National Film and Sound Archive (Week 7)

 

Digital learning resources

Introduction
This website eventually makes teaching and learning in  English language more advance. It creates an innovation in English language learning since it applies the concept of an electronic brain or known as digital learning.This technology is suitable for all secondary and high school students.This website brings in the idea of  learning language through content. This means that students get the exposure of language through stimulating content. In fact, learners can explore interesting content and are also engaged with an appropriate amount of language depending on the activities.Hence,through this approach learning language becomes automatic. This website promotes the usage of  videos and audio tapes and recordings in teaching and learning the language. It is a content rich education website that carries thousands of videos and audio clips and these videos and audio recordings,tapes and clips are available for streaming and downloading.


         The layout of the website

Instructions

How do teachers and students go about using this website?? Don't worry just follow the instructions below:

1. click this address :http://nfsa.gov.au/learning/digital-learning/ and this will lead you to the main page.
2. then you will see a list of videos with the topics written under it
3. just click the videos that you want
4. then follow the video or audio instructions and start exploring!

IT IS SO EASY! I hope this can help teachers and students in using this site.

Additionally there is an example video below taken from the website. The video is about Sounds of Australia.

The advantages gained from using this website are:

1. there is a balance between audio and visual learning
2. teachers can vary their teaching approaches
3. learning language through content
4. teachers can teach English in a more interesting way
5. provides plenty of videos and audio clips where teachers can use to contextualise their lessons
6. it provides a wide range of resources for listening activities
7. it also provides reading materials to initiate reading activity
8. there are plenty of topics which can be used to teach
9. promotes language acquisition
10. can practice writing

The disadvantages of using this website are:

1. the videos and audio clips are mostly about Australia so it might not be applicable in all context
2. teachers and students have no control over some parts in the website
3. the size of the activities are limited and this might influence students motivation
4. quite poor organisation in terms of consistency throughout the website
5. some image qualities seems not good and may not integrate with a text

Recommendations

Teachers can use this website for listening activities. Teachers can also use the videos for pre-reading activities in order to activate students schemata about a topic.Teachers can also create discussions and debate activities using the materials.Teachers can also use this website for writing activities like writing a film review or critic a film, practice transcribing a text, and story writing. However, students can experience learning language through varies contents. Students can also acquire the language as they are listening to the videos or audio clips as this website promotes language acquisition. Students can also improve their language skills,reading,listening,speaking and writing.

An example activity from the website:

Classroom Activities

top

Discuss

1. How Cook’s attitude to the Aborigines is represented in this clip.
   1. Consider the dramatised scenes of Cook observing the tribe with the actor’s voice over narrating diary entries. What tribal activities has the film maker chosen to depict? Why?
   2. The use of experts to provide explanations for his admiration of them.
   3. Cook’s claiming of NSW without gaining the consent of the Aborigines.
2. Why does Professor Maynard describe Cook’s claiming of NSW for the British Empire as “still a theft today”? Has this historic event been represented differently in other texts? Research early histories of Australia

Activities

1. Divide into two groups and plan and debate the topic: That James Cook’s claiming of NSW was not an illegal act in terms of the time and context in which it occurred. See below for recommended resources.
2. In groups, create a short scene of one of these events not fully represented in the clip. These can be acted or a storyboard or film created. Contemporary costume and dialogue can be effectively used to link with issues being debated today focussing on reconciliation and land rights.
   1. Cook lands and claims NSW for Britain.
   2. Cook explains to his crew why fighting with the tribe must cease.
   3. Cook negotiates peace with the tribe
3. Design a modern book cover for Cook’s journal.

Referencesforthesourcesare:NationalFilemandSoundAustralia