Virtual=Real

Using QR in the Classroom

2011-09-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed increasing uses of QR (Quick Response) codes, for example, to make a trail of ecology facts in a national park, or to provide a self-guided tour of a museum exhibition. I've returned to this YouTube video, from the American TESOL Institute channel, several times, as it has some great ideas for using QR (Quick Response) codes with students:

http://youtu.be/V0kdbBTwF7U

The video describes what QR is, how you can make your own, and how you can teach students to make their own for content-based projects, to link to podcasts, to make electronic portfolios, etc. For example, as seen in this image, students can scan the QR with their mobiles to get more information about skeletal structure.

If students construct the content they create reusable learning objects for subsequent classes to read, listen to, and improve.

Thanks to Webheads for finding this great video originally. There are a number of other videos on QR with more ideas in the YouTube sidebar.

EduMOOC

2011-07-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

Google's EduMOOC is astounding and fun. You can be in touch with 2500 teachers and learners in the grand experiment in volunteer, free, online learning.

Although the MOOC is just for this summer (July-August), you can use the discussions, videos, and resources (Diigo group) asynchronously. Read all about it at Polly Peterson's Education-Portal blog.
Sign in to Google first to access everything.

EFL CLASSROOM MONTHLY NEWSLETTER

2011-02-14T07:10:00.000-08:00

This monthly blog/newsletter from EFL Classroom gives you ideas, resources, and a place to set up your own online classroom. Links to video talks, new online resources, ongoing discussions and blogs, student-created content, ideas for current seasonal holidays, and their own Diigo Group, et al.

EFL Classroom has developed well over the past year or so, and is well worth following.

Teaching Academic Writing

2011-02-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

This is a great blog about teaching academic writing. The author, Dr. Rachael Cayley, Univ of Toronto, is obviously an experienced, well-trained teacher of composition. I'm looking forward to the subsequent issues.

Reverse Outlines

I have tagged this post with reading and mind-mapping, as Reverse Outlining is also a very useful technique for understanding academic papers and how extensive texts are organized.

Glogster

2010-12-11T08:03:00.000-08:00

Just revisiting Gloster again. Could be very useful for creative students, perhaps to build a collage based on their reading of a work.

Here's a little poster I built with my granddaughter. (Actual size is 960 X 1300.) The app is free.

TED: John Underkoffler points to the future of User Interface

2010-07-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

This video from the TED (Technology, Education, and Design)conference in February (Long Beach, CA) has some astonishing new ways to look at user wetware-computer connections.

It's amazing to see Tom Cruise's Minority Report interface now displayed with many different ramifications. The new interfaces use computations that are "space-soluable and network-soluable," allowing a user to drag/send their visual information from one "monitor" to another,both co-located and in space, with a hand gesture. In five years' time will this be the computer we get??

For more TED Talks see http://www.TED.com.

WolframAlpha

2010-06-29T10:47:00.000-07:00

WolframAlpha is an amazing third-generation search engine that can tell you almost anything about anything: math, chemistry, socioeconomics, geography, etc. You can input a formula, or just a few words as a question, and Wolfram will make the appropriate assumptions about what you want to know. Especially good with relational data, e.g., what's the ratio of France's GDP to Italy's?

The screencast illustrates a few of the many ways this tool can be useful: http://www.wolframalpha.com/screencast/introducingwolframalpha.html

This should be an excellent classroom tool, both in content-based projects and math work, and for general English, writing research papers, making predictions, etc.

Personas for Firefox

2010-06-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

Just had some fun creating my own "persona" (theme) for my Firefox browser.

https://www.getpersonas.com/

This might be a good activity for your students. They need to create a long, narrow photo for the top and the bottom of the browser, and then upload it to the site. All the step-by-step directions and specifications are at the site (a good reading activity, and/or watch the tutorial video), and they can try it out before uploading. After the photo is accepted, they can share their personal favorites and/or make their theme public for others to use.

You will need to be able to download an add-on to Firefox before starting the process, so this may require the OK from your school administration or tech support. However, the download itself takes only a few seconds.

Web 3.0

2010-05-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

Webhead Moira Hunter tipped me off (see her blog) to this interesting video about Web 3.0, the semantic Web, as seen on Kate Ray's Vimeo site:

Web 3.0 from Kate Ray on Vimeo.

It gets increasingly interesting as you watch: should the semantic Web have pre-defined ontologies? Of course, Vance Stevens and most Webheads would answer a resounding "no!" If contemporary Web is increasingly about social networking, it is left to developers to help us find and explore new ways of interconnecting.

TinyChat

2010-05-10T18:26:00.001-07:00

TinyChat looks to be a very useful little Twitter-related tool for meeting up with students or colleagues on the fly, especially if you have a Webcam built into your computer. It's free and anyone can enter by typing in a nickname--or you can make the chat private.

My own room is at http://tinychat.com/twitter/ElizabethHS

Thanks to fellow Webhead, Rita Zeinstejer for the tip.

Resources for Teaching Poetry

2010-04-25T19:12:00.000-07:00

Just came across Google's tool, Search Stories, for creating a video out of your online searches. I did one on Resources for Teaching Poetry.

It's a pretty nifty tool, and students might get a kick out of using it as a way to present their initial searches in a content-based project.

Teaching Poetry

2010-04-21T14:04:00.001-07:00

This great little slideshow, Teaching Poetry, at Slideshare, illustrates many of the types of poems taught by Kenneth Koch in Wishes, Lies, and Dreams, my all-time favorite book on how to teach poetry.

Teaching Poetry

View more presentations from mungo13.

You can analyze each slide/poem and then have your students write something similar. It is amazing how rapidly they come to understand what metaphoric language is and how to use it. I have also put some more specific directions and other examples of poetry on my Website at Quicksteps to Teaching Poetry. This was one of the favorite parts of my Liberal Arts Teachers class in English.

A related site, Poetry Tools, offers a nifty little Flash tool so that students can generate some nice little Metaphors right online, or download the tool for desktop use. This is a nice way to introduce the poetry writing sessions suggested by the Teaching Poetry slideshow.

And be sure to get Koch's book if you want to know more. It's available at Amazon.com.

280 Slides

2010-04-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

I was directed to 280 slides by Nik Peachey's Ten Teacher Development Tasks for Web2.0 Tools (yes, I am still slogging on with them...) The presentation tool is really fun to use, and here is my exercise task completed. It's for intermediate students, who watch the two videos and make notes using an online dictionary, thesaurus, and/or translator, then write up a description of "My Favorite House."

You can also send the embedded video to Slideshare, or email it to friends.

My writing activity is very similar to Nik's, but I gave it different twist by using pairs at the computer, some online vocabulary resources, and a writing process with note-taking and discussion built-in.

Here is Nik's simpler version: Getting Video Tasks Online

WETOKU

2010-02-04T03:41:00.000-08:00

Wetoku is a nifty little Internet app that sets up two talking heads--the interviewer and the interviewee. This is perfect for many classroom activities. The introductory video below (5 min. +) gives some tips on doing a good interview, so it's a nice way to get students started using the program.

The Bases for a Personal Learning Network

2010-01-13T05:51:00.000-08:00

These are excerpts from a Kim Cofino fireside talk at WorldBridges, as edited by Vance Stevens.

Her main points form the basis for a Personal Learning Network--what every teacher really needs in the Digital Age:

Tools
- RSS feed - find out what other professionals are thinking about and stay up to date
- Join an education social network - learn and share with other teachers
- Start a blog - express yourself and monitor your own growth as a professional
- Use Skype to share and connect with other professionals
- Attend online conferences - both synchronously and asynchronously [WorldBridges is a good place to catch up and get into conferences]
- Use Twitter - find professionals and make connections [Vance's own anecdotes are clear illustrations of how useful this can be]
- Design global online interactions for your students [e.g., iEarn, GLOBE, or your own class-to-class project]

Attitudes
- Be more flexible and try out more collaborative approaches
- Allow for student-led processes, and learning from peers
- Learn, create, and share with your students
- Use the Internet to let your students connect with other students--and teachers--around the world
- Students in developing countries already have "global attitudes" - multicultural and multilingual perspectives, so take advantage of these

Pranav Mistry's Sixth Sense Technology

2009-12-15T19:13:00.001-08:00

These wearable technologies were seen about 10 yrs ago at the MIT Media Lab, but this goes even farther (and smaller). Clever, and Mistry wants them to be open source. (About 13 min., but a must-see.)

