I’ve long been a big fan of using video creatively in the classroom. My work with speech recognition and EnglishCentral proves that. However, I have a long history of not only making 100s of video based traditional lessons (see Lessons In A Can for EFL 2.0 members) but also using video editing software to really make a powerful language learning lesson.

A previous post – “Going To Pieces” illustrates well one underlying principle in materials design that works very well with video. Basically, you edit the video audio so that one or some parts are missing. Students must speak/write/produce the missing audio. Then compare against the original. Or do this in the opposite order, first listening to the video with full audio and then challenging students to produce their own remix.

This is powerful and the student gets real practice in communication and producing language for immediate response. This “embedded reality” aspect of video is its strongest point for learners. It provides immediate, close context that challenges the student to perform as if actually there in real time. This type of material helps us escape the trap of “the artificial classroom”. I urge many teachers to challenge themselves and their students by “going to pieces”, especially using video.

In a previous post, I describe a series of blank dialogues I created, illustrating this. You can download all the videos and use in class (EFL Classroom 2.0 members). Here’s an example.

Here is another example that community members can also download and use. It’s a rewrite the commercial activity.

Find more videos like this on EFL CLASSROOM 2.0