Web tools for enhancinglanguage teaching and learning

March 2012graham.stanley@gmail.com

http://webtoolsforefl.wikispaces.com/

About me

About the webinarThere are many different tools on the Web that can be used to motivate students to speak, read, listen, or write. But which of them should we use? And how to get the most out of them? In this session, we'll look at a variety of websites that can be easily used by any teacher to enhance the learning and practice of language either in a computer room or using a class set of laptops. I'll be giving you ideas how to exploit these tools- From interactive posters to voice discussion; animated cartoon strips to digital monster pets; a range of activities will discussed and links to examples available at:  http://webtoolsforefl. wikispaces.com

Digital monster pets

Moshi Monsters http://www.moshimonsters.com/ lets you adopt a virtual pet. It's aimed at Primary age kids and can be used by the teacher as a virtual classroom pet. It's great to use in class if you have a connected classroom and can motivate speaking and listening. You can also encourage students to adopt their own and make friends of each other, writing on each other's walls, etc.

Simple webpages

Pen.io http://pen.io/ is a simple way of publishing text on a web page. It also allows you to embed Youtube videos - to be used mainly with Secondary classes

Projects with timelines

Xtimeline http://www.xtimeline.com/ is a tool that lets you create a timeline with text, video, etc. It is an original and fun way for Secondary learners to work on projects, particullarly about famous people, etc.

Voice discussion

Voxopop http://www.voxopop.com is a voice discussion board that is a great way of getting Secondary learners involved in discussions. Ask the learners to listen to some of the discussions and/or create your own class discussion and ask them to respond. Another idea is to ask them to create an opinion survey - they ask the question and answer the other students' questions, then summarise the opinions of everyone in writing.

Animated cartoon strips

Go Animate http://goanimate.com is an easy way of creating short, animated cartoons. Use it with Secondary learners to illustrate example language (as a warmer) or get the students to make cartoon stories of their work and share them. After asking the students to produce a story, hold a film festival and follow this with an Awards ceremony (like the Oscars).

Interactive posters

Glogster http://www.glogster.com/ can be used with both Primary and Secondary learners to make student writing fun. Learners can also make posters of their favourite songs / bands and share them on a class wiki or a blog. A teacher can also make a glog as a fun way of introducing something.

Talking photos

Blabberise http://blabberize.com/ automatically animates a photo that you add a recorded voice to, and is ideal for use with primary or secondary learners

Word cloud creators

Tagxedo http://www.tagxedo.com is another cool tool that is particullarly good at presenting word clouds using original designs. It can also be used to inspire writing. Suggested use: Use the tool to present mixed-up versions of very short stories (e.g. urban myths) for the students to unravel

Simple digital voicemail

Vocaroo http://vocaroo.com is the easiest way to record audio. You and your students can use it to send each other voice messages which can be private or public.

Safe video sharing

Sometimes when showing a Youtube clip, you might not want your learners to see the other content on the site (either because it is inappropriate or could distract them), so use a site such as SafeShare (http://www.safeshare.tv/ ) to only show the video you want them to see. You can also crop the videos before you show them, so this site can be used as a teaching aid too, when you want to only show part of a video for some reason.

Thank you! Any questions?

More ideas here:

http://webtoolsforefl.wikispaces.com/

Graham Stanley, graham.stanley@blogefl.com