Thanks to Webhead Andy Picon for the tip!

iSpeech Voice and Podcaster

2009-12-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to get a newer, better look for my blog, but wound up back with the old style, but the new interface. Alas, my old blog is gone.

But this looks a little newer and crisper, I've got a new photo up, and I finally found a new text-to-speech reader in iSpeech. Et voilá! it is also a podcaster, so I'm feeling up to date. You click on the little icon to hear the text read, or go to the Podcast in the sidebar to start the feed.

The interface at the iSpeech site was simplicity itself to use:

I didn't even have to get a registration key. Interestingly, it is a dot org.

Let's hope it is as good as it looks--it does try to read a little too fast, but that may just be my processor speed or the server speed today.

The Christmas Challenge VoiceThread

2009-12-11T13:04:00.000-08:00

A nice holiday student project where cultural concepts of Christmas and personal greetings and wishes are recorded. A nice use for VoiceThread, which can also be downloaded to a desktop as an archive for listening practice.

The Christmas Challenge
by Alex G. Francisco

A collaborative project developed by Esayan Armenian High School in Turkey and Escola Básica e Secundária Gonçalves Zarco in Portugal, Dec 7, 2009.

WallWisher

2009-12-10T07:29:00.000-08:00

WallWisher is not as useful pedagogically as other social networking tools I can think of.

You can add a picture (from a URL), or video, or audio file, but it doesn't have a way to put a URL into the text (without using up the tiny letter count), so that users can easily go visit the site. If you want to illustrate your sticky, you need another place/server/or knowledge of how to get an image location to stick it in. You can post to Facebook, et al., and link to pictures in Flickr.

The limited number of words/letters on a sticky means you can't say much--this is probably an advantage for young learners, but not necessarily for their education. A blog or wiki would give them the opportunity to be more expansive.

You could have a main sticky and then ask students to respond to it. But there is no way to organize the stickies besides moving them around physically. So this means the teacher/owner of the wall must do the work of organization, or let things happen at random. (See Nik Peachey's wall of teacher tools for social networking.)

So on the whole, I like the idea of a communal blog or wiki better: more opportunity to write expansively, ways to comment, RSS feed, easy ways to include URLs and lots of pictures, and esp. with a wiki, ways to organize pages.

But I can see Wallwisher as a way to make comments on an event or single Web page. You might have students visit a page or view a video (or put one into a head sticky), and then make a short comment on a Wallwisher page. If you have only 15-30 students, they could all read each other's comments (but if they then make more comments, you've quickly got a huge, disorganized mess...) If you use WallWisher the way it was intended, perhaps to wish a class member happy birthday, or to congratulate someone on getting citizenship, or to make a wish list, or to put up reminders for a project, then it's a nifty application.

Archival Video Sites

2009-12-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

Both OurMedia and the Internet Archive are unbelievably slow and have made their interfaces much more difficult to use. OurMedia just transferred my video to a new address without telling me, and I can't find it at all on the Internet Archive. In OurMedia, a search for tags and for titles and for owner--none of them--didn't come up with the video, but it was still there. Go figure!

I also tried to edit the description in OurMedia to include the Web address of the wiki that also contains the presentation, but with no luck. I was asked to join a group before I could edit my own work--couldn't find any with "education" through the search engine, though I could see a few with that word in the title from a list. I then was told I hadn't completed the CSID (the test of human user), but that box wasn't available at the page where I was doing the editing. No win!

I hope to get the video from the 2008 TESOL presentation embedded here in the blog below. We'll see how long it lasts as a real link!

The address is now http://www.ourmedia.org/node/88432

Another video archive site, AuthorStream is also very slow. My presentation there (no audio) is at
http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/ElizabethHS-224813-effect-tech-sla-entertainment-ppt-powerpoint/. The sound version apparently has just vanished or was never accepted as an unload because it was too large or the wrong format.

Blip.tv still has the presentation, and seemed to load about the fastest. Unfortunately, it's not a place to take the children...

These sites are very frustrating, and I'm glad I uploaded the presentation to multiple venues. With the economic downturn in 2009, there has been a lot of moving and shaking, and I think there will be more changes in store in early 2010.

Animoto

2009-11-17T12:50:00.000-08:00

Animoto is easy to use and a lot of fun! You can upload photos and video, and the app puts them together in a kaleidoscope of shapes and forms. You can also add music from your desktop or purchase something from iTunes. Once the video is completed, you can edit it, and share via email or embedding your blog or Website, as I have done here:

The free version of this editing tool is only 30 seconds long (about 12 photos). For $3 US you can upgrade to an any length video, or for $30, you can make any length videos for a year. Ronaldo Lima's school uses the latter option, and students use Animoto extensively as a way of publishing their projects.

To use the program, students would take and select photos and video of their project, arrange and upload the shots, and select appropriate music. (There is very little writing involved, unlike other programs where there might be titling on each photo.) I believe students could, however, create a desktop recording (e.g., with Audacity) describing the photos as they flash by, and use that file instead of the "music" accompaniment. For an additional $5 per video, you can make a higher resolution or MPG4 version that can be downloaded and/or burned to a DVD.

Thanks to Ronaldo Lima of the Webheads for mentioning this app.

ScreenJelly

2009-11-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

This little screencasting app, ScreenJelly, seems very easy to use, though it has only a 3-minute recording time limit. You can record what you are doing on your computer screen with your own voice-over. The program is very self-evident, i.e., it takes only a few minutes to figure out how to use it (and there is a helpful how-to video both here and at Stannard's TTV site). I can see its immense usefulness for a teacher (or students) to create little help videos for new technology learners. Links or embedding are possible with such social Web tools as Twitter or Flickr, et al.

Thanks to Russell Stannard--found on his most useful site.

Google Wave

2009-11-05T16:04:00.000-08:00

Google Wave (see The Complete Guide) looks like the re-invention of email, kind of a combination of bulletin board, screencast, and mail. It will definitely be a pleasure to use. This is a nice illustration of the Wave:

There are a number of other things it can do, like embed "attachments," and I imagine it will have some audio/voice capability. You need an invitation to try it, however.

Sidebar RSS Aggregator for Firefox

2009-07-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

The explanation below is pretty minimal, but the Firefox site will give you illustrated directions to get started. While it claims not to be a replacement for a full-fledged aggregator, it functions quite nicely as a quick and easy to install reader. This might be an easy way to get students reading each other's blogs.

Feed Sidebar

Tapiohka U

2009-07-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

Tapiohka University is a WYSIWYG course management system that looks much easier to use than Moodle, so it might even be appropriate for younger learners, e.g., upper elementary school. I'd love to try this out with a short course.

A free site, teachers can set up a class bulletin board, type in a syllabus, create a calendar, divide students into groups, etc. The "Lecture" page can be set up to allow students to add Web links, resources, etc.

Thanks to Moira Hunter, Webhead for the tip on this one.

One True Media

2009-06-17T05:27:00.000-07:00

One True Media is a sort-of free video creation site, but all the good features, e.g., text over, are only for premium users (currently at $39.99).

Here is a sample from my grand-daughter's recent ballet recital at San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

You can share, upload to a blog, iPod, or YouTube, create a DVD (at $24.99), and download (also a premium feature) but not store for viewing on site. The DVD is supposed to be high quality.

If you have trouble seeing the video player, click here:
Avery in Alice 6/13

Google's Evernote

2009-06-05T12:52:00.000-07:00

So here is a totally cool tool: Evernote by Google. You can use it with your mobile or with any browser to capture stuff in a permanent file visually. But Evernote will even read words in an image--including handwritten words. So, for instance, you could take a picture of a sticky note on your mobile and send it to Evernote to retrieve, by search, later on.

This will no doubt give new impetus to ways to read images that are intending to avoid spamcatchers, but I love the concept.

Thanks to Rita Zeinstejer of the Webheads for this tip!

YouTube podEnglish Videos

2009-06-05T12:02:00.001-07:00

These podEnglish language learning videos are unique in that they are based on social situations, e.g., vocabulary for discussing fear, as well as particular content topics.

Check out the tab on the right of the YouTube video, >More From: podEnglish, to see several dozen different topics. The videos are obviously intended to be used as ipod lectures.

Thanks to Evelyn Izquierdo from Learning with Computers for this tip!

Google Wave

2009-06-02T11:48:00.001-07:00

This is an amazing new app from Google that allows instant texting, email combined with live/real time bulletin board, and shared pictures á la Flickr. But that's not all--you can blog and embed the pictures and continue the conversation live via the blog or social network, e.g., on Orkut. Anyone can join in at any point in the conversation, and get a playback of what went on before--or create a private "thread" on the side with specific users. Best of all (for some) it is open source, so you can make your own applets for it.

Or catch the Google Wave preview here.

TeacherTube

2009-05-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

TeacherTube has expanded from video how-tos--both for using tech tools and for content-based stuff--to include docs, photos, audio, etc. And all for the use of teachers with their classes.

It will take some poking around, but the site has some good stuff: from teachers to teachers.

CALL-IS Virtual Software List

2009-05-04T09:02:00.000-07:00

I've started a Virtual Software List on Diigo for the CALL Interest Section of TESOL. So far the bookmark site has been pretty lively. I've set up a list of possible tags in the Group Forum, but of course, everyone is using whatever they want. Luckily, Diigo lets me add a few more. I've recommended that at least the VSL tag should be used to put it in our group list.

The idea is to pool our communal wisdom about good sites for teachers and learners of EFL/ESL. Both CALL IS members and Webheads are using the site, and anyone can join in the fun. The address is http://www.diigo.com/user/call_is_vsl (click on the ALL tab to see the bookmarks).

You need to be a member of Diigo and join the CALL_IS_VSL group to add to the list.

You can see the list of recommended tags in the Group Forum, or open the Tags tab on the right side of any page in the group and click on a tag to see related sites.

It's a nice example of Web 2.0 at work in the education community.

TokBox

2009-05-04T08:55:00.001-07:00

TokBox is a fun way to get students talking by sending each other video mail or greeting cards. Can also be used to call someone.

Discussion on Paraphrasing on the TESOL SLW-IS List

2009-04-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

I'd greatly appreciate any help with this. I'm in my final semester in a master's program in adult ESL. I'm doing an internship in an intensive college-prep program. I'm preparing a lesson on paraphrasing for a group of low-level students. These students struggle with reading and do not yet know how to write persuasive essays. They're still working on paragraphs, but they need to begin getting the idea of paraphrasing.

Any suggestions for resources or activities would be greatly appreciated--especially ideas for how to scaffold from simpler kinds of paraphrasing to writing about a text.

My plan at this point is to start with asking them to explain the meaning of a basic proverb like, Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

Thanks to all,
Sheri Stein

- - - - - - - -

I think note-taking is good way to start paraphrasing, and it also encourages students to read more actively.

I would demonstrate how to take notes on a short essay, putting the notes in outline on the board or with an OHP. Then have students make notes for a different short essay and compare their notes with each other.

Infoplease has some good ideas for students, and the second half of this page is about taking notes from texts:
<http://www.infoplease.com/homework/studyskills2.html>

Lifehack's advice on taking notes is a little complex for lower level students, but you could easily extrapolate his list of what is important to make notes of:
<http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/advice-for-students-taking-notes-that-work.html>

Those are just a few sites I pulled from a quick Google search of "taking notes."

Cheers--
--Elizabeth Hanson-Smith
CSUS, emeritus
http://ehansonsmith.blogspot.com

- - - - - - - - - -

Another activity I do with lower level students is use our ESL newspapers and have them all read the same article, usually about a high-beginner/low-intermediate level article. Then we work together to summarize/paraphrase the article in one paragraph on the board/OHP using fewer than 5 sentences. This is really challenging for them. I then break them into groups, and they do the same. Next they are assigned various articles and perform the same activity indivitually. It's good to have plenty of these newspapers on hand!

I follow up this activity a couple days later by having them all read an article, then put the article down, and then paraphrase the article without looking at it. This is really a stretch but a great exercise.

Best,

Monique Abbett
Ashland, ELS Language Centers
Southern Oregon University

- - - - - - - - - -

One thing I do to scaffold paraphrasing is an activity I call
"backwards paraphrasing," in which I give the "complex" version and
the students have to write the "simple" version. I base it on the
vocabulary we've been studying. For example, if we've had the words
gravity, require, deliberate, I might give the students a sentence
like:

The serious nature of the situation makes it necessary to
think carefully.

The students must replace the underlined phrases
with the correct form of the vocabulary word (if students are still
beginning, I may supply a list of the words in the correct form).
This accomplishes several things: 1) it scaffolds use of new
vocabulary, 2) it demonstrates a form of paraphrasing, and 3) it
leads to a good discussion about why we have to learn all that
vocabulary in the first place (conciseness and precision).

Sheryl Slocum
Alverno College

- - - - - - - - - -

Teaching paraphrasing is difficult, and while I see the value of this
suggested activity, it's an approach I avoid with students because some
may see this as plagiarizing the original author's sentence structure
by "plugging in" synonyms.

Instead, I ask students to look at a sentence, identify phrases and
parts of speech, and rearrange the information in "new" sentence
structure.

Thus, taking the original:

The serious nature of the situation makes it necessary to think carefully.

and taking it apart as phrases and parts of speech and how they
function:

the serious nature (noun phrase)
of the situation (prep. phrase), etc.
makes
it
necessary
to think
carefully

and turning it into a different structure:

Thoughtful consideration is necessary because the situation is grave.

This has the potential to teach vocabulary, accurate paraphrasing, and
sentence structure.

Heidi Anderson

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

As far as I know and have tried, I asked students to work in pairs on one article or one paragraph. I asked them to identify the idea in the article and discussed between one another. Then students were asked to write one paragraph for themselves by restating on what they have read in their own words. Next, the pairs exchanged the draft to one another. Each student commented on his/her friend's paragraph whether his/her friend had covered the idea stated in the article.

Pisarn Chamcharatsri

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The "pictograph" poster (or page) has been an effective paraphrasing strategy for beginners in my classes (High School/California). I usually start out by brainstorming the word "plagairize." We might discuss the meaning (from the Latin 'to kidnap'), why people plagairize, how it is interpreted in different cultures, the consequences in our society, school policy, etc. Once we've established the importance of paraphrasing (and citing) and quoting, I guide them to analyze the different formats with several hands-on activities that match quotes, paraphrases and summaries with examples from familiar texts. Next, we read and annotate a new text together. (I model the process the first time with a classroom example. Then, I give each group their own article to annotate.) For the pictograph, I supply groups of 3-4 students with posters (and an article or text of some sort per group), chart paper or regular paper. Then, I instruct them to include the following on their posters: the title of the text, the author, 3 bullets of significant facts or details and a drawing that represents a powerful idea or theme from the text. (If you have access to more technology, you could easily use online pictures or clip art.) You could also have them include a key sentence or phrase quote. By encouraging students to reflect and create an icon, picture or "non-linguistic representation" (Marzano) of the reading, beginning students learn to paraphrase and avoid plagiarism.(Note: one way to make sure that everyone participated in the process is to ask that each student select a color marker and use only that color. They can sign their names in the same color.) When the students write their summaries or responses based on their own posters, they can paraphrase:)

Julie Goldman

- - - - - - - - - - -

This is a very interesting article on plagiarism by Dahlia Syahrani Md. Yusof I found when doing research for a writing class in the MA-TESL program at SPU in Seattle. It is from the Internet TESL Journal, Vol XV, No. 2, February 2009 http://iteslj.org/Articles/Yusof-Plagiarism.html

Dyani R. Bartlett

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Using Mobile Technologies for Education

2009-04-02T15:07:00.001-07:00

There was some discussion of using mobile technologies (cell phones, iPods, Blackberries, etc.) at TESOL Denver this year, but the following is the most succinct list I have seen:

Forwarding an edited mail from the Wikieducator list (Randy Fischer)

Randy found this 2008 University of Nottingham study on Mobile Phones
and secondary education, and thought it might be of interest.
http://emergingtech nologies. becta.org. uk/upload- dir/downloads/ page_documents/ research/ lsri_report. pdf

Several interesting things caught his eye:

1. the fact that in many schools, students 'own' their mobile phones,
not necessarily the computers. (Physical ownership and use feels
good);

2. the list of 15 Useful Things Students Do with Mobile Phones (below)

Could we use some of the 15 or more useful things to design
appropriate and culturallly- relevant learning activities?

