Teaching Through Technology

9/11/13

SPEAKING SKIILS web tools

After listening to Shelly Terrel`s webinar I`ve chosen 3 web tools to use in order to develop my student`s speaking skills.
One of them is to create a voki so that students can choose between animals, insects, characters, cartoons they can select and choose their styles, their hair, accesories, clothing, and more then they can choose a background. Students may write what their characters would like to say or they can even record their voice and umpload a clip of them speaking.
I`d use this one for instance to make students who are shy or don`t want to talk much in class, because by having a voki they can express their ideas without actually being exposed to the whole class. I`d also use it in order to make my students identify or personalize their profiles for instance if they work with a blog they will have to create a voki that represents them and says what they would like to say about themselves.

voki

Another tool GoAnimate.com. With this tool students can create their own videos. Teachers can also use it for creating animated lessons for their classes.Students just have to select the characters, a background according to the topic and the characters and then they will type or recrod their own voices to make characters "talk". It`s a great tool to use in the classroom when creating any story or just short conversarions.

http://goanimate.com/

The last one is BLABERIZE! I think this web tool is great and very creative. Students choose a photo, it could be of their own or just any photo or picture they want and they will make as if the photo could talk and move its lips. It`s a great tool for students to create their own characters and express any ideas. For instance they will record differnet messages for their classrmates and they will record their voices and make the picture to talk. If students are working with a history project maybe they can choose a picture of a very well-known an important figure and make as if he/she could talk about any particular moment in the history of the world.

platform 9 3/4

Finally I found the platform 9 3/4. It does exist!!!

I Hope you like the different tools I chose and find the ideas useful !
I totally believe that by using these tools students can improve and practice speaking by doing something creative and appealing at the same time.

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Magaly

GAMIFY THE CLASSROOM

Nowadays with technology being so close to students teachers should make use of it meaningfully. Students are used to playing games at home using their computers or different devices such as iPods, tablets, smart phones, notebooks. I believe it`s a good idea to take advantage of student`s abilities on using technology and encourage them to use and to play games that allow them to learninc and practice the language identally. Of course games should engage students and help them develop certain skills while at the same allowing them to have fun.

After reading Graham Stanley`s blog and actually listened to him in a skype conference I`d say that the most difficult task for teachers is that of choosing a suitable game for students to have fun and practice their language. Teachers should also plan and adapt the task that is going to be carried out by using the game according to student`s needs and interests. Teachers also need to use specific criteria for choosing and presenting the game to the learners.

Finally I`s say there are plenty of games online that can improve and be part of the learner`s process in an innovative and funny way.

One of the games that Graham presents in his blog is called Sveerz . It is simple game aimed at beginners in which they can learn and practice colours. In this games the teacher may first give a short presentation on the colours and show them how to play the game. This game includes different variations such as memory game, puzzle, rhythm versions. Some of them are available online and some others need to be downloaded.

I`ve chosen and I tried the “memory game” and I think it`s a great game for 4-6 year old children who are learning the colours to develop their listening and speaking skills. I`d use it for students to have fun and learn and practice English incidentally.

DIGITAL PLAY BLOG

2/11/13

CLASSTOOL: TWISTER MESSAGES

twister message

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Magaly

Here I present one of the webtools proposed by Nick Peachy in the 47th Annual International IATFL Conference and Exibition.

In his presentation "Evaluating Web based tools for ELT he proposed one that caught my attention, it is called Blipfoto.com.

It is a an Edinburgh-based online daily photo journal and social networking service that allows people to share their pictures and tell their stories one day at a time.

