[WK10] ICT in ELT: A self-reflection


farahismail
This entry is not about "the tool of the week" like I have done before. Just wanna share my thoughts and opinions on certain issues. We got into a long discussion in the class last week and what has struck me the most is when Russell said: 

"Teacher should eliminate the activities that learners might find not interesting and can demotivate them from enjoy the lesson in the classroom. Don't only think about yourself. Think about your own learners' preferences. Put yourself in your learners' shoes. I feel happy when I get to see my students are smiling while doing the pair or group work using the technology or tools that I have introduced while constructing their own knowledge in the class"

As teachers or teachers-to-be, bear in mind that learners will always be our priority. Sometimes, we might find some activities are interesting for us (for our batch generation) to be done or carried out but this cannot guarantee that the learners (currently lead by Generation Y or Z) would love to do the same thing too. We should be brave enough to take risk in designing the lesson using approaches that we have never tried before (in this case, by integrating technology with ELT)

For example, I enjoy the lesson where Russell asked us to do sort of website evaluation in which we have to do a little bit of research on how certain websites can help teachers in designing the lesson but if I come to assign this kind of topic to my students in Malaysia, it can lead to boredom as students themselves will not have a clear purpose for them to do that.

In simple quotes:

"Come on, we are teenagers. We like to do social-networking. We play all the time. We love gadgets. We listen to MP3 instead of radio. We watch news or movies on YouTube rather than TV. We do lots of typing on computer rather than enjoy the traditional paper-based writing"

However, in planning to design a language learning lesson using the technology, apart from being aware of the current generation global culture, teachers also need to take note on the learners' socioeconomic condition as well. Back in Malaysia, I have experienced of being so-called 'unqualified' teacher for a short period (a month I could say) before I further my study in Warwick (3 years ago). I was known as the 'Replacement Teacher' in which I needed to teach students in primary school near my house which is located in rural area because the 'real' teacher gave birth. At that time, I have never been taught about the pedagogical approach of classroom learning context. One of the lesson that I could remember was based on the topic regarding computer. My learning objective was to teach students vocabulary related to computer. Sadly, there was no computer facilities at the school. Therefore, what I tried to do was I drew the computer image in a piece of manila card and I left some blank sections so that students could  try to fill them by naming the computers' parts. When the class went on, then I realised that most of the students in the class did not have computer at home and failed to name those parts even in their first language. They did not enjoy the lesson to the fullest.

Therefore, I believe that knowing the learners' background is one of the key factor that can lead to establishing an effective language classroom environment. Therefore, teachers need to do extra homework. At the beginning of the class, teachers can distribute handout containing needs analysis to the learners so that they become more aware of the learners' preferences and their both linguistic and computer-based knowledge. The example of question might be:

i) I have computer at home [Yes/No]
ii) I have access to internet at home [Yes/No]
iii) I would be interested in learning English through: [pair/group works; project-based learning; individual work etc]
iv) My favourite topics are [Sports/Online games/Fashion/Shopping/Novels/Movies etc]
v) The linguistic skills that I hope can be developed more are [Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking]

and so on. This is important as teachers can create differentiation in terms of teaching/learning styles so that learners can get equal opportunities to learn best on their own way and preferences. Psychologically, this will lead to motivation in learning. The more personalised the lesson can be, the more motivation will be boosted.

Some might say that 'younger' teachers like me seem too idealistic or enthusiastic in integrating technology with ELT and might somehow do not seriously think about how it might be usefully applied based on the learning theories. Vice versa, some might think that the more experienced one might not have a grasp of the technology itself but do better in linking those theories and applying the pedagogical approaches. Therefore, along the continuum, I do believe that there must be a working balance between these two situations. Rather than creating a gap, both veteran and younger teachers should work together in sharing their ideas, plus capitalizing on one another's skills and resources so that a better learning environment could be established.

            <------------------------------------------------------------------------------>
           Technology                                                                     Pedagogy


Bear in mind that, to choose technology as means of enhancing language learning does not mean we are trying to overthrown the established pedagogical and methodological approaches. I believe that it is teachers' responsibility to think wisely on how they can create link between the theories of learning and the use of technology in assisting the learners' learning process.

Maybe some of you beg to differ but I do believe that this is a promising learning environment that will help both learners and teachers to move a step further from allowing the the traditional chalk-and-talk type of classroom to be continued as ‘one size fit all’ approach.

The quotation that I like the most:
"Teachers usually have no control over the curriculum, but they do have control on how it is presented"

~Because English is FUN :) ~
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[WK9] MailVU: The Floor is Yours!


farahismail
Hello everyone!
Free tool for everybody! Come here and see!
Click on this image for the link!

What is it?
MailVU (mail you can view) is an online service that allows users to do private video messages via webcam which up to 10 minutes and they can send them to anyone that they want by inserting the recipients' emails and a short text message.