What role could WikiEducator play in learning that uses mobile phones?

Fifteen useful things students did with mobile phones
1 Timing experiments with stopwatch
2 Photographing apparatus and results of experiments for reports
3 Photographing development of design models for eportfolios
4 Photographing texts/whiteboards for future review
5 Bluetoothing project material between group members
6 Receiving SMS & email reminders from teachers
7 Synchronising calendar/timetable and setting reminders
8 Connecting remotely to school learning platform
9 Recording a teacher reading a poem for revision
10 Accessing revision sites on the Internet
11 Creating short narrative movies
12 Downloading and listening to foreign language podcasts
13 Logging into the school email system
14 Using GPS to identify locations
15 Transferring files between school and home

--Thanks to Bee Dieu on the Webheads' list for this report

Movie Segments to Assess Grammar Goals

2009-04-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

...is really something of a misnomer, since it is more a blog where students can practice various grammar and syntax items using questions and exercises set by the teacher, Claudio Azevedo (Casa Thomas Jefferson, Brasilia), with the prompt being video clips (professional), rather than a textbook.

The video at Movie Segments is a really nice motivator, and the questions and exercises have a good deal of subtlety, deploying a cognitive approach that engages the student and goes beyond sheer grammar. It is also a nice expression of how a blog can be used instructionally. Frequent updates are promised.

--Thanks to Ronaldo Lima, Jr., on the Webheads' list for the referral

Online Magazines

2009-03-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

Webheads have been collecting ideas for creating e-zines. Here is the list of potential Internet sites and software that might be used for free or cheaply:

To create a magazine online
http://www.formatpi xel.com/go/ en/index. php
http://www.presspub lisher.com/

To publish in the form of magazine (first you need to create the
contents and export to pdf)
http://issuu. com/
http://www.yudu. com/
http://www.mixbook. com/

To export to pdf (an example):
pdfcreator:
http://sourceforge. net/project/ downloading. php?group_ id=57796& use_mirror= switch&filename= PDFCreator- 0_9_7_setup. exe&a=75987836

For desktop publishing
Scribus (locally in your computer)
http://sourceforge. net/project/ downloading. php?group_ id=125235& use_mirror= dfn&filename= scribus-1. 3.3.12-win32- install.exe& a=17416234

to draw a poster
inkscape (Vector Graphics Editor)
http://sourceforge. net/project/ downloading. php?groupname= inkscape& filename= Inkscape- 0.46.win32. exe&use_mirror= garr

OpenOfice Draw
Download: http://download. openoffice. org/

to create posters online
http://www.glogster .com/

Thanks to Fernanda Rodrigues in Portugal for summarizing this thread.

Acer Netbook a Star!

2009-03-14T14:15:00.000-07:00

We are back from travels in South America and were absolutely delighted with the mini-laptop. It connected flawlessly to wireless in all the various hotels (and ship) where we stayed, unlike our older PC, which tried to get back to our home network, no matter where we set up. And being under 2 lbs, it was a cinch to carry around. It also worked perfectly with Skype--one of the real pleasures of the trip was being able to call home from anywhere with crystal clear sound quality.

The lack of a CD ROM drive is occasionally a pain. For instance, I can't upload pictures and burn a CD, so we may eventually have to buy a CD burner--however, it has a Flash card port, so pix can be uploaded directly to, say, Kodak Gallery, without first loading them into the computer. Very convenient. I'm thinking of getting it out and setting it up at home (with fibre optic cable) in order to upload stuff while I work on one of the other computers.

So, size, convenience, and speed--what more could be asked for? Oh, it's free if you buy a cell/satellite mobile connection through AT&T, which requires a 2-yr contract. Otherwise, it's $350, which is what I paid for it at Office Depot.

New Netbook!

2009-01-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

I bought a little (9-1/2 X 7 X 1") netbook from Office Depot--an Acer One with 160 GB hard drive, excellent RAM and accelerated cache for video--and only 2 lbs.

Here's what I said about it to the Webheads:

I spent the first day downloading the things I like to use, e.g.,
Mozilla Firefox and OpenOffice. (That's why I wanted the big hard
drive--earlier models come with only 8 GB.) The second day I spent
trying to get the USB fax modem to work because I will be on dialup in
places. Acer doesn't come with an internal modem, so I bought an
external. I had to download the US Robotics driver, since Acer doesn't
have a CD drive to load the software either. But Windows reports a
.dll file missing, and I have been unable to find it online. Meantime
the modem blew out a phone line, that is, it couldn't hang up the line
when it didn't succeed in connecting. Very annoying--US Robotics says
it's the phone line and my phone provider says it's the modem. As I
was leaving and couldn't return it to the store, I brought the modem
with me, and will try to find someone with an external CD drive to
load the software for me. I wouldn't recommend USR. I'll also find
someone else's phone line to try it on!

I think Acer is correct in going with the non-phone modem concept--and
most software should be downloadable from the Internet.

I didn't have time to research the USR modem, but I realize now it is
probably 2004 technology. Meantime, the wireless and ethernet
connections on the Acer are functioning fine in several cities where I
traveled today from Sacto to Nashville to Ft Lauderdale. (I have no
idea what time zone my brain is in...)

Someone asked about price--$350 in the US at Office Depot. This was
much better than I saw for the DELL mini (online) and others, because
it included the larger HD. A similarly equipped Dell was over $450. It
was another $30 for the (so far) non-functioning external USR modem.
They can't keep the Acers on the shelf. In the 3 days it took for me
to decide to buy one, they had sold 11--just one left for me. [I checked
out the Acer here in Marathon, FL, and they had a deal--free if you buy
an AT&T cellphone modem, or $450 without it. Too pricey for me.]

One really neat thing--I could open it up fully on the airline tray
table--I've found increasingly that I couldn't use a 15" laptop on a
plane at all. Battery is only about 2-1/2 hrs, but I don't need the
upgrade that Gavin mentions, as I rarely use it unplugged.

One minor annoyance. I frequently increase the font/type size on
various Websites, but then they tend to readjust themselves if my
fingertips stray over the mousepad. I'm not sure why. It should only
change with Cntrl-+.

I've since found that the keyboard is a little small for my husband's fingers (he is losing dexterity because of peripheral neuropathy), and I've spent a long time with Outlook Express setup--why can't this be a Mac????? But otherwise, it is operating very well. I picked up the broadband connection from Comcast here in our Florida retreat by downloading online (it also came with a CD). So it's only the older technology of dial-up that I will have a problem with.

I'm wondering if this netbook--with a 24" monitor connected by one of the 3 USB ports--can't replace a regular-size computer. Of course their prices are plummeting.

And it's cute.

Looking at objects in Second Life

2008-12-31T04:38:00.001-08:00

Nice little instructional video on how to use the viewing options in SL, from sttaylor.

Second Life Tutorial: How to Look at Things

This YouTube page also has a list of other video tutorials for beginners.

My Interview on Absolutely Intercultural

2008-12-14T18:03:00.000-08:00

I was very pleased to be interviewed by Anne Fox for Absolutely intercultural. It's a great podcast for learners, carefully planned and executed, and Anne has a terrific speaking voice.

Our interview topic was language learning websites, and I spoke about my experiences with using Babbel (see my earlier blog on that). Unfortunately, I have been unable to find the time to keep up with it, but I notice I am getting a lot better at following conversations on TV programs in Spanish, so I guess it was of some use.

Learning Spanish Online

2008-12-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

Since I am trying to brush up on my Spanish, I was lucky to find the Webheads are also interested in the subject. Turns out there are a number of places to get at learning a language online. Here is a compendium of places to learn Spanish online from the Webheads e-list:

Spanish proficiency exercises on video:
http://www.laits.utexas.edu/spe/siteindex.php
and again from Twitter, here's a student of Spanish who blogs/twitters abou his learning: http://www.spanish-only.com/
--Graham Stanley

Netlanguages.com
--Gavin Dudeney

What started out as a fundraiser for a good cause through a series of podcasts back in 2006, has developed into an online Spanish language school for Ben and Maria, the British/Spanish couple that started it: Notes in Spanish
--Jane Petring

Have you looked at the BBC Spanish courses and resources? Some great stuff here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/
--Johanna Stirling

I am really enjoying Babbel.com.

