Teaching English With the Aid of Technology - Assignment Example

MA TEFL Technology in TEFFL Assignment: Part two: Blog ID: 12095379 08/08 Number of pages: 13 Table of content: Evernote........................................................................................................................3 Studyblue......................................................................................................................4 Storybird.......................................................................................................................6 Free tools to create and administer quizzes……………………………………….. 7 How to teach English by technology…………………………………………..…….8 101 free teach tools for teachers…………………………………………………….9 Glogster EDU………………………………………………………………………. 9 Kid blog……………………………………………………………………................10 Photostory3……………………………………………………………………….….11 Session 1: Listening, speaking and pronunciation…………………………………12 Cool tools for 21st century learning………………………………………………...12 Teach with technology………………………………………………………………13 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….14 My Adventures A create wordpress.com site http://rahaf11211.wordpress.com Evernote This website provides a useful way of capturing information using various devices such as the computer, smart phone, and the web itself. It helps students and teachers in taking notes, saving web pages, and even capturing videos. Moreover, students can work with their friends and colleagues simultaneously and can even share their notes. Through social strategies, the learners get the inordinate opportunity to be exposed to knowledge and even the chance to practice their own language. Information processing is bolstered and contributes to learning supporting the obtainment, storing, retrieving and using of the target language. In addition, Evernote is beneficial when doing research. This is because it helps individuals in collecting a lot of information making the learner’s life more convenient and easier. Since the students conduct bulk research frequently, this tool presents one of the best and easy ways of organizing their research and sharing information easily. The interaction with diverse information leads language development since learners freely interact with other learners instructors richly endowed with knowledge of the target language. To me, this is a good tool for both teachers and students. This is because both parties can complete their tasks easily and make them interactive using a myriad of tools available within the website. https://evernote.com/evernote/ Studyblue Today, I found this website, which is very useful. It can help teachers and students to make flashcards with video and audio, prepare for quizzes, and take notes. The website also provides a downloadable application for the mobile phone by the name of iTunes App. Such tools help individuals in studying better and faster since they have access to all the required information at their disposal and can effectively and efficiently clarify any qualms that would otherwise have obstructed learning. It provides an important capability of sharing flashcards with others and this increases circulation of imaginative worksheet and information making it easy for students to come across new and pertinent information in their target language. Moreover, the website provides a study guide that directs people on how to use the available tools in learning so as to realize a high grade. It is easy to access studyblue at anytime and anywhere. Due to this advantage, students can access it even on the move and even access their flashcards as well as those provided by their friends. Learning not only becomes easy but also convenience increases. If you would like to know more about this website, you can visit this link http://www.studyblue.com https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/studyblue/id323887414?mt=8 http://www.studyblue.com/about/2013/02/become-a-studyblue-pro/ Noteworthy, Evernote and Studyblue cannot be said to be impeccable in meeting the TEFL needs in the contemporary society. They have sometimes been inaccessible from certain locations and this significantly impeded learning especially to learners who operate from environments that are not highly advanced in terms of network accessibility. The software should be made ominously lighter to increase ease of accessibility while improving the content. Additionally, it should provide a wider platform for learner-learner and learner-material interaction. Storybird Storybird is a collaboration tool for children, which enables them to create inspiring stories. The students are able to build their stories by creating a story and using pictures to support it. It is beneficial for children to build self-confidence when trying to do something new. Moreover, it is a great tool for teachers because they are able to open accounts for their students. Students can also share their stories with other students from other classes. This allows the students to concentrate on their writing skills while still refining their drawing talents and amalgamation of text and pictures to convey messages. This helps the students in improving their personal writing skills in an easy way since the tools are interactive from the perspective of being easy and fun to use. Besides improving already learnt skills, the tools available on this website also help the students in exploring their creativity. To make the stories more inspiring, the website provides pictures that can be used. This can help in improving the appearance of the stories. Therefore, this is a very good website for kids to build on their own skills and improve on creativity due to the wide range of tools available for fulfilling these quests. Storybird allows learners to post stories in the picture book, plain text and video formats which make it easy for learners between the age of 7-15 years to use it while still attracting adults. However, Storybird should be improved to possibly integrate the unique learning experience provided by other story-making websites such as Storify and Storyjumper If you are interested in knowing more about those tools, you can visit this link: http://pacadavision.wordpress.com/2013/04/14/storybird-in-the-classroom/ http://techtutorials.edublogs.org/2011/09/05/storybird/ https://storybird.com/ https://storify.com/ FREE TOOLS TO CREATE AND ADMINISTER QUIZZES. In modern life, technology has become more effective in the educational field. This website shows us various materials to create quizzes, which means it will help teachers to have a small test in the classroom in a short time without spending hours to create quizzes. Contrary, to other websites which are not user friendly, the website will create strong positive with the users. As you see on the website, there are sixteen tools which will assist teachers in their career. Each tool has a different job that means the teachers have a choice to choose one of the sixteen tools. It seems that this website will help teachers and give them the confidence to create their own tests without taking hours to have one. Noteworthy, this website is way above other recently launched torturing websites as it provides teachers a platform where they can assess the student’s performance and