ActivInspire - How different from Activstudio?

I know, it's been almost a month form my last entry, but my new job's keeping me at bay! Arghhh :-). Anyway, we bought a new Promethean IWB and ActivInspire software along with it. ActivInspire is for Primary and ActivStudio for secondary and adult learners. The software is very, very similar :-), but from my point of view having been trained to ActivStudio Levels 1 and 2, I think that the latter is more versatile. Another feature I don't like much or having ben able to work out yet :-O! is that you can open up ActivStudio flipcharts with ActivInspire but not vice versa!

Anyway, it's great stuff all the same :-) Here's the link.
http://www.prometheanplanet.com/en/support/software/activinspire/

Another Bloom's DIGITAL Taxonomy...

I really like this Prezi on Bloom's Digital Map as it gives, in a very brief way, examples of what HOTS (higher order thinking skills) mean in terms of digital use. Really interesting to see the different examples shown. I cannot use a few of the ones listed under each skill and wonder how many people feel the same...

Here's the link: http://prezi.com/kmpwndr6zk7j/copy-of-blooms-digital-taxonomy/

MIRO - really useful and cool

This year we're promoting use of web absed applications and open source programs amongst our students both adults and YLs. So far we're received good feedback :-) so all good stuff. I came across this site and I fell in love with it as I'm always searching different sites for short videos that I can use both with students and trainee teachers, and this one I think is really good to mnake my life easier :-)

Here's the link: http://www.getmiro.com/

Joshua Coupal's Bloom's Taxonomy in PREZI!

Bloom's on Prezi

I came across this presentation via The Twitter Times and I really like it. I think it really shows how technology can be integrated and how it is relevant to the way we learn. Whether we are a digital native or a digital immigrant, the way we learn changes with time as we adapt to new technologies. Really exciting and interesting, don't you think?

Simple Booklets? Similar to Storybird!

I came across this application via The Twitter Times. I think it's even simpler to use than Storybird, but in the end it is pretty much the same thing in terms of writing. I sort of like Storybird a little more because of all the already-there stories which can serve as inspiration for more YL writing both by the teacher and why not the students.

Simple Booklets is also a good application but gives me a little sense of being more serious in its presentation so I would probably use it more with older ss. I like both though :-) It must be said that simple booklets offers a lot more possibilities as links to various sources can be added. I haven't seen this in Storybird yet. I'll check it out.

Prezi.com - Presentations that are 'different'?

I came across Prezi.com and I've spent the last 2 hours putting together a presentation for one of our inset sessions. I like it very much, probably because I'm a really visual learner. However, I'm not totally convinced. I think it'ìs got potential and I just need to dedicate a little more time to see how to really exploit it! I may be just a little too tired today!

There are lots of prezis ready to explore and some are really interesting so it's worth checking them out anyway!

Here's the link: www.prezi.com

Nitro PDF Reader! Super cool and FREE!

I just came across this super cool application that allows you to create, add text, sign, add notes, modify and read PDF file for FRE!!! It's super cool. I just tried it out and I can already see how it can be useful to create and anotate worksheets and the like for students. Really neat!

Here's the link: http://www.nitroreader.com/

PDFCROWD!! Super cool!

This is a super cool site I came across during an Elluminate session on the E-Moderation course I'm doing with The Consultants-E. Gavin told us about it and I just checked it out :-) I love it. Just off the top of my head, I think it could be very useful for building up my own e-portfolio. In the classroom, maybe to work off line using it as an authentic text for a text-based presentation, discussion, language focus? I don't know, I still have to think more about it.

Check it out: http://pdfcrowd.com/

STORYBIRD!! I love it.... and you will too

Hello,

I was watching Aadm Bellow's session on Classroom2.0 and he mentioned Storybird to create your own stories either on your own or with others. I think this site has lots of potential for both the YL teacher creating stories for the classroom and for collaborative work with older students. In my current context we don't have access to IWBs so this could easily be done as homework and then for ss to share their work with the class. I'll try it out and see what happens.

Here's a link to a screenshot of the site anotated by me using Bounceapp.
http://www.bounceapp.com/21060

You can create a free account and get started!

Here is the link: www.storybird.com

Bounce! And share your anotated websites!

This is a really cool application I found out about via Adam Bellow in a Classroom2.0 show on EduTecher. It is really nice and although I think you can still do pretty much the same thing with Jing the good thing about Bounce is that you get a URL which you can share so it's easier to add to an email or your blog rather than having to deal with the image itself.

Pretty cool! Check it out!

iTunes U :-)

I recently discovered iTunesU and all the educational TV channels available. It's absolutely fantastic. I've been watching lots of TV programs from e-learning UK, TeachersTV, and others that are really exