Showing posts with label [Skill] speaking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label [Skill] speaking. Show all posts

[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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[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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[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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