How does it work?
# Through these 3 easy-peasy simple steps:
  • Click on the record button to start your video message
  • Record yourself speaking. If you are not satisfy with the video, you can redo it again and again.
  • Send to others via emails. You cannot embed the video.
For further training on this tool, just log on to Russell Stannard's great website

How can it be used in the classroom context?
Currently, the most popular idea in integrating MailVU into the language learning environment is via "Connected Classroom" concept in which teachers need to think wisely on how to connect the lesson that has been taught in the class with the homework that will be given at the end of the lesson. The good continuation will help teachers to achieve their teaching objectives while learners can also enjoy their learning outcomes. There are several activities that can done by using this tool such as:

i) Interview: 
  • In class: 
- Teachers can introduce the language structure, vocabulary and functions that can be used for interview to learners plus showing example of several interviews from YouTube (students get to see the models in terms of the way the interview is carried out, the body postures and gestures using by the interviewer and interviewee)
 - Learners work in pairs, discuss about the topic for the interview session and how the interview could be done (in terms of  listing the questions that will be asked and the suitable answers for particular questions)
  • Outside the class:
- As learners need to record the interview in pairs using MailVU, they can do it anywhere they want as long as internet connection and webcam are available (home, internet cafe, self-access centre)

ii) Puppet / teddy bear show
  • In class: 
- Teachers bring realia such as puppet (eg: Pinocchio) or teddy bear and initiate the discussion by asking learners' favourite story during childhood 
- Teachers explain how a story should be constructed (opening, climax, ending etc)
- Then, learners work in pairs, telling each other about their own favourite story 
  • Outside the class:
-Learners need to do story-telling individually at home by using realia (puppet / teddy bear) and record it using MailVU. Then they need to send the link to the teachers and peers to get some feedback and comments.

iii) Cooking show
  • In class:
- Teachers share her recipe of making 'Nasi Lemak' through written handouts that are distributed to learners so they can take note on the particular structures used (imperative form, sequence connectors) and vocabulary on the ingredients and measurement
- Teachers ask leaners to think about their own favourite food and try to list down the ingredients and the steps that might be included
  • Outside the class:
- Learners check whether they have produced the correct recipe by searching it on internet or by simply asking to their mother. 
- Using MailVU, learners start their 'show' by stating the ingredients involved or just by simply drawing them in a piece of paper or show the images from the net to the audience. 

iv) News-broadcast
  • In class: 
- Teachers bring some of the newspaper article of various sections (local news, world issues, sports, fashion) and distribute them among learners who are already grouped (4-5 per group)
- Teachers ask learners to look out the structure for writing news.
- Teachers play the example of video containing news-broadcast from several sites (BBC, YouTube).
- Learners pay attention to the speakers' tones, speed and voice projection 
  • Outside the class
- Learners need to find news article and record themselves speaking through the role of news presenter.
- Learners send the video recording to teachers and friends

What are the advantages?
1. It provides free account! 
2. Foster autonomous learning in which learners learn on their own space and pace through homework that has been assigned by the teachers (do-it-yourself activity)
3. An easy-to-use technology that can be used by anyone that has basic computer skills
4. An alternative to make sure students are always taking part actively in learning even though outside the classroom environment (beyond the physical constraints of bricks and mortars)
5. Enhance students' speaking skills through various activities that can be carried out using MailVU
6. A good way of compensating the insufficient time for practicing speaking in the classroom 
7. Using the video recording, teachers could diagnose problems / learning disabilities faced by students in speaking (especially the beginners or the shy learners who are rarely speak in the class) in terms of structure that they use, pronunciation or vocabulary and teach the correct use of them in the class (blended learning)
8. Encourage collaborative and cooperative learning where learners work in pairs or groups in order to complete the task, thus capitalize on one another's resources and skills (peer teaching)
9. Learners might feel less anxious to record themselves as they can redo the recordings until they feel satisfy with the final product. This will create motivation in appreciating their own work.

What are the limitations?
1. Limited access of internet and computers. 
2. Even though computers are available, learners need webcam to make the video
3. Teachers might take times to assess the each of students' performances and give feedback (in terms of workload)
4. The video cannot be embedded into the blogs and cannot be downloaded as well

Further suggestions:
i) Vocaroo: a free on-line voice recording service which basically functions just like Internet voicemail. Users can record their voice and send the file to others through email. Unlike MailVU, they can be embedded into blog, can be published to the website and can be downloaded as well. However, it can only record the voice message and not the video's like MailVU can do.

ii) Bubblejoy: a tool that enables you to quickly create and design custom video cards that are easy to share with others by simply using your webcam

~Because English is FUN! :) ~
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[WK 8] ELLLO: Learners' Great Study Zone


farahismail
Howdy everybody!

Do you still remember the suggested website for enhancing listening skill in my third blog entry? Luckily, we have a great discussion and deep exploration of that website! Fancy to start? Raise your virtual slingshot and lets kill the birds with one stone!
Click on the picture for the link!
What is it?
A collection of over 1000 audio activities that ESL, EFL, and English students and teachers can access freely via the net. Most audio comes with pictures of the speaker, the transcript, and downloadable audio in mp3 format. Among the resources in the site are: Views, Mixer, Games,Videos, Songs, News and Points. Want to know how 'ello' got started? Listen HERE!


How does it work?
Feel free to scroll down the notes below. I have uploaded the information using my account at slideshare. net:


View more documents from Farahinismail
To view it via online video: click HERE!

How can it be used in classroom context?
i) Note-taking in the listening activity: This activity can be done in the classroom in which teachers play the audio without the transcript. While listening to the audio, learners have to jot down the points. Then learners in pairs can have a short discussion, comparing each other notes. To reward their efforts, teachers give them the comprehension question to be answered. This can enhance learners' listening and writing skills at the same time. If there is no internet access in the classroom, teachers can download the audio at home before introducing the lesson.   

ii) Speaking activity: Teacher asks students to work in pairs and choose the topic that they like. They need to listen to the conversation from the audio and pay attention to the pronunciation and the tone of the speakers. Then teacher can ask students to practice speaking using the transcript given 

iii) Summary writing activity: Students listen to the audio and write a brief description or summary to conclude the main points of the audio.

iv) Self-study / do-it-yourself activity: Students are encouraged to do one or more the exercises at home and share their work in the next lesson.

Who are the learners?

1. Secondary school students in Malaysian context who have basic knowledge on how to use computers
2. 13-17 years old.
3. Suits to all levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced) as various activities based on different level of proficiency are provided

What I like about this site:

1. It is free for those who are interested in learning English and available on iTunes and iPhone application as well!

2. The materials ( videos / audios) provided are based on variety of accents and cultural backgrounds according to the geographical area. Therefore, learners are exposed to wider context of using authentic English across the world, at the same time develop their cultural understanding of other cultures because various topics are covered. 

3. This user-friendly website helps to foster autonomous learning as learners can do the exercises by themselves anywhere, anytime that they want at their own pace, giving that internet access is available.

4. It is divided into several sections and topics, so learners can choose the lesson according to their preferences, thus creates personalisation where learners are allowed to contextualize and personalise the information, thus assisting language learning as it is guided by their prior knowledge. (constructivist theory)

5. This website involves combination of multiple skills, which are listening (good for the auditory learners), reading and writing (the transcript), speaking (with the correct pronunciation) and the visual through videos (good for the visual learners)

6. This website also provides printed materials (exercises and vocabulary sections) and downloadable audios that can help teachers in designing the lesson and they could do material adaptation in order to suit the learners' context.

7. Several ads that are based on educational purpose at the sidebar of the website are quite helpful and useful for learners to extend their language learning.

8. All the lessons are based on different proficiency levels, therefore teachers could apply differentiation in which lower level learners can be given the topic that is less difficult compared to the advanced learners, thus motivate them to be responsible for their own learning. 

What are the limitations?

1. Even though the activities based on the proficiency levels, but there are no categories to be chosen. So teachers need to find them by themselves and this consume the time.

2. It is not really systematic because there are no specific themes / fields for the resources(eg: history, environment, sports etc)

3. Sometimes too many ads provided can make the website less attractive

4. We have tried to use this website in the class, but because of the problem with the internet connection, some parts of the website are missing and the setting and layout are mess up, making the lesson turned to be boring, thus can reduce the motivation to learn in an enjoyable way.

Further suggestions:
i) Fun Easy English: this website mainly focuses on the basic English knowledge and teaching tips, its courses include pronunciation, grammar, idioms, slang, writing, tests and much more. Most of those courses are launched in Video format, in addition with text scripts and pictures. There are two columns of educational link at the sidebar; one for students and the others for teachers.

ii) Learn English: With an over 11 years history, Learn English Free Online is an abundant website for EFL/ESL learners and teachers. You can learn vocabulary with the related pictures, you can get some English learning tips, you can do some dictation to enhance your spelling and listening skills, learn the British culture and take some funny test, and so on.

You just need a computer with internet access, then visit some English learning websites and try to design the lesson for your students without paying any money. It sounds cool, right?

~Because English is FUN! :) ~
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[WK7] NFSA: World knowledge in your hand!


farahismail
Hi everyone!

Its me again! Actually, we have done a lot of talking today! We have discussed and explored another website for teaching English! Lets check it out!



What is it?
A website that provides various educational resources that can be used for the teaching and learning purposes in terms of variety of topic, lesson plans, videos and audios that can be downloaded for free.

How does it work?
# Teachers can choose variety of sections presented in the website but they need to make sure that it is suitable and fit to the learners' context to allow personalisation to be happened.
# The screenshot below shows various sections from the website:


Example of an English lesson:
Section: Australian at Work
Topic: Family Life in Geelong (1966). Click HERE!

Notes: This topic is based on a video without any narration or people talk. There are several good suggestion for classroom activities. I choose this topic because it relates to Malaysian context in terms of on how gender roles are assigned, particularly in the family. Therefore, the students can contextualise the lesson, making the lesson to become more meaningful.

How can it be used in the classroom context?
Taking the above lesson as example, teachers can do several activities such as:
1. Pre-teach vocabulary: Those that relate to gender stereotyping / bias /roles (language in context)
2. Comprehension question: Teachers ask learners to pay attention to the different roles that have been played by the people in the video and answer several comprehension question 
3. Discussion activity: Based on the video, teachers asks learners to compare how the gender roles in their family are assigned (develop cultural understanding) 
4. Writing activity: Teachers ask learners to write about the changes in terms of the gender roles that happen in the family now and family then

Who are the learners?
# Suitable for secondary school students based on the content provided
# Age range: 13 - 17 years old in Malaysia context which similar to learners in Grade 7-11 (based on the Australian education system)

What I like about this site:
1. Teachers can choose to design the lesson based on subjects (CLIL-ing the classroom) or by themes/topics. Once decided, they can just play the video/audio provided for listening activity in the classroom or if the internet access is limited, they can just simply download it (but we need free Flash player plug-in (version 6 or higher) installed in our browser in order to download the video).

2. There is also suggested discussion pointers and classroom activities that can help teachers to plan the lesson to be more active and engaging. They can also do the material adaptation or modification to suit their learners' context. 

