I added this entry as a part of an ICT´s seminar given at UNLPam (National University of La Pampa, Argentina) in the English Language Teaching course of studies. During the seminar, many tools for creating, sharing and publishing material in the web were explored, to enrich the teaching-learning experience and move towards a learner-centered education.
In this ebook some of the tools I consider to be effective, easy to use, picturesque and engaging for teachers and students will be presented with an addition of ideas that could be used in the ELT classroom.
I hope you find it useful!
Teacher Vale
DESCARGAR (Self-assessment of the seminar)
https://cacoo.com/
It is an online diagramming tool for creating sitemaps, flowcharts, mind maps, wireframes, mock-ups, etc. One can collaborate with others around the globe on Cacoo diagrams in real time. It´s quite easy to use and it allows us to create original designs.
As a proposed activity to work with this tool in the classroom, I came up with the following (for secondary school at any level):
it could be useful when studying different categories, students could group them with clouds, arrows, colours and images to make them easier to remember and more appealing.
it could be used to create a more visual brainstorming in an organized manner. Then students could write an essay, letter, short story, or description.
teachers could use it as a tool for explaining in a clearer and more visual way, any topic or task they want students to perform. Ex: (introducing short stories, reading and writing)
EXAMPLE: https://cacoo.com/diagrams/dKSWg87YB5v26ihU/440B9
https://webquest.org/
It is an inquiry-oriented lesson format in which most or all the information that learners work with comes from the web. As long as you can create a document with hyperlinks, you can create a WebQuest. WebQuests can be created in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint, or Microsoft Excel. It is a guided investigation for students to create their own product.
Students could explore the world of storytelling, where the teacher will organize the steps they need to follow to create their own story. The final outcome of the activity is that they end up following the thread of the pictures and finally have a complete story. Then they could work on their own story.
Webquests help teachers and students to have an organized and concrete goal, starting with an introduction to explain the topic and activity that will come afterwards. Besides, links to webpages can be added for students to search for information, examples, or pictures (being more resourceful).
EXAMPLE: http://questgarden.com/203/20/4/190702134551/index.htm
https://piktochart.com/https://www.canva.com/
Infographics are closely related to the graphic design field, their main purpose is presenting key information to an audience in a colourful, engaging way. Thus teachers could create an infographic to help students revise the content learnt in an eye-catching way (or just to present new information/topic).
For instance, an activity could engage a group of students creating an infographic. They would need to gather information about local issues related with nature and its impact on the local community (ex: landfill problems, Atuel´s river problematic, urban dumps that are not allowed, etc). After checking with the teacher and classmates, a PP Presentation of infographics could round up the task.
EXAMPLE: https://create.piktochart.com/output/47917437-ecosystems
It is “an instructional strategy and a type of blended learning that reverses the traditional learning environment by delivering instructional content, often online, outside of the classroom. It moves activities, including those that may have traditionally been considered homework, into the classroom”. An example of the stages in a flipped classroom lesson is: experience, what, so what, what now.
I chose to join the flipped classroom model with the tool youtube and the TEDTALK organization because I consider these to be interesting for both students and teachers, and easy to deal with.
Proposed activities: the teacher could send students a video session to watch at home (Greta Thunberg’s TedTalk on climate change) and ask them to search for information on the web related to the topic (climate change) and search for local issues related; then at class a debate on the topic and a discussion on different views on how we can help the planet and our local community will happen; we could later focus on written production, creating texts of opinion and suggesting actions to help the local community (each student will create a project); finally, the school community could select a project to focus on and take action in the local community (for example: promoting recycling, plant trees, etc).
Video Session: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAmmUIEsN9A
It is an account of something told predominantly through photographs, with some accompanying text (written or oral).
Teachers can work with this at any point and with almost any content, but I would use it after reading and analyzing a short story, for example, and then ask students to re-create the story with pictures that can be taken from Instagram (stories) and add special effects, sound or images.
This recreation of short story "Cat in the rain" by Ernest Hemingway was created with Instagram Stories.
In this project they would act out, or prepare a scene, or retell the story, etc.
https://www.wordclouds.com/
It is a free online word cloud generator and tag cloud creator. One can paste text, upload a document or open an URL to automatically generate a word- or tag cloud. One can also generate clickable word clouds with links (image map).
Students could brainstorm words that they think are related to any topic discussed, paste any text, etc. For example, to introduce the topic of social media, students can choose words or phrases they think are connected with the topic, such as: selfies, memes, grooming, viral, etc.
It is an online free software that allows us to create, save, and share digital puzzles of all kinds. We can upload any image and create a digital puzzle for someone else to solve. Users can also find thousands of puzzles created by other users and have fun trying to solve them.
EXAMPLE: Students could students can solve different puzzles of different types of houses and homes, helping students recall vocabulary related to the exteriors and interiors of houses. Houses would vary depending on the country they are situated. In this sense, students can learn about cultural similarities and differences (also having in mind social inequities).
It is a web-based visual dictionary and thesaurus tool. Search for words to look up their meanings and associations with other words in a visual interface.
EXAMPLE: students could explore any word and its relation with other terms, how they are connected, and how they differ. A good topic introducer to human rights could be giving students the possibility to look for the word freedom, for example, and pinpoint what components appear. After reading and discussing each component, students could work in groups of 2 to create a definition speech (not too long, and with any visual representation of their choice) and share it with the class. The teacher would accompany every step as a guide.
It is TED’s youth and education initiative. TED-Ed’s celebrate the ideas of teachers and students around the world and spread them. It offers educational videos, quizzes and additional information to get students and teachers involved.
With this tool teachers and students all over the globe can interact with the information presented in a much more engaging way, offering also quizzes to solve after watching a video. I find it very useful to work with.
EXAMPLE: I chose a video where a set of multiple choice questions are offered to consolidate new information. After watching the video and solving the quizzes, it would be a great idea to create a project with students where they would have to look for information of natural disasters or caused by humans, to promote ecological awareness. For instance, some of them could work with the causes and effects of the burning of the Amazon rainforest.
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