quickly provide the required feedback or guidance and/or recommendation. If you are interested in knowing more about those tools you can visit this link: http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/04/free-tools-to-create-and-administer.html HOW TO TEACH ENGLISH BY TECHNOLOGY How to teach English lesson with Technology by Gavin Dudeney and Nicky Hockly, “Offer a clear, comprehensive, confidence-building introduction to the use of technology in the language classroom”. Currently, technology has become more important in educational life. So, I find this as a useful book that will assist and support teachers in their career. The book is divided into twelve parts each part has different ideas to explain how to use technology in the classroom and the process you have to use. It pinpoints the metacognitive learning approaches and elucidates on how technology impacts on cognitive development. Furthermore, it tells us about different internet reference tools, e-learning, electronic material and other uses. Also, this book can come with CD and practical guide. It considers the impacts of Skype, Webquest conception and how amalgamation of pictures and texts makes it effective when teaching language. Finally, if you read this book you will learn more about how to teach English with technology. The effective of blogs in enabling interaction of learners should not be underestimated considering the various TEFL resources contained in blogs. 101 FREE TECH TOOLS FOR TEACHERS Video Today, I have found a useful video. It talks about different tools, which means that will assist teachers’ career. In addition, there are many different ideas and resources. It will enhance and motivate teachers and students during their educational life. It seems that this video will help teachers to have new ideas and tools. GLOGSTER EDU Image Glogster is a good learning tool as it enhances learning by allowing learners or teachers to create an interactive online poster. These posters are created in less than 15 minutes and their exquisiteness is outstanding, a factor that attracts learners to participate in knowledge sharing. This type of poster can add some text, image, web link, video and audio. It is perfect for the classroom. Moreover, it gives inspiration to teachers or students to have their own design or view. Additionally, it has online and free access. The teachers and students can publish their own poster on the website. Of course, there are many benefits for using Glogster in the classroom. The first benefit is grown digital literacy that makes a learner to work with each other or alone If you are interested to know more about the benefits you can go through this link: http://jamiethelibrarian.com/2011/05/13/three-benefits-of-using-glogster-a-21st-century-multimedia-tool-in-k-12-classrooms/ YouTube Video: Glogster EDU Tutorial https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qW5SSn9nno0&feature=related KIDBLOG Today, I have found a good website for teachers and students. They can use it in the classroom. Do you want to know what is it? It is Kid blog. It is easy to set up and edit. The teacher will set up all accounts. So, in this case the students do not need an e-mail address. This kind of blog can be privet, which means students can practice writing and organize their ideas about any topic. Moreover, teachers can evaluate the student’s understanding that will enhance student ability to write more about any topic and discuss it with the teacher. Kidblog is considered as a safe tool for students. Apparently, with the Kidblog, learners should focus more on using decorative scrapbook art, iron ons, clip art graphics and paper crafts to conduct and share their writing. Teachers should also use this blog as a major platform of gauging learners’ proactivity and progress. However, while this blog is not very effective for young learners, it can still be used with posters to bolster learning. Press the following link you can find useful information about the blog:   http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/educationupclose.phtml/47 To learn press YouTube Video: Learn KidBlog.org PHOTOSTORY 3 Photostory3 is a free program from Microsoft which has created a slideshow from your image. It looks like Photoshop program. This kind of a tool is useful for teachers and students, since it allows them to post some music, audio or topic to the photostory and also edit it. Despite being limited in the formats that it can support, Photostory3 enables quick sharing of learning materials. There are different ways to make student learn from pictures and create their story from the pictures. If you want to learn more about this program press to this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEipKnL3DAE&feature=related Or you can read more about this tool if you want to know more about it. Just follow this link: http://powayusd.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/projects/EdTechCentral/Photostory/PS%20Basics.pdf SESSION 1: LISTENING, SPEAKING, AND PRONUNCIATION Nowadays, many people have a desire to study English language through technology. This video will show us a lecture tutorial on speaking, listening and pronunciation, which means, it will help people who need to improve oral and listening skills and show them how they can pronounce the words correctly. Furthermore, this type of video will be easier to listen and to re-listen many times as well as to learn more about languages such as, common expression, idioms among others. I concur with the contents of this video as it illustrates how important technology is in TEFL. It is quite pertinent articulation or vocalization is in the processing of learning and comprehending a new language. COOL TOOLS FOR 21ST CENTURY LEARNERS Cool Tools for 21st Century Learners If you are interested to teach vocabulary by using technology, I recommend this website because it has different types of tools, such as Lexpedia, Lingro, Shahi, Snappy words, and Visuwords among others. Each of these tools has different function, which will support teachers and learners. The idea of these tools was created by Susan Oxenvad. It utilizes Digital Differentiation model where various materials are used to provide a unique learning and teaching experience. These resources allow teachers to use pictures or charts to teach the denotation of vocabularies. Further, students interact with various informational materials thus bolstering their progress in erudition of the language. TEACH WITH TECHNOLOGY n Teach with Technology.    This week, I find this website will support teachers in their career. The teachers can find different types of tools, resources, which help them during their teaching. Furthermore, this website has own blog, so teachers can seek for clarification, write any comment or discover a new materials. It bolsters learning of vocabularies as it provides the teachers with a platform where they share with the learners any prerequisite information. Moreover, it is a tunnel through which learners and teachers network. To know more about website, follow the link below; http://www.washington.edu/teaching/teaching-with-technology-2/ Bibliography Dudeney, G., & Hockly, N. (2007). How to teach English with technology. Harlow: Pearson/Longman. Read more Read More