Padlet is a useful online tool. It's free and those who have an account can work collaboratively.
You can also leave comments, add photos, videos or a new post on the wall and have interaction with people.
As this is a written form of technology, learners can take as much time as they need and work in their pace. Learners could feel comfortable even when communicating with people with different English proficiency levels.
As for teaching English, the teacher can create a wall and invite his/her learners to join the wall.
Here is an example. This should be accompanied with video clips and the texts from the book if the activities intended to encourage learners to work outside of classroom either individually or in pair/group.
The teacher should be able to teach his/her learners how to use Padlet. It is not terribly difficult because someone like me, who is not good at technologies at all, could manage to create a wall. However, I struggled for a while to understand how it works when it comes to adding and editing a new post. Also, it must have been impossible for me to start working on it without instructions provided in the ICT class. As for interaction, the materials should be interesting and maybe fun enough to draw learner's attention.
It was also difficult to find copy right free images in the Internet. The use of almost all of images about the works of Roald Dahl including book cover images is not allowed.
Here is the link to Padlet:
https://padlet.com/
Showing posts with label Classroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classroom. Show all posts
Saturday, 7 March 2015
Saturday, 24 January 2015
WordSift
WordSift is another kind of free word cloud.
Though it is not attractive compared to Wordle, it is more academic and provide more interesting opportunities to engage with vocabulary.
One of the advantages of this tool is that the the data can be sorted by A to Z or Z to A, for example.
Another advantage is that, if you click a word, it can create a mindmap related to the word on the "Visual Thesaurus" with images on the left hand.
Here is an example. I clicked on the word "love".
If you place the cursor on the thesaurus, its definition(s) will appear. If you click on a word in the thesaurus, it will show a new thesaurus display beginning with the word you have selected. The users can go further and learn about the words more.
As this is less entertaining and attractive, WordSift would suit learners who want to learn about the words more deeply. I would enhance learners' autonomy, only when they are motivated to some extent. For, as all information is provided in English, some learners might be demotivated or less interested because of the lack of basic English knowledge.
Here is the link to WordSift.
http://www.wordsift.com/
The text I chose is from the official website of the musical - Les Miserables.
http://www.lesmis.com/uk/
Though it is not attractive compared to Wordle, it is more academic and provide more interesting opportunities to engage with vocabulary.
One of the advantages of this tool is that the the data can be sorted by A to Z or Z to A, for example.
Another advantage is that, if you click a word, it can create a mindmap related to the word on the "Visual Thesaurus" with images on the left hand.
Here is an example. I clicked on the word "love".
If you place the cursor on the thesaurus, its definition(s) will appear. If you click on a word in the thesaurus, it will show a new thesaurus display beginning with the word you have selected. The users can go further and learn about the words more.
As this is less entertaining and attractive, WordSift would suit learners who want to learn about the words more deeply. I would enhance learners' autonomy, only when they are motivated to some extent. For, as all information is provided in English, some learners might be demotivated or less interested because of the lack of basic English knowledge.
Here is the link to WordSift.
http://www.wordsift.com/
The text I chose is from the official website of the musical - Les Miserables.
http://www.lesmis.com/uk/
Wordle
Wordle is an online tool for generating "word clouds" from texts that you like. A "word cloud" or "tag cloud" is a visual representation for text data.
You just choose text you would like to show and Wordle will give a word cloud.
Here is an example.
You can have your learners guess what the text is about or identify the topic. The most frequent words are showed in bigger size.
Font, layout and colour are easy to change. It is easy to make the text attractive. Wordle provides learners with a good opportunity to engage with vocabulary.
If you put one sentence,
it can be an exercise of putting words in the right order.
If the classroom is equipped with enough computers connected to the Internet, learners can choose their favourite text and create a word cloud. They can have their classmates guess the topic or make some grammar questions for their classmates to answer.
It is attractive and could provide a good exercise, however, some learners might find the text distracting or the text can make some people feel sick because of its layout or colour. It would be difficult to get attention for a long time.
Here is the link to Wordle. Give it a go by clicking "create". You should install and activate Java.
http://www.wordle.net/
The text I chose is from the official site of the musical - Les Miserables.
http://www.lesmis.com/uk/
You just choose text you would like to show and Wordle will give a word cloud.
Here is an example.
You can have your learners guess what the text is about or identify the topic. The most frequent words are showed in bigger size.
