Sarath W. Samaranayake, Thaialand
We are aware that our learners have different learning styles such as visual,auditory,kinaesthetic,group,individual,reflective and impulsive so using a video for teaching in a classroom may largerly be beneficail for the learners whose learning syle is visual but generally if we go by this Chinese adage, we find that it can affect to anybody."What I hear I will forget, What I see I will remember, What I do I will understand".

Jordan
Well it was a great fun but the problem was that we were generally short of adequate materials that fit our ethics and culture. However, now as I teach at one of the biggest oil company, I can find satisfactory relevant content.

Ursula Huancas, Peru
Well, As a 21st century teacher I've used video as a complement for my classes, in order to vary them. Nowadays, most of my students are visual, so I use technology to call their attention and give some opportunities to those ones who have developed listening skills better than the written ones.But don't forget to prepare your classes in advance, you need to set your goals first.

Danielle McNally, France
I use news items/documentaries from 2 min to 30min long. First, they watch for global comprehension (topic and message). Then, I give them a questionnaire and play the sound only. They can each play the recording at their own speed and they work out answers. Sometimes they compare their answers in pairs before we go over them together and I stress relevant vocab. /grammar/ pronunciation/ usage points. Then we watch the video again, and occasionally I add questions on visual elements, proxemics: body language etc...My classroom is equipped with a TV VCR/DVD player and individual consoles with headphones. It helps!individual consoles with headphones. It helps

Nicola, Italy
I sometimes use the video, I think it's useful to use it, I sometimes introduce the video with some pre-watching activities, after seeing the video comprehension activities follow and at last the students discuss all together the answers.

S.Umashankar, Sri Lanka
The modern teacher should be a teacher of education as an educational tecnologist.The teacher is no more a talk and chalk figure.Only introducing audio/video into his/her teaching will attract the learners in the classroom.A conventional teacher might have found it difficult to draw the attention of his/her learners towards him/her.The using of technology will give double advantage to the teacher;first the focus of attention of leaners will definitely be towards the teacher and the work load of the teacher will go lesser and lesser once the teacher has started using videos in the classroom for various intergrated skills like listening,speaking,writing and reading.

Yasser Mohammad Abdullah, Egypt
Using a video is a very attracive and motivating teaching aid.It can be used to present different target languages.

• First let the students watch the video to enjoy it.
• Then ask them what they like most about it.
• Next give them a task sheet that includes true/false, open ended or Yes/No questions. Give them time to read the questions then let them watch it twice.
• Before you get their answers, ask them to compare answers with threir partners.
• Finally you can get their production.

Iracema Passos, Brazil
I prepare a questionnaire with "wh" questions in a way that after answering them they have ended up making a summary of the story. Then we discuss the story in the classroom. Of course I prepare different questions for each pupil as my groups are always of not more than five students.

Maxine, Israel
There are lots of activities you can do with a video in class. Most are group activities. One idea is to play 5-10 minutes of a tape without sound,and have students write dialogue. Another is to have pupils write a new beginning, middle or end to the show. Or you can have students break down a show as to hero, villain, problem and before you play the solution to the problem, have kids write their own, in groups, and then compare to actual solution. You can tape shows and have pupils do character studies. Another idea is to have younger/weaker pupils listen for specific vocabulary or adjectives, or verbs in present simple, etc.Have fun using the video in class! The pupils do.

Demetrios Hadjinicolaou, Greece
Video is the best aid I have been using. Both authentic excerpts and ad hoc DVDs if accompanied with a teacher-produced, customised or an EFL ready-made set of exercises, intended for classwork are fantastic. My students have invariably taken off, especially when they have had to predict what is to follow in a film or when I ask them to write down useful information or re-enact the dialogues. I only regret the fact that coursebooks do not include video activities in the same fashion as they include listening activities. Also, I am against playing whole films or programmes in front of a class without setting some kind of objective for the pupils to achieve. It is good to watch DVDs in English or satellite TV, but this habit should be practised outside the classroom, I believe.

Kelber Tozini, Brazil
well...my final paper was about the role of pre-listening in video activities. I think that the one of the best ways to learn the language is through authentic materials, and I consider video the most important one. I decided to work with the program"the amazing race" and I was very succesful, the students loved it and learned a lot, they gained confidence in relation to listening to a TV program. Howevr, to use a video, it is necessary to do a pre-listening activity, setting the context for the students not get lost during the main activity.

Mario La Rosa, Italy
Very useful tool, but students should be trained before using and working with it.