There are sets of typical exercises, but done in a more imaginative
way than the usual drill-and-grill. Also, when you enter the site
there are short movies with a brief writing assignment. You write in
Spanish and send it to "Community" or "Friends" (once you get some).
They correct your Spanish, and you correct their English version in
tandem learning. I have since starting acquired about a half dozen
friends who correspond with me at the level I am capable of. It's
really Community Language Learning. So after studying the
Introductions exercises, I wrote a letter of introduction to send to
my Spanish-speaking Friends list.

Also Babbel has just added a chat function to have live meetings with
Friends--I haven't set one up yet, as I've been traveling. And one of
the people on my Friends list has requested a Skype conference. So
it's fun and very encouraging. You can start with beginning lessons or
select intermediate or advanced. I think it is already helping my
facility in the language. It is motivating to see what Friends are doing.

[And they don't seem to care that I am a 66-yr old grandma.]
--Elizabeth HS

I'd recommend Live Mocha.
Haven't been there in a while, but all this conversation has gotten me excited again to practice Spanish!
--Carla Arena

If you are looking to learn with a real online tutor you could
explore Speakshop.com.

Most of the tutors are based in South America and the project is set
up under a kind of 'fair trade ' model. The site acts as an agency
that trains and helps to equip teachers in poorer countries so that
they can earn money online internationally. You can find out a bit
more about the project here:
http://speakshop.com/06_aboutus

And the tutors here:
http://speakshop.com/02_tutors

--Nik Peachey

Join http://ar.groups.yahoo.com/ group/idioma-espagnol/. There are some interesting LINKS to practise the language.
--Nelba

Nelba is also organizing free Spanish sessions in Second Life. [address to follow]

I'll come back and re-edit this if more spots appear on the list, or I run across any further. I have been very negligent of my Babbel Friends, as the site was not very responsive when I was traveling--kept getting stuck in the exercises. This shouldn't happen.

Jonathan Zittrain, the Future of the Internet--And How to Stop It (video)

2008-10-31T16:44:00.000-07:00

Zittrain's video came at a most timely moment, as my friend in France, Mike Marzio of the Real English School had just had his wonderful videos ripped off by a Brazilian "entrepreneur," who was cutting CDs of the recordings. Painful!

After many messages from outraged Webheads, the offending works were removed. You can see the comparison of the works and the outcome at Mike's site.

The tie-in to Zittrain is a little thin. He describes how spam is ruining the Internet and how that problem may affect future development of and user choices on the Web. He suggests that a top-down solutions can be oppressive to creativity and the "generative Internet," while community cooperation and resources may be able to stop the looming danger and keep the "creative Internet" safe. However, I see the connection to Mike's case in that user-generated content has to have protections without being oppressively legalistic. In this case, the community responded to protect its member from being ripped off--and it worked!

BTW, the Real English videos are now accessible for free, and Mike continues to add new content frequently at Real English.

Overstream

2008-10-11T18:52:00.001-07:00

Overstream is an interesting way to put subtitles over a video online, e.g., from YouTube. (And I am curious about why it is a dot net...)

Of course, you have to be able to understand what they are saying/singing to begin with. But I like the idea as a way to further develop video materials for use with students learning/studying a language: They could do the subtitling.

Free Digital Photos

2008-10-05T10:28:00.001-07:00

This looks like it might be a useful site to find imagess for a vocabulary exercise or for student projects. Photos are free and copyright free. Of course, there is always the option to add the extra $$ for a print version. Also, student photographers can upload their work and ask for money. Good potential.

Daily English Activities

2008-09-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

Nik Peachey's new blog, Daily English Activities, for students and teachers (with teacher lesson plans and support) is developing beautifully. I especially like the way he finds interesting sites, like Yolango (which has video trailers with scripts and subtitles), and creates ready-to-use lesson plans making use of them; or points students to ways to enhance or make regular use of the resource.

Hope he keeps on with this development. It's also an interesting use for a blog.

Webheads Tenth Anniversary

2008-09-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

We Webheads are whooping it up, celebrating (virtually) our 10 years of association as a thriving Community of Practice. Nice to have a history.

Here are some commemorations:

Michael Coughlan started a Webheads Tenth Anniversary VoiceThread which many have contributed to.
Vance in San Antonio demonstrates the intellectual level of our CoP.
Buthaina wrote this tribute some years ago about what she had learned from the Webheads.

It's great to be a part of this virtual/real community.

--Elizabeth

WikiEducator

2008-09-06T15:44:00.000-07:00

The WikiEducator site purports to be a clearinghouse for free and open source learning. Some of the projects seem very promising, but it is difficult to find one that is already complete. The content-based learning, including computer/IT look like they have potential. Let's hope the bandwagon takes off (is that a mixed metaphor?)

These are the goals:

The WikiEducator is an evolving community intended for the collaborative:

* planning of education projects linked with the development of free content;
* development of free content on Wikieducator for e-learning;
* work on building open education resources (OERs) on how to create OERs.
* networking on funding proposals developed as free content.

SLExperiments - Negiz (Daffodil Fargis)

2008-08-12T16:15:00.000-07:00

Negiz has been experimenting with Second Life and has set up a wiki, SLExperiments, to carry on the dialogue. The wiki begins with a rather nice instructional video about how to use a wiki to create a lesson plan, so it's a two-fer.

I hope to be able to follow some of the live lessons and report back further on how SL is being used.

VUE - Visual Understanding Environment

2008-08-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

I have explored VUE, a project of Tufts University, while looking at a variety of mind-mapping or concept-mapping sites and software. VUE is free and has an excellent, visually attractive video explaining its features. It seems to combine the best of mind maps, presentation software, and the flexibility to link across several different concept tracks. It is well worth exploring for advanced student projects, for example, involving research and media, and is a free download and cross-platform (but not for Mac X.3). It looks to be an excellent presentation platform because, unlike PowerPoint, it can combine linear and non-linear approaches to presenting.

Nik Peachey's Technology Blogs

2008-07-24T17:43:00.000-07:00

Today I had a chance to explore Nik's blogs in more depth. These are very rich because he indicates ways to use the technology with students and/or for teacher training. Following through with each of his blog entries is like a full course in IT for teachers.

His two blogs are

Quick Shout

and the more cumbersomely named

Learning technology teacher development blog for ELT

Enjoy!

Embedded Chat Widgets

2008-05-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

Although I have found it inconvenient for users (and me) to have interactive widgets on this blog, one of these might be useful for a wiki page as it could be more self-contained.

Suggestions from the Webhead elist include (from Robert Squires):

Yackpack - the Walkie Talkie Widget formerly available directly on PBWiki, and which has Voicegroups.

Meebo - you create your own chatroom and paste the code into the sidebar of your wiki or blog.

Gabbly - the PBWiki default, was mentioned several times as having horrible advertisements that you can't get rid of. However, any person who visits the wiki can chat with other visitors who are there at the same time while with Gtalk or Meebo, the visitors can only chat with the owner of that widget (ie.e, the creator of the wiki) but not with each other (per Negiz in a responding email).

Robert also offered an interesting blog site with a list of ten more chat widgets: ReadWriteWeb.

I followed this breadcrumb trail and found an interesting site, built by Kiernan, that strings together YouTube videos so that you get continuous play, one after another, on a particular subject (in this case rock groups). Anyone can add a video without a password, though this feature might present problems in a school setting. Nice code, though a little removed from the original subject, chat widgets: http://www.chann3lz.com/.

Websites for Teaching the Blind

2008-05-25T15:22:00.000-07:00

These links are from Dottuta (Kuwait Univ) of the Webheads, based on work with a blind student. The voice potential of the Web (and for Deaf students, the visual/closed captioning potential) should really make a difference. I have added some annotation to the list of sites, which are mainly British and American. The most promising of these is first on the list. I'd love to hear from anyone with information about sites in other languages, or additional English language sites.