3. The activities involve sharing ideas and discussion, therefore they will engage students into a cooperative and collaborative learning environment, thus develop their cognitive thinking and speaking skill as learning is memorable when it involves interaction between people.

4. Various topics that are based on Australian context somehow provide learners opportunity to be exposed to different social and cultural values and background, thus assist to develop their intercultural competence and cultural understanding of other cultures.

What are the limitations?
1. Context
The topics are designed for Australian context which is maybe meaningful for the Australian learners but for the learners from other countries learning English, sometimes they might find that it is very hard to contextualise the lesson as they do not have the schemata of particular topics.  

2. Listening text
The English words used in the audio or video are sometimes quite difficult to be understood as it might be because of influences from the context itself in terms of the accents, the tone and the speed of the speaker talking. This can make learners become confused to figure out what the speaker is trying to say, thus demotivating them to learn as the listening text is quite difficult  for them. In addition, there is no any audio or video transcription given as guidelines even for the teachers to assist the learning process

3. Navigation
There is no any go back button. Therefore, you just need to click the underlined link provided from a disclaimer saying that "This is an archived website that was produced by Screen Australia Digital Learning. See all Digital Learning websites." for each site that you have log on to return to the main menu

Further Suggestions:
i) Breaking News English: Free ready-to-use EFL / ESL lesson plans in Word and PDF. Graded news articles, listening, podcast, and communicative activities.
ii) EnglishRaven: Clear and precise information on teaching methodology and techniques plus a whole host of resources for teaching reading skills, vocabulary, phonics and more.
iii) BBC Learning English: Excellent site with lots of teaching and learning resources for both teachers and students including lesson based on animation production.
iv) its-teacher: This site includes an online magazine for teachers of English, 400+ interactive exercises, a free community site for subscribers' students and lots more.

~Because English is FUN :) ~
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[WK7] ZimmerTwins: The Director's chair is yours!


farahismail
Hi everyone!

The ICT lesson for this week is really great as more amazing web tools have been introduced by Russell, therefore, it is worth for me to share those tools with you guys in this entry. I will explain all the tools in separated entries. So, enjoy!

First tool: Zimmer Twins 

What is it?
A movie-maker tool that allows users to create cartoon movie endings from pre-created starters or even  users can start their own animated movies from the scratch! It is designed based on the Qubo animated-series.


How does it work?
# Create a free account
# Choose the pre-created starters if you just want to continue the existing story or click the 'make from scratch' tab if you want to make the movie from the beginning


# After clicking "Make Movie From [your chosen title]", you can simply click, drag and modify the rest of your story. If you want to make from scratch, just click on it and start to arrange your screen plays.


# By clicking on the elements in the sentence, you can change character, setting, and other features of the clip. Word and thought balloons can be modified- just click and type. The tabs allow you to add different elements such as actions, reactions and feelings!

For online training video, simply log on to Russell Stannard great website

How can it be used in the classroom context?
# [Writing task] Continue the existing story:
- Teachers preview the pre-created starters to engage learners with the tools, later ask them to work in pairs or groups and select one of the starters.
- Learners need to finish story however they would like based on the instruction from the site or hand out from teachers
- Learners need to write down the complete story in their writing book.
# [Movies festival / competition]
- Teachers ask learners to work in groups and produce their own group movie from scratch based on selected topics. This will encourage collaborative learning environment.
- Teachers and the other learners will evaluate and give feedback and comment on how good the movie is and how to improve it. 

Examples of lesson plan: 

What are the learning styles that involve?
1) Gardener's Multiple Intelligences: 
  • Visual spatial: learners work with colourful and cute animation 
  • Linguistic: learners involve in selecting appropriate vocabulary and writing the characters' dialogue 
  • Musical: learners listen to the sounds from the animation 
  • Interpersonal: Learners discuss with their pairs or group members in completing the task 
2) Blended Learning: 
  • Teachers show how the beginning of the short animation to learners on an interactive whiteboard or projector, then let students take over on classroom computers, working together, or writing a journal entry 
3) Bloom taxonomy: 
  • Creating- Learners will plan, design, and produce their own movies. 
  • Evaluating- Throughout the lesson, learners will experiment, check, and critique the movies. They can give their own feedback at the end of the lesson 
  • Analyzing- Learners will select appropriate characters, speech bubbles, action and movement. Then they will organize what they find and compare them with each other. 
  • Applying- Learners will use Zimmer Twins as instructed. 
  • Understanding- Learners will demonstrate their understanding of the movie project and explain their own story through a visual medium. 
  • Remembering- At the end of lesson, learners already have knowledge about this tool in their mind as and know how to use it. Therefore, they can produce another movie during their spare time using their long term memory. 

Who are the learners?
# All levels: beginner, intermediate, advanced learners because as long they know how to use this tool and vocabulary that has been introduced, they can try to create the movies. (suggestion: teachers can pre-teach the vocabulary)
# Upper-Primary and all Secondary School students
# Age range : 11 - 17 years old

Example of the end product:
This is the movie that I have created in the class with my friend, Tiqa. I cannot embed into blog and share to people worldwide because only VIP Members that pay the fee can do so. Therefore, I can only share the link with others through email. To view the movie, just click on the picture below:



What are the advantages?
1. Develop creativity and boost the motivation : as learners need to direct and produce their own animated movies, therefore their learning process involves the use of memory, motivation and thinking  (cognitive psychology)
2. Personalisation: by using this tool, learners construct their own knowledge by choosing their favourite characters and contexts, provide the characters with dialogue and emotions, write their own screen plays based on their personal experience and ideas. This allow them to contextualize and personalise the information by themselves (constructivism)
3. Allow learners to become active rather than passive as they are doing meaningful activities that are practical and require them to think and reflect on their own learning
4. Foster autonomous learning: this tool is provided online, therefore learners can do the task on their own space anywhere and anytime as location and distance are not issues.
5. Various suggestion for classroom practices: click HERE!