History:

In October 2004, Blipfoto founder Joe Tree spent a few hours on a rainy Sunday afternoon building a simple website which let him publish just one photo a day on the internet and write something about it. He set himself two simple rules: he could only upload one picture a day, and it had to be taken on that day.^[3]
After amassing a loyal following, In the summer of 2006, Tree released a very rudimentary version of Blipfoto and invited 15 other people to join in. It let anyone set up a journal of their own, upload one picture a day, write some words, and comment on other people’s material. This was subsequently opened to anyone.^[4]
In November 2009 the site won a BAFTA Scotland award for the best website.^[5]
Following the BAFTA win, in December 2010 Blipfoto announced seed investment which allowed the business to turn from a project into a full-time venture.^[6]
In 2011 it was voted as best Scottish website by arts and culture magazine The List.^[7]
Founder Joe Tree has spoken at a number of high profile events, including TEDx,^[8] Social Media Week ^[9] and Pecha Kucha.^[10]
Blipfoto also works in partnership with a number of large organisations on photographic projects and competitions. It premiered a film – life.turns - at the Edinburgh Art Festival in 2010. The stop motion film was created using 1205 photographs taken in 21 countries over 40 days.^[11]^[12]
This was the inspirations behind Scotland The World Over, a collaboration with Scotland.org. The film centred on the Scottish Saltire flag, showing people in 32 countries around the world holding the flag. The film was compiled between St. Andrew's Day 2011 and Burns Night 2012.

The 47th Annual International IATEFL Conference & Exhibition - See more at: http://iatefl.britishcouncil.org/2013/sessions/2013-04-11/evaluating-web-based-tools-language-instruction#sthash.UHXYTQJ2.dpuf

Retreived from Wikipedia.

In Nick`s words, I`d say it is a great web-based tool for teaching English because by using it, students can develop their writing and their creativity by posting a photo every day and writing about that day.
Answering some of Nick`s questions: as regards the Language potential it is a good tool for developing different tasks that allows students to focus on form and language. Posting a photo and writing something about it will encourage students to practice writing and therefore their grammar.
As regards Learner fit, I`d say the task will suit for the purpose of practising writing and also for student`s abilities.
Is learner`s attention directed primarily toward the meaning of the language? It is not primarily directed I think, but through a creative way students will be using the language and telling about their day.
As regards authenticity students will be motivated by this web tool and they will develop their language skills outside the classroom in an original activity and also interesting and motivating for them. They will not only have to write but also share with others what they comment about their photos.
As to the Impact I`m not sure if students will learn more about hte target language, I`d say they will have to practise and consequently they`ll profit from that.
Finally, I`d say that the tool allows the task to be successful with students and as I personally enjoy taking pictures and editing them I think it`s a great idea to put it into practice with my students. It`s great if you can describe each day of your life just by showing a picture and writing something about it to share with the others. Photos will be also fantastic triggers for writing stories.

I`d definitely vote for BLIPFOTO.
Here you have the link so that you can take a look at it and evaluate it yourself.

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Magaly BLIPFOTO

Try with Diigo!!

Do you often forget to save some good and interesting webpages taht you found when surfing the net?
Here you have the solution!
DIIGO ACCOUNT!
I`ve already created my account so to save and sharethe links of the webpages I sometimes use for teaching!

DIIGO ACCOUNT

See you all
Magaly

1/11/13

CASE STUDY- 1.7 a MOBILE GAMES

This case was carried out in UK in order to solve a cultural problem of newly arrived Eastern European parents and their pre-school children to facilitate home-school communication and support their acquisiton of English.

The tasks were carried out at home so that students together with their families could practice English as a second language.
The content was organized into different themes related to English culture such as vocabulary, spelling, word associations, speaking, listening, reading, writing and grammar in context. That would be the content of the activity in PuenteDura`s words.
The content was going to be practised and developed through a software which presents game-based activities recording progression. That would be the pedagogy part.
As for the technology use, students will use different mobile apps that are created and suggested by the teacher to play and at the same time learn English.

I persoanally believe that this case study provides a good way of practice for students whose first language is not English. It`s also befenifial for student`s parents who through this kind of homework they will work and learn together with their kids and at the same time they will have fun together.