Camera Obscura has lists of links to a wide variety of text-to-audio friendly sites, including hypertext archives, museums, query-submission forms for search engines, news readers, government resources, etc. Relatively conveniently organized by type of resource.

WWW Resources and Homepages [for the Blind] - a list of useful links, unfortunately in no particular order, but with helpful descriptions.

The Braille Institute's page of links (alpha-sorted) to various non-profit organizations that assist the blind, with a brief description of the mission of each. It would take some initiative to further explore and sort through the links on each of these pages.

Action for Blind People, according to this site, "is an expert national (UK) organisation, ensuring blind and partially sighted people receive practical support in all aspects of their lives." News and information relevant to issues affecting people with this disability, all with audio recordings. (Wouldn't a podcast feature to be nice?)

Tom Lorimer's Home Page, "has been set up to assist the Visually Impaired computer user locate information and services relating to blindness." The site is mainly focused on computer, software, and Internet issues and resources, but also has links to other useful sites. Useful links, though not well organized.

VIP Games Zone offers "accessible sound games for blinds [sics] and visually impaired people," and includes some free games and an e-list to converse with other players. Appears to be home-made software, but I haven't had a chance to try it out.

And this from Nergiz, also of the Webheads:

Odiogo claims to create text-to-speech podcasts for your blogs with a "Listen Button feature deployed in next to no time for WordPress, Blogger, TypePad, BlogEngine.NET and Terapad platforms."

And see the previous entry also [yeah, here's where I need a wiki instead!]

By the way, this blog also has an audio text-to-speech feature, though it usually takes a few days for the audio to be compiled and linked to my posts.

Oddcast TTS

2008-05-05T17:59:00.000-07:00

Text-to-speech (TTS) might be a great way for students to hear what they are trying to say. SitePal now has a version of TTS that sounds pretty authentic. Try it out at
Oddcast.

Dipity

2008-05-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

Dipity has an easy Google-type interface that allows you to create a timeline. This is an example from Michael Coughlan's Life.

Other Webheads have suggested using the interface in a jig-saw activity, where groups of students can add the info they collect as they read or research. You can add info/pix from other sites, such as Twitter and Flickr.

AuthorStream

2008-03-29T10:18:00.000-07:00

Authorstream is an interesting way to quickly get your PowerPoint presentation online--without going through the fuss of saving it as html, and then mounting all the pages and files to a Web page.

I created a wiki for my presentation at TESOL on CALL and SLA research, copied it to PowerPoint slides, and then uploaded the resulting ppt to my Authorstream page. If there were video or audio attached, AuthorStream would convert the file to a YouTube format. Mine is just a slideshow.

UPDATE: Thanks to all who visited the slideshow. I now have the audio uploaded to both AuthorStream and Ourmedia.org.

Jottit

2008-03-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

Jottit is a quick Web page with some nice little features that let you add designs, fonts, pictures, embedded video, etc. Would be great for a learner's first ever Web page. You can also set privacy levels to allow password-only access, a great advantage for school settings. Make and claim a page in just a few minutes.

A good little instructional screencast by Demogirl.com is most helpful in getting started:
Jottit Screencast.

Teacher Training Videos by Russell Stannard

2008-03-01T17:21:00.001-08:00

I haven't had a chance to review all of these Teacher Training Videos (see the leftside menu), but Nik Peachey of EduNation has made those describing uses of Second Life, so I think they are a good bet. I may get around to reporting on them at some time when there isn't such a crunch. See Nik's reviews at his blog.

Thanks to Nik for the tip on the Webheads list.

50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story

2008-03-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

50 Ways is a treat--lots of examples to give students ideas on storytelling through all the new Internet interactive tools.

Thanks to Bee Dieu of the Webheads for this tip.

Review of SlideShows

2008-02-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

This blog entry by Webhead Ronaldo Lima, Jr., has a nice comparative review of three slideshow tools--Voicethread, Splashcast and Qlipboard--with short examples of each. Comments by fellow Webheads are also very useful.

WritingFix

2008-02-21T16:13:00.000-08:00

Definitely for advanced learners, WritingFix is targeted toward U.S. high school students and teachers. However, it has a lot of good advice about writing, and is billed as "the home of interactive writing prompts." Various parts of the site will generate random prompts to start writing on a variety of topics and content subjects. It also has general advice about writing essays, e.g., developing voice, organizing, sentence fluency, conventions, etc. In Spring of 2008, the site will have an extensive section of the various parts of the writing process. A good place for EFL/ESL teachers to grab ideas.

Moving Forward

2008-02-21T15:28:00.000-08:00

Moving Forward is a wiki whose intended audience is educational administrators, but it has lots of info of value to researchers, IT staff, and instructors. Nicely organized and categorized, and you can join the site and add your own stuff.

The wiki is administered by Dr. Scott McLeod, Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). You can contact him from the Moving Forward site if you have any questions or suggestions.

BTW, I found this site by subscribing to the Technology & Learning magazine online (free). It's got a nice e-book interface, called Nxtbook, that allows you to page quickly through an issue, and the links are live.

Using the Internet with Young Learners

2008-02-17T15:40:00.001-08:00

Nicky Hockley has a fine presentation, Web 2.0: ICT & Young Learner Teachers, with links to resources, handouts, and video tutorials at the Consultants-E site.

Asterpix Interactive Video

2007-12-01T13:00:00.000-08:00

Asterpix allows the user to upload video and create hotspots that follow an object or person on the video. The user can mouse-over the hotspots and click for more information: text, weblinks, etc. (Hence the "interactive" part.) The tools seem very easy to use, and the instructional videos are screencasts, as illustrated here.

This tool might work very well with an EFL/ESL practice where the students are led to research further information (a mini-Webquest), or are asked to create their own video and links for the hotspots. This is another tool with a unique twist that can add text and hypertext to the audio-video experience.

Thanks to Andreas Büsing for the tip on this item.

Using your cellphone as a scanner

2007-11-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

This is the kind of technology I love--it's already out there (no download), everybody has it--and it's pretty much free!

You snap a print article with your cellphone camera, then send it to ScanR.com, which converts it to a .pdf file with high quality OCR software. Download to your computer and you can convert it to text. Or have ScanR convert it first.

ScanR is free for 5 uses per month, $3 US for unlimited use. Here's the address of the Newsweek article: http://www.newsweek.com/id/57431

A similar product is found at Qipit.com. Very cool.

Thanks to Learning with Computers for this hot link.

Tribbit

2007-10-25T01:06:00.000-07:00

Tibbit is a potentially very useful tool. Billed as a way to communially build a "tribute" to someone, e.g., for a birthday or anniversary, it could be used as another type of presentation tool. It allows you to mash up photos, text, podcasts, embedded video, etc., and then "play" everything together.

A nice feature is that contributors can post their photos and a short text on the main page. So this might work quite well for student group projects that can be created collaboratively and then presented as a show. There is also a "due date" feature--the time by which items have to be put into the show.

This YouTube video shows the several features.

American Writers - C-SPAN videos

2007-10-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

American Writers is a series of 2-hours videos about the life and times of famous American writers of the 20th century. The series was produced by C-SPAN, a cable channel sponsored by local, state, and federal governments. (The channel often carries city council meetings, the state legislature debates, etc.)

The videos would make excellent supplementary materials for an EFL/ESL literature and culture class. Enjoy!

QlipBoard

2007-10-16T21:52:00.000-07:00

QlipBoard is a nifty little application that allows you to make screencasts with the addition of your own photos and Webshots and decorate/enhance them with whiteboard-like tools. It's a free download. The downside: It's not Mac-enabled.

A couple of video presentations and how-tos are found at YouTube.

(Thanks to Carla Arena, Webhead, for this find!)

Kaltura

2007-10-15T05:02:00.000-07:00

Kaltura is a video editor with a twist: you can invite friends to add and edit video clips in a joint project. Should make it much easier for students to work on a collaborative project. On signing in for the first time you can add the emails of two other people to get started.

The tool also has some nice additional features, such as the ability to easily split or duplicate a scene--easy mashups.

Webheads HQ @ EduNation III

2007-10-12T11:51:00.000-07:00

Here's a nice use of VoiceThread by Graham Stanley (always one to get the most out of new tools the quickest!): Webheads @ EduNation III on October 1st.

Graham's blog at Blog-EFL has a description of the meeting in SecondLife and a transcript of the chat.

The Webheads gather at SL on Mondays at 20:00 GMT.

GCFLearnFree.org

2007-10-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Evelyn Fella, old friend and colleague, just turned me on to the nifty little online lesson sets at GCFLearnFree. They use a variety of animation, flash, drag-and-drop, etc., to make the user feel they are "really" there. The Everyday Life lessons might be useful for ELT. And possibly the Basic Math and Money and Computer Training lessons also. You need to register first, but it is instantaneous.

A sample of lessons at Learn Free:
One downside may be that the visual instructions are great, but are accompanied by rather high level aural instructions--if learners could understand them, they might not need the training.

Metaplace

2007-09-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Though still in alpha, Metaplace looks like a miniature Second Life. Sponsored by BBC, it's a site where you and students can build their own world online. Seth Dickens suggests a number of possibilities, particularly for adolescent learners whom you might wish to shield from the seamier side of SL, and the dungeons and dragons dreariness of other battle-based worlds. The frontpage appears to appeal to 'tweens and younger, rather than adolescents, however.

To be explored later in more depth.

Evoca

2007-09-21T08:28:00.000-07:00

You may have noticed that I just added an Evoca recorder to the Sidebar. You can send me a voicemail easily. This is a nice application but an even better Website: it suggests a wide variety of ways--in detail--that a group (for example of students) might use the simple voice recorder for digital story-telling, socializing, and even looking up a word in any of the recordings in the site archives. For instance, the story-telling page discusses what makes a good story.

I note that BaW07 explored the tool, but there is not a whole lot of activity elsewhere in the groups (most of which have just one member). This would be worth examining in much more detail. The features it notes are

* Make and store up to 15 minutes of recordings
* Enjoy FREE unlimited listening
* Record on the fly from your phone
* Use our in-browser recorder and your computer mic
* Record Skype calls
* Do instant Podcasting using RSS
* Record conference calls, interviews, team meetings and oral history
* Post recordings to your blog and website
* Email online recordings to your colleagues and friends
* Order transcriptions and translations right online

Thanks to Seth Dickens--I found Evoca on his site and left a recording there.

Seth's Place

2007-09-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

A nice series of explorations is to be found at Seth Dicken's blog. More in the next few posts.

Videos Explaining Web 2.0 Tools - dotSUB.com Closed Captioning

2007-09-20T15:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a really neat site at dotSUB.com with four (thus far) videos on various tools for Web 2.0 by Lee LeFever. The titles are

Also, according to Nick Peachey, Webhead, dotSUB lets you add subtitles or text transcriptions to your videos. While exploring his blog entry about dotSUB, which contains a little promo video, I found that the closed captioning feature is itself based on a social networking idea: viewers type in the transcription or comments themselves--in any language. So one example video had translated subtitles in 74 different languages. This is very cool!

And further...rocketboom, the sample Nick gave, is a long-running series of witty, clever how-to videos. Just can't stop watching. It would indeed be a neat exercise for students to hear/see the video while reading the translation in their own language, or see it in English--and then make their own transcription. (Nic has more ideas on his blog for using this feature of dotSUB.) Only downside to the site--the search engine is a bit primitive--you can get about 4 videos per page in returns, and there seems to be no way to get a list of all the videos by one creator on a single page.

WebSlides

2007-09-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

WebSlides appears to be a very useful Web app that converts your bookmarks to slideshows, presumably by creating a slide of the front page of each item in your Bookmark folder. I'll have to report further once I've been registered and allowed to try it out.

Since I have lately been giving presentations via the Internet and using Web pages as a walk-through, WebSlides should fit my style.

Many thanks to Andreas Büsing, Webhead, for this tip.

Technology in Review - MIT Journal on Second Life

2007-09-06T21:13:00.000-07:00

This article from the Webheads, "A Boon to Second Life Language Schools: New technology will allow high-quality audio in a virtual world," at

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18510/page1/

has an interesting quote from Graham Stanley, and also discusses some of the discomforts people have with what voice reveals about their real lives. The language school mentioned, however, sees great benefit in having a good voice technology and realitic (?) situations and places to use in language instruction.

Innova JC - Using SL to learn negotiating techniques

2007-09-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

This is a relatively comprehensive article on how Second Life has been used over a period of several terms with 18-year-old students learning to negotiate in a second language. Authors Natasha Tang, Daniel Yip Kok Hoong, and Baey Shi Chen provide a full description of their program and how results, particularly learning points, were attained.

EFL Resources

2007-08-30T18:16:00.000-07:00

Nick Gromik has created a really good wiki with instructions for video archiving your own presentation (using his own presentation on Vygotsky as an example), creating a videoblog (vlog), how to create a video cast for an iPod, and so on. He includes some student instructional video productions. A most useful collection.

EFL Resources

E-Portfolios

2007-08-30T17:32:00.000-07:00

In a discussion some time ago on the Webheads' list, Sharon Betts (http://www.sharonbetts.org/site/pmwiki.php) gave us a nice list of definitions of tools that might be used for electronic portfolios. I cite her here with her permission:

*Blogs* - Blogs are ongoing individual postings with the ability to take
comments from readers. This is a great way to journal, reflect or get
input.

*WIKIs* - are online editable pages available to anyone given
permission. Usually you can attach files to wiki pages and there is a
comment page connected. This is good for collaboration. It does not
fit the journal model as well as it does a portfolio / archive model.
Of course, it is also great for multiple editors of a single document.

*Forums* - threaded discussions. Can be used for the same as above.
They individualize each posting, but in a threaded manner unlike blogs
which are sequential

*Social networks* - combine all or some of the above with many added
features. If you are ready to launch your students into the cybersphere
of learning, this is the way to go. I like Ning - but it still does not
have a wiki module although the blog and forums are great.

*Course Management Systems* - also combines the above features and adds
the ability to quiz etc. It is an online class. My favorite is Moodle
(at the moment). Students are part of a class and can use the forums,
wikis, as well as complete assignments. I do not like the blogging
feature presently being used.

There are hybrids of all the above - and more appear each day. The key
is to know what your goals are for each project.

Is it your students first adventure into online learning?
Do you simply want journals?
Do you wish to attach artifacts?
Do you want to actually hold your class online with assessment and all?
Do you want to use these [features] in a more social atmosphere?
Do you have the ability to pay for a service or to host it "in house"?

vod:pod

2007-08-26T17:18:00.001-07:00

Mike Marzio has put a bunch of his Real English videos onto vod:pod, which converts them into a highly compressed, easy to manage format that can include closed captioning.

This is the search result for "Real English" at vod:pod. Looks like this might be a good place to archive stuff.

Tony Buzan on Creativity

2007-08-26T16:26:00.001-07:00

Buzan is the originator of mind-mapping (I didn't know that!), and here talks about a global crisis in creativity. From Esnips:

Thanks to Webhead Michael Coghlan.

JingProject

2007-08-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

Another winner from Carla Arena, Webhead:

JingProject allows you to take a screenshot of your desktop, or a movie, and then instantly send the URL of the resulting media to any email address. Carla Arena tells us that you can also record voice over. I'd been looking for a way to take screenshots of my Mac for instructional videos, and this may be just the ticket. Unfortunately, I'll have to upgrade to OS X.4 to do so.

CoPe_it! and other Mind Map Managers

2007-07-23T14:48:00.000-07:00

CoPe_it! was recommended by some Webheads looking for Webware to edit mind maps collaborately. This tool appears to have nice visual effects and is directed to

supporting argumentative collaboration and decision making for Communities of Practice.

Other tools mentioned were Gliffy (discussed elsewhere in this blog and something I've used quite a bit for very professional-looking diagrams), Thinkature (real-time collaboration on the Web, allowing the use of your own photos and drawings), and the software, MindManager (for both Mac and Win/DOS), which is not simultaneously collaborative, as I understand it.

Other visual-assist tools include FreeMind, a free, downloadable, Java-based software purportedly faster than MindManager because of one-click "fold/unfold" and "follow link" operations. There is a gallery with some jazzy examples, and you can upload/archive your own there for free, too.