What are the limitations?
1. If users do not register the account (require email address), they would not be able to save their creation
2. For the free members, their movie can only be watched by those who have the movie link. If they want their movie to be watched worldwide, they must pay the fee.
3. Users cannot edit the starter, they just can continue the story
4. Limited access as it can only be used if the computers and internet access are available (there is no software downloaded version)
5. Users need Flash 8 (or higher) installed for the Zimmer Twins to work properly

Notes: Even though users need to pay certain amount to enjoy more beneficial features especially for the classroom purposes, but it is worth paying as it is affordable and beneficial. To compare the benefits, just click HERE

Further suggestions:
i) Kerpoof! : another great website for digital story-telling as it provides opportunity for learners to create animated movie and even create the story and turn them into books, make greeting cards, draw and colour the pictures, making it as teacher-friendly resources where many activities can be integrated into language learning classroom environment.

ii) Toontastic and Story Patch: application that are very good for educational purposes, but only for iPad users. The former is useful for making animated movie while the latter is a story-telling application that is beneficial for language learning.

~Because English is FUN! :) ~
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[WK6] Brainshark: No muss, no fuss!


farahismail
Hi everyone!
Brainshark is 'haunting' for you for this week! A tool that is very easy and simple as ABC! 123!

What is it?
This is a very interesting software to make the presentation interesting as users can transform their online static content such as PowerPoint documents or other types documents into voice-enriched video presentation.With a few clicks, we can easily create a narrated video to be shared with anybody.


How does it work?
# Sign up the account


# Upload the presentation / documents
# Add your voice narration via phone or microphone on your computer
# You can preview the recorded voice. If you are not satisfied with it, just click the 'discard' button and record it once again. Then lastly, click 'save' button to record the narration for the next slide.
# View your presentation! Your Brainshark presentation is e-mailed to you as a link, in which you can also e-mail to others. Whenever someone views your presentation, the viewing reports will be updated.

This is how my account looks like
To get a clear picture of the steps, just log on to online training video: Russell Stannard's great website!

How can it be carried out in the classroom context?
# Suitable to be carried out outside the classroom as a self-study at home or do-it-yourself session
# Teachers preview the entire process through the online training video or hand out
# Teachers ask learners to create a multimedia presentation about certain topics and add the narration to explain them. For example: 
  • Teacher gives a topic based on the learners' favourite places in Malaysia. 
  • Context: By using power point presentation, learners need to act as a promoter of the place and try to persuade people to go there
  • Teacher can suggest the learners to insert some pictures or video (combination of different type of media) based on the scenery, food and activities that can be done there as a part of promotional strategies
  • The learners need to add narration that explains the reason they like the place and share with the class  (kind of digital story-telling)
# Once uploaded, teachers and other learners can view/review the presentations online at anytime.
# Teachers give their feedback on the students presentation

What are the learning styles that involve?
i) Blended learning: 
- combination of traditional face-to-face classroom methods with computer-mediated activities. 
  • In this case, teachers and learners might have discussion in the classroom at the beginning of the class and when it is coming to the activity, learners need to use computers to do the task. Teachers will evaluate the presentation anytime and anywhere as it is produced online and give their feedback in the class.
ii) Gardener's Multiple Intelligences
  • Intrapersonal Intelligence: Learners who prefer to work alone and feel shy to talk in front of the audiences will be beneficial in this task as they can speak in front of their computer or laptop without the presence of anyone.
Who are the learners?
# Secondary school students whose the age range is from 16-17 years old (in Malaysian context)
# This site is also suits all levels, even for the beginners because if they are not confidence enough, they can construct their sentences first before trying to record it. The presentation that can be done in front of their own laptop or computer without the presence of audience also can avoid them from being nervous and this will reduce anxiety and boost their motivation to speak.

This is the example that I have produced on my own:



What are the advantages?
1. A good way of getting students to speak confidently in their target language, especially for the shy one thus improve their speaking skills
2. Turn a simple and kinda boring typical presentation into an interesting and high impact one where it can be beneficial in the future (in careers like business, education etc.)
3. It is free and a lot of basic features is in free packages
4. Better yet, the multimedia presentations can also be viewed on mobile devices including smartphones and iPads.
5. The presentation could involve a combination of different media such as PowerPoint slides, documents, photos, background music and voice narration that can be added via phone or computer microphone from a continent away.
6. Presentation can be shared through email or users can simply post it on a social networking site like Facebook. It is also easy to embed it on our own website or blog, or even publish a copy of it on YouTube.

What are the limitations?
1. Limited capacity of uploading individual content files: Only up to 200 MB for each person
2. Process of discarding the narration that might be repeated many times when learners do mistake in their speaking somehow will make the speaking activity less genuine as it is planned.
3. Limited access: It can only be used plus the presentation can only be viewed if the computers and internet access are available

Further suggestions:
1. Slideshare: SlideShare is another online presentation tool that has both free and paid options. With the free plan your presentations will include ads, but you will get unlimited uploads. Paid plans start at $19 per month and offer additional features like no ads, private uploads, analytics, and buzz tracking to see who is sharing your content on sites like Twitter and Facebook.