Font, layout and colour are easy to change. It is easy to make the text attractive. Wordle provides learners with a good opportunity to engage with vocabulary.
If you put one sentence,
it can be an exercise of putting words in the right order.
If the classroom is equipped with enough computers connected to the Internet, learners can choose their favourite text and create a word cloud. They can have their classmates guess the topic or make some grammar questions for their classmates to answer.
It is attractive and could provide a good exercise, however, some learners might find the text distracting or the text can make some people feel sick because of its layout or colour. It would be difficult to get attention for a long time.
Here is the link to Wordle. Give it a go by clicking "create". You should install and activate Java.
http://www.wordle.net/
The text I chose is from the official site of the musical - Les Miserables.
http://www.lesmis.com/uk/
Saturday, 17 January 2015
SMARTNotebook
This is the software that comes with the interactive whiteboard from Smart Technologies. This is a very useful, interesting and interactive tool.The teacher can do a lot more things on the board and make the lesson more interesting, interactive and exciting.
Here is the link about how to use the SMARTNotebook provided by Russell Stannard.
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/e-portfolios-iwbs/interactive-whiteboards.html
It will be surprising to see how many activities this tool makes accessible and realisable. This also provides teachers with opportunities to get students involved physically as well, which might help enhance language learning acquisition. The teacher can use the properties or images that are already installed or even add new things according to their needs.
As this is "interactive", it reacts to our action. We can move letters on the board, make them bigger or smaller. It is easy to write, put coulours, add some shapes or erase them. With the help of sounds, images or videos, this can provide an authentic context for language learning.
The biggest problem, I think, is all about facilities, whether the school/institution has rooms equipped to use SMARTNotebook in the classroom. As far as I know, it is quite impossible to have each room equipped. The teacher needs to carry a laptop, a projector and an interactive whiteboard and set them up before the class begins. It takes more than 5 minutes to be ready while there is only 10-minute break between classes. Furthermore, it is also unlikely that there is enough interactive whiteboards for each teacher to use.
Teacher training is another issue for this tool to be pervasive.
As for the target learners, I think this is more suitable for young learners than for elder learners when it is used to encourage them to interact or move their bodies.
Regarding the use of this, it will be likely that the teacher will tend to speak a lot as s/he is supposed to give instructions. However, it would be better if the teacher could invite students speak, express themselves in the target language.
Here is the link about how to use the SMARTNotebook provided by Russell Stannard.
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/e-portfolios-iwbs/interactive-whiteboards.html
It will be surprising to see how many activities this tool makes accessible and realisable. This also provides teachers with opportunities to get students involved physically as well, which might help enhance language learning acquisition. The teacher can use the properties or images that are already installed or even add new things according to their needs.
As this is "interactive", it reacts to our action. We can move letters on the board, make them bigger or smaller. It is easy to write, put coulours, add some shapes or erase them. With the help of sounds, images or videos, this can provide an authentic context for language learning.
The biggest problem, I think, is all about facilities, whether the school/institution has rooms equipped to use SMARTNotebook in the classroom. As far as I know, it is quite impossible to have each room equipped. The teacher needs to carry a laptop, a projector and an interactive whiteboard and set them up before the class begins. It takes more than 5 minutes to be ready while there is only 10-minute break between classes. Furthermore, it is also unlikely that there is enough interactive whiteboards for each teacher to use.
Teacher training is another issue for this tool to be pervasive.
As for the target learners, I think this is more suitable for young learners than for elder learners when it is used to encourage them to interact or move their bodies.
Regarding the use of this, it will be likely that the teacher will tend to speak a lot as s/he is supposed to give instructions. However, it would be better if the teacher could invite students speak, express themselves in the target language.
Triptico
Triptico is a tool that teachers can use to make the lesson more game-like one. It is designed and created by David Riley.
Triptico could be suitable for a wide range of age groups, levels, as well as subjects. The teachers can make the questions easy or difficult depending on the their needs or according to the interest or levels of their students. Not only language teachers but also any teachers of any subjects can make good use of this tool.
The teacher can ask a student to answer the questions in front of the class. Also, s/he can project the materials on the screen and invite the whole class to answer the questions.
The teacher should take the learners' age, levels or even genders into consideration. I find it useful when it is used as a warming-up activity as it provides learners with quick activities. I assume it can gain students' attention very easily, however, the excessive use can make learners bored or make them think that it is useless especially when the learners are older than 15/16 years old or when they consider entrance examinations for high ranked universities. Also, the older girls become, the less interested they become in this game-like activity (of course it always depends on the learner groups).
Downloading is free. Once you download it, you can choose activities from the menu screen. It can make funny sounds when they get a right/wrong answer.
You can also choose your favourite TIMERS or SELECTORS.
Here is what I have made using "What's the Question?". This activity helps learners to build the question by looking at the answer. The teacher are invited to make groups.
It took more time to think about 12 questions than I expected. One reason for this is that I didn't have a clear image of the learners. It will be important to include questions which can help students to remember what they have leanrt as well as questions which will be helpful for their following learning. The teacher also should be aware of the interest of the learners.
Here is the link to Triptico.
http://www.triptico.co.uk/home
Triptico could be suitable for a wide range of age groups, levels, as well as subjects. The teachers can make the questions easy or difficult depending on the their needs or according to the interest or levels of their students. Not only language teachers but also any teachers of any subjects can make good use of this tool.
The teacher can ask a student to answer the questions in front of the class. Also, s/he can project the materials on the screen and invite the whole class to answer the questions.
The teacher should take the learners' age, levels or even genders into consideration. I find it useful when it is used as a warming-up activity as it provides learners with quick activities. I assume it can gain students' attention very easily, however, the excessive use can make learners bored or make them think that it is useless especially when the learners are older than 15/16 years old or when they consider entrance examinations for high ranked universities. Also, the older girls become, the less interested they become in this game-like activity (of course it always depends on the learner groups).
Downloading is free. Once you download it, you can choose activities from the menu screen. It can make funny sounds when they get a right/wrong answer.
You can also choose your favourite TIMERS or SELECTORS.
Here is what I have made using "What's the Question?". This activity helps learners to build the question by looking at the answer. The teacher are invited to make groups.
It took more time to think about 12 questions than I expected. One reason for this is that I didn't have a clear image of the learners. It will be important to include questions which can help students to remember what they have leanrt as well as questions which will be helpful for their following learning. The teacher also should be aware of the interest of the learners.
Here is the link to Triptico.
http://www.triptico.co.uk/home
Wednesday, 14 January 2015
Voki
Voki is a free online language learning/teaching tool (*not fully free). This allows you and your learners to make your own avatar easily. Even novice user of technologies like me have no difficulties to get started. Your avatar can speak, can move its eye glance. The teacher can create a Voki Classroom, upload voice messages, and interact with the learners.
This is especially suitable for young learners but could interest all age groups. As the majority of children today are supposed to play video games, Voki would be a good opportunity to get their attention.
Although creating his/her own avatar is fun and attractive, managing online classrooms requires a lot of work to the teacher, and keeping the learners' attention would be another one.
Here is my first avatar. Some options are not open to those who are not signed in for VOKI CLASSROOM or VOKI PRESENTATER.
Here is the link to Voki.
http://www.voki.com/
Here is the training video provided by Russell Stannard, who is teaching us about the use of ICT in language classrooms.
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/audio-podcasting/voki.html
This is especially suitable for young learners but could interest all age groups. As the majority of children today are supposed to play video games, Voki would be a good opportunity to get their attention.
Although creating his/her own avatar is fun and attractive, managing online classrooms requires a lot of work to the teacher, and keeping the learners' attention would be another one.
Here is my first avatar. Some options are not open to those who are not signed in for VOKI CLASSROOM or VOKI PRESENTATER.
Here is the link to Voki.
http://www.voki.com/
Here is the training video provided by Russell Stannard, who is teaching us about the use of ICT in language classrooms.
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/audio-podcasting/voki.html
Thursday, 8 January 2015
Using ICT in language classrooms
Using ICT in language classrooms
Why is it useful?
That can help make classrooms more interactive and communicative. Each student can participate in the activity and there will be more teacher-student interaction as well as student-student interaction. The activity will be more diverse and interesting as there are a lot of learning materials from all over the world in the internet.What do we need?
Facilities will be important. One computer for each student at least. Also the class size will be important because one of the benefits using ICT could be the possibility for the teacher to address each student. Less than 15 students might be ideal?What might be dangers?
Teacher's attention to each student and to student-student interaction will be crucial because students might insult each other or there will be bullying. The accessibility to certain websites should be limited and controlled by the teacher.
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