Skrble is an online whiteboard with collaborative features that you can put in your blog as a widget:

Start skrbl & give out your URL; instantly share online. Collaborate with others or, keep skrbl your own private web space.

Bubbl.us looks very cool as a collaborative tool and suggests it might be useful for brainstorming. Love the concept, but like much of Java-based stuff, it tends to be a bit slithery. It will take a little getting used to to use the "bubbles" with facility.

Mindomo is another mind-mapping tool:

Mindomo is a versatile Web-based mind mapping tool, delivering the capabilities of desktop mind mapping software in a Web browser - with no complex software to install or maintain.

Create, edit mind maps, and share them with your colleagues or your friends.

So all of these share some features and would involve a bit of trial-and-error to decide which worked best for your students.

Thanks to Moira Hunter, Carla Arena, and other Webheads for good links!

VoiceThread

2007-07-07T15:02:00.000-07:00

VoiceThread is yet another photoblog, but is refreshingly free of advertising, so far, and is very easy to register with and use.

A nice feature is zooming in, magnifying the photo, and swooping around with the mouse. You can record an audio or type a comment, and comments are attached with cartoon bubbles to pictures of the commentators--a nice feature for getting the feel of who is talking to whom.

This would make a great project base for kids to write and audiocast with a picture prompt. There is a good instructional slide show to tell them how to do it. As the narrator says--it's one picture, but with 65 stories, or more, embedded in it. How interesting to hear all the stories unfold with pictures of the narrators.

SplashCast

2007-07-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

SplashCast purportedly

enables anyone to create streaming media 'channels' that combine video, music, photos, narration, text and RSS feeds. These user-generated channels can be played and easily syndicated on any web site, blog, or social network page.

One particularly nice feature may be that

When channel owners modify their channel, their content is automatically updated across all the web pages 'tuned' to that channel.

Effects of technology on SLA

2007-06-29T18:19:00.000-07:00

I'm using this video as an experiment, but the question it poses is for real--I'm preparing for a presentation at the CALL-IS Academic Session in NYC.

Second Life Video Gallery

2007-06-15T18:01:00.000-07:00

This set of videos, Second Life Video Gallery, gives a very good picture of many facets of activity in SL. Makes for fascinating watching, whether you are interested in education, politics, or aspects of personal interaction. I found the making of a guitar prim (Suzanne's Guitar) absolutely absorbing.

SitePal for free!

2007-06-14T17:43:00.000-07:00

Received a notice from Bravenet that members can get a SitePal avatar on their site for free during the month of June (2007), so I hopped over and got one. You should be able to hear/see the result in my sidebar. Hope this is not too annoying. Leave me a comment if you think I should take it down.

PS: The "free part turned out to be a trial, so I took it down. It got annoying anyway.

Moving to a wiki?

2007-06-13T16:59:00.000-07:00

I am seriously considering moving this blog to a wiki where I can categorize and organize better. I am afraid the blog is just not orderly enough for the kind of archiving I feel is needed. The work I've put into EVO video is an example of how to get the kind of organization that is most useful, I think.

When will I ever have time to do the move? Good question...

Larry Ferlazzo's pages

2007-06-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

I am totally hooked on Larry Ferlazzo's Websites Of The Day For Teaching ELL, ESL, & EFL blog and his Teacher Page. This guy is a non-stop search engine and comes up with 2-3 new English teaching sites per day.

As always, caveat emptor: you will need to check each site that sounds promising to see if it really matches your English learners' abilities and interests. Many, many sites on the Web look good for learning/teaching, but often are of simply too high a language level to be of much use to learners. Those that Larry recommends are no different. With over 7,000 sites noted, however, you will probably find many of use.

JumpCut

2007-06-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Wow!--This online video editor works almost exactly like iMovie or Windows movie maker. You upload the photos or video, and then add titles, captions, various transition effects, timing, etc. You can also add a separate audio track. I don't have quite all the features down yet, but it is fun to play with.

JumpCut movies can be private (friends only), and require registration to view, so this might be a good classroom solution.

Five Flashcard makers online

2007-06-08T15:45:00.000-07:00

This from Larry Ferlazzo, via the Webheads e-list:

Having students make flash cards in the classroom out of pen and paper is always a good learning experience — both in their creation and in their use.

Now there are countless sites on the web that allow students to make and use them online. As in quite a few of the activities on my site, I don’t necessarily see any major advantage to doing it online as opposed to doing it “old school.” It’s just a nice change of pace sometimes.

I’ve found five sites that are free and easy enough for English Language Learners of all levels to use. Students can create the permanent flash cards online and then they, or any other student, can access them.

You’ll find these five sites under the Student Flash Cards category on my Examples of Student Work. [This page has some great student work!--E.]

Four sites that have been on my site for awhile are
Flashcard Machine [requires registration and login]
Flashcard Exchange [printable, several languages, many ready-made to share]
Study Cards Online [create, study, share]
Study Stack [once logged in, you can add data to others' stacks]

I think they all function well, and it’s hard to say any one is better than the other. I just learned about the fifth one, Memorizable, and haven’t had the opportunity to check it out fully yet.

Memorizable creates tables in a wiki where the user can click to answer and flip through the table as if with a deck of flashcards. Does not appear to be a useful way to study, but one might find other uses for this way to manipulate tables in a wiki.

MakeInternetTV.org

2007-06-08T15:28:00.000-07:00

MakeInternetTV.org is looking for 1-2 minute videos
from experienced video bloggers on various aspects of filming and editing. MakeInternetTV. org is a free resource for people to learn the basics of making videos.

Erik Beck, of Indy Mogul on Vimeo, made a video that is a great example of what the group is looking for in Bringing-the-site-to- life

The videos must be CC licensed, as they will be included on a free DVD to distribute to high schools and middle schools.

Contact person: Dean Jansen
Participatory Culture Foundation

Leafletter

2007-05-16T16:04:00.000-07:00

Leafletter is a cute application, similar to Tabblo, but somewhat easier to use. Students could create a multi-page online newsletter fairly quickly by adding text and images to one of 35 template "blocks." I don't know what the limitations are, but archive/storage of pictures doesn't seem to be a problem.

My Leafletter is here.

UseAMap.com

2007-05-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

Marian Thatcher turned me on to this nifty application of Google Maps. You go to the site, find your location, and UseAMap will create a map with a short address that can be emailed, embedded in a Website (as here), and edited/updated when you like. You can also use it as a starting point to get directions to other places. The map link will pop up to a full screen size, and can be used with Yahoo Maps and Virtual Earth Maps as well. The interface is very fast and efficient.

UseAMap.com

You can find me here.

Graham Stanley on Web 2.0

2007-05-06T17:03:00.000-07:00

Graham, with his usual aplomb, has made a very nice instructional video about Web 2.0 at Teacher Tube.

He covers blogs, wikis, podcasting, and Second Life (as seen in this screen shot).

A Periodic table of Visualization

2007-05-05T15:43:00.000-07:00

This chart is an incredibly cool bit of visualization about various ways to visualize concepts. Run your cursor over each "element" to see a visual example. Where but on the Web?!?!

ZamZar.com

2007-04-18T15:34:00.000-07:00

Convert files from your desktop or a URL, free. ZamZar sends the converted file to your email. Very convenient.

Mrs Brown's Galaxy

2007-04-17T11:19:00.001-07:00

This Eric Idle ditty happens to also contain some amazing factoids.

http://dingo.care2.com/cards/flash/5409/galaxy.swf

This is just for fun!

--Elizabeth

TeacherTube

2007-04-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

Live Action English Interactive at TeacherTube

TeacherTube is a very safe-looking site where you can upload instructional video for students and/or fellow teachers. This is a sample from the Live Action English Interactive CD.

You can limit your audience to a group you create. You can also use tags to help sort your videos to the correct audience. Teachers can report any video that appears to be inappropriate for the educational audeince. There are currently many fine, almost-professional quality instructional videos at the site on a wide variety of topics, e.g., raps for teaching geometry and fractions, a discussion of pbwiki, how to use templates to create a newsletter, etc. Most videos go way beyond desktop recordings. You can also upload supporting documents/files--nice.

An interesting feature of home-made video instruction by teachers: it's spot on. (And a big thanks to Jacqui Cyrus in Guam, who tipped me off on this one!)