2. Slideboom: Slideboom's free account allows to upload up to 100 presentations. You can share presentations, audio, video and animations using Slideboom. Compared to Slideshare, Slideboom allows you to have private PowerPoint sharing within your free account.


~Because English is FUN! :) ~
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[WK5] Bubblr! Bookr! Interactive Image Book/Comic


farahismail
Hi everyone! Its me again! 

For this week, I am going to introduce another amazing websites that may help to improve students' writing and speaking skills!

Here they come!

Bubblr and Bookr!

What is it?
Bubblr: a tool to create comic strips using photos from Flickr.com
Bookr: a tool to create picture story books using images from Flickr.com.


How do both tools work?
# Simply find image from flickr through their search engine located on the same screen as comic strip (for Bubblr) or book editor (for Bookr) by typing any tags, depending on your topic
# Drag the chosen picture to the storyboard
# If you are using Bubblr, just add bubble to the picture and after that, you can start typing your caption and story
# If you are using Bookr, the space for you to write your story is already provided.

How can it be used in the classroom context?
# Teachers can show to students the layout of bookr and how to search for images
# Teachers can ask them to see some examples from the archive
# For the beginning, teachers find a theme or topic that the students will have a large range of photos of and are comfortable in writing about. For example, "A Day at the Zoo"
# If the students are already get used to this tool, teachers can assign them homework to do at home and they can choose the topic that they want.

What are the learning styles that involve?
# Gardener's Multiple intelligences:
i) Linguistic intelligence: This type of learners learn better through writing the story or caption
ii) Visual spatial intelligence: Visual elements are useful for providing comprehensible and meaningful input for second language learners
# Flemming's VAK:
i) Visual: Visual learners might like this kind of lesson very much because images does help to facilitate information retrieval, thus helping them to convey their own thoughts and ideas


Who are the learners?
# Secondary school students whose the age range is from 13-17 years old (in Malaysian context)
# This site is also suits all levels, even for the beginners because they can choose their own favourite pictures and construct their own story or caption using simple sentences and vocabulary that they have.


Example of the end product:
I have produced this story regarding my trip to Turkey during last summer by using Bookr.






How to blog this book...


What are the advantages?
# It is free, therefore, students will not break the copyright
# A fun way to present variety of topic. Students can choose any pictures that they want
# Develop students' multiple skills which are speaking skill through presentation and writing skill while they are doing the work
# Create personalisation as students can work on their own space based on their own topic
# It is interesting as students can learn better through visualisation
# Students can share their own production by sending the link or embed on their blog

What are the limitations?
# Students might search for the inappropriate pictures
# Limited spaces to write, therefore it is not suitable for writing long sentences
# Limited access to internet will slow down and distract the lesson
# Sometimes it is quite distracting as there are too much images presented in one time
# Student can only view and read their own story if the internet access is available


Further suggestions:
i) tikatok: an award winning site endorsed by educators where students can write, illustrate and publish their own story. So why not help your students become published authors!
ii) storybird: a tool that allow students to create virtual books using beautiful drawings by various illustrators and they can print their own story to be a part of their book collection.

All free for very valuable and incredible benefits!

~Because English is FUN! :) ~
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[WK 2] Listen & Write: Get your ears right!


farahismail
Hi everyone!

I have a new stuff for you guys! For the second week of 'ICT in ELT' class, we have been introduced to a site called:



What is it?
A site where we can listen to the audio or video and write the words. It is a great site for dictation practice, plus good to improve the listening skill as well.


How does it work?
# Learners can select a video or audio according to their level
# The listening practice is divided into several tracks
# Learners can dictate and listen to the contents as many time as they want
# They can try to listen and dictate until they have their dictation all correct
# Teachers can encourage learners to use hint provided if they could not listen to the audio properly, for example because of the word pronunciation and different accents that have been used.

How the task can be carried out?
# The web-based lesson like this can be used in the class but I would rather say that it is more likely suitable for the outside classroom activity, such as learners do it as their self-study at home, thus fostering autonomous learning.
# If teachers need extra information for online training, this Russell Stannard's website is very worth to opt for as all the steps involved for the task are visually and clearly presented. Teacher themselves might be interested to show to the class at the beginning of the lesson before asking learners to do the actual task. 

What are the learning style that have involved?
# Flemming's VAK: This site is useful especially for the auditory learners as the repetition of the words is involved
# Multiple Intelligences: Involve linguistic intelligence in which students need to listen and type the words in their target language correctly, thus enhancing their language skills.

Who are the learners?
# Secondary school students whose the age range is from 13-17 years old (in Malaysian context)
# This site is also suits all levels, even for the weakers' because through the same audio text, there are different tasks can be carried out according to the language ability levels, for example the blank mode require learners to fill in the blanks, full mode in which learners write the words in full and the quick mode for those who are at the beginners level as they only need to write the first sound of a word.
# Learners can move from one level to another and challenge themselves to complete the task.

What are the advantages?

1. Improve multiple skills
The task itself tests the learners' listening and writing skills as they need to listen to the audio or video carefully and at the same time write down the words needed. Automatic repeating also enhances listening.

2. Enrich learners' vocabulary and knowledge
Through this task, learners face a quite good exposure to language, for example, learners will get to know new vocabulary while doing the dictation as they can look up for the words they do not understand by clicking the "Dictionary Lookup" button provided, apart from taking note at the grammar and sentence structure of the text that has been chosen.

3. Support autonomous learning
Teachers can encourage learners to do this task at home, depending on the topics and levels that they favour, thus turn the exercise into an enjoyable hobby. This gives sort of freedom to learners to think about their own learning, in terms of to what extent they have improved based on the scores that they have achieved and review given.

What are the limitations?

1. Problem of access
Computer facilities always could be the factor that can prevent learners from varying their learning styles. If the school can provide the access, the parents of certain learners cannot do that as back in my country, not all family can afford to buy it especially those who lives in the remote or quite rural area.

2. Sources
Malaysian education system is based on British and Malaysian Englishes but it is noted that the sources for learning English from this site are vary, could be based on American English and from the British's as well. Therefore, sometimes certain accents and the usage of different words that refer to the same thing can confuse the students and the teachers. But I would rather say, this is also a good exposure to the use of authentic English across the world.

Further suggestions:
i) Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab: A site that helps ESL learners to improve their English listening comprehension skill through practice with audio clips and self-grading quiz pages. There are three types of listening text; easy, medium and difficult.

ii) English Listening Lesson Libray Online: This site provides samples of English speakers from around the world with transcripts and interactive quizzes which are designed according the learners' language ability.

To all teachers, why not give a try because its FREE!!!

~Because English is FUN! :) ~
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[WK1] Lyrics Training: The Battle of the Rhythm


farahismail
Hi everyone!

Another tool to be explored! In the 'ICT in ELT' class last week, Russell has introduced another website that is very interesting and fun which is:



What is it?
As mentioned in its website, LyricsTraining is an easy and fun method to learn and improve your foreign languages skills through the music videos and lyrics of your favourite song. This site is suitable for everyone at various age including the learners as well. They can choose their own favourite song and listen to it many times.


How does it work?
# In the classroom context, through the exercise given, learners can improve their listening skill and their pronunciation of the words from the lyrics.
# There are three levels involved, which are beginner, intermediate and expert. This is good as learners can choose the level that suits their learning ability.
# After selecting the level, learners will listen to the song and need to complete the lyrics properly.
# If they cannot fill in the blank lyric, the song will stop and learners can use hint provided or just press the 'tab' button to get the answer straight away so that the song will continue to be played. Learners also can click 'help' to get the instruction.

To get a clear picture of how it works via online, just log on to Teachertrainingvideo: RussellStannard great website! 

How can it be used in classroom context?
# Teachers preview the entire process plus giving the hand out that contains instruction on how to use this website
# Teachers ask learners to work in groups and ask them to choose the song that they favour the most
# Learners need to do the task based on the steps given. 
# The group that gets the highest rank will be rewarded
# Follow up activity such as "Sing-a-long session" might be a good way of improving learners' pronunciation of the words from the song. Melodies and rhymes guide learners to speak in a native cadence.

Example:
Song: When You Believe by Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey

Instruction:
1. Select the mode. Here we choose the beginner level. 


2. Complete the missing words in the lyrics as you listen.


3. See your score or check the high scores

4. Check out the "Help" key. Three keys that are often used are:

Backspace = Replay line
Tab = Skip
Enter = Play/Pause




What kind of the learning style that involves? 
# Gardener's Multiple Intelligences:
--> learners are allowed to learn in their own best ways based on their preferences. For example:
i) Musical intelligence: Learners who perceive and appreciate rhythm, pitch and melody will learn the language better through music and songs as they enjoy the lesson to the fullest. This activity fosters a relaxed but motivating and productive classroom atmosphere.
ii) Linguistic intelligence: Learners with high verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages and through this tool, they tend to learn best by memorizing the lyrics.

Who are the learners?
# Secondary school Malaysian students whose mostly first language is not English
# Beginner, intermediate and advanced levels of English 
# Age range: from 13 - 17 years old

What are the advantages?

1. It is interesting and fun
Learners will engage more in the lesson as they can enjoy the songs and music played at the same time. Learners can choose their favourite song as well. Different songs chosen will increase learners' exposure to different accents and expressions from all over the world.

2. A beneficial and challenging task
The task is quite challenging as learners need to complete the missing words between the lyrics after listening to the song which can be in different accents and speed. Therefore, this step requires both writing and listening skills, particularly relates to the vocabulary used and how certain words are pronounced. However, hint is also provided to help them.

3. Great for motivation
It is also great for motivation because similarly to playing games online, learners will be given the point for completing the blanks. The more they do the exercises and completing them correctly, the more scores they will get and the higher rank they could go because they do not only test themselves but also compete with each other or even people from all over the world that have joined this site.

4. Foster autonomous learning
This is applicable if learners are willing to try at home because by practicing do-it-yourself exercise, they will learn better as they need to figure out the sentence pattern, the words' sound or the vocabulary that they do not understand by themselves. This will help to develop the language skills while also morphing the task of learning into an enjoyable hobby.

What are the limitations?

1. Limited access to internet
For the school where computer facilities are limited, it can create tension to teachers to conduct the lesson. Learners who do not have computer at home also will not be able to do this task as homework.

2. Inappropriate songs
There are some songs plus video clips that are not really suitable in Malaysian context for example, in terms of the words use (harsh and foul words) and how the singers act out in the clips (eg: public display of affection)

Further suggestion:
i) tefltunes.com: An amazing website that is suitable for teachers who are interested in planning the grammar lesson using songs. There are some free lessons provided apart from the subscribed ones.

~Because English is FUN! :) ~

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[WK1] Dvolver : Fun, Easy & Attractive.


farahismail
Hi everyone!
This is my first entry for my blog. Lets see what I have this time!


In the 'ICT in ELT' class during the first week, Russell has introduced an amazing website that is very interesting and fun which is:


What is it?
A simple moviemaker website that allows users to create their own animated movies and write their own dialogues. Users can choose the backgrounds, music, scenes and characters from the options given in the website.

To see how it works via an on-line training video, we can log on to Russel Stannard's great website, one of the most outstanding websites for teaching and language learning through various web tools.


How can it be used in the classroom context?
# At the beginning of the class, teachers provide brief tutorial or model and instruction sheet on how to use this tool
# Teachers ask learners to work in pairs and create their own movie. Teachers need to decide whether the topic is theme-free or based on certain issues.
# For example, in the literature class, teacher can assign task to learners to do the summary of every chapter in the novel that has been used as a part of the syllabus where they need to pick up one each (one pair for one chapter) and transfer the information into dialogues in the movie.
# As every movie created has a link, teachers can ask learners to send the link to them and their peers' emails.
# Teachers can choose which movie is the best, show it in the class and write some comments.
# Teachers can also get feedback from the students on how to improve the movie especially in terms of content.
# Apart from that, teachers can publish the links on their blog, create a poll and make learners vote for the best.
# To vary the learning styles, carrying out the role-play based on the movie can be a good follow up activity

What are the learning styles that have involved?
In this case, it involves the implementation of Flemming's VAK:
1) Visual: Learners can enjoy seeing and exploring the characters, contexts and scenes in colourful animation type
2) Auditory: Learners can hear the sound provided, involve in discussion with their peers and listen to the explanation of the instruction, lead by the teachers.
3) Kinaesthetic: Learners can try to act out the movie that they have produced.

Who are the learners?
# Secondary school Malaysian students whose mostly first language is not English
# Intermediate and advanced levels of English as they are believed to be already equipped with the sufficient level of English, some vocabulary to be used plus knowledge from the previous experience in learning English back in their primary school.
# Age range: from 13 - 17 years old.

However, this should not be seen as a barrier that denies the lower level learners' opportunity to learn as teachers can also play their roles in providing assistance for example, at the beginning of the class, teachers can work together with them and come up with an example of the movie, then later show it in the class. This will engage learners' attention to the actual task. Then, students can be asked to work in pairs and try to produce their own movie using their own vocabulary.

Apart from that, it is also worth for the teachers to provide hand out containing the steps involved, just to guide the learners who are not really good in using computers. For example:

View more documents from RitaZ

The example of the end product:
The movie below is produced by me and my friend, Vee Vien during the ICT class:


What are the advantages?

1. It is fun and great for motivation
As the learners at the age of 13 years and above are usually enjoy watching movies, this tool can arouse their interests towards learning English and deviate from the usual chalk-and-talk traditional teaching method. They will have so much fun creating and even more fun watching the end product. They will also get excited by the prospect of actually producing something that they could show or send to family and friends, thus perceiving English as an interesting and worth subject to be learned.

2. Create the context
This tool is equipped with different sections such as backgrounds, characters, sky and plots that can be chosen by students thus providing them the contexts and make them focus on what they are going to do for each step.

3. Enhance students' creativity
This is possible in the sense that students can express their own thoughts and ideas especially in creating the plot needed for the story line of the movie. As students are given such opportunity, in this situation, to pick up the characters and construct the dialogue that they want, the element of freedom is taken into action and this also helps to personalise the lesson .

4. Develop writing skill
To some extent, this is a great starter to get learners to write because normally, some students struggle putting ideas into words. This tool does not require them to write the dialogue in very long sentences. As learners are expected to write accurate dialogues of the characters in the movies, this tool can become a good review of spelling, sentence construction, question word order, reported speech and reported question and natural conversational language.

What are the limitations?

1. Inappropriate use of English
As students can choose their own dialogue for their own movie, they might resort to the use of inappropriate vocabulary, colloquial language or slang that they have heard before from their previous experience in watching movie or film.

2. Time-consuming
It is a bit time-consuming especially for the learners who are struggling to make up their own dialogue for the story.

3. Limited context
Regarding the content, the criteria given is limited, for example only two characters will be involved for each scene. This somehow prevent learners from expanding the ideas of the story.

4. Inappropriate context
As most of the Malaysian students are Muslims, there are some scenes and characters that are not really suitable for the students to use in lesson. For example, in terms of their appearances, plus the characters' clothes are not really designed in a decent type. Therefore, if students use this tool at home, their parents might be misunderstood of their action.


Further suggestions:
If the learners are already mastered the lesson, teachers can expose them to other methods of do-it-yourself animation to be tried at home, thus fostering autonomous learning such as:
i) Xtranormal: A text-to-movie website in which there are more options and contexts are involved, thus engaging learners with the art of movie making.
ii) Go! Animate!: A web application that let users to generate fully animated cartoons and for learners who are keen on comics, this tool is a worth choice to be opt for.

Bear in mind, all tools that have been mentioned above appear to offer their application FREE! Therefore, grab this opportunity to vary your teaching and learning styles.

~Because English is FUN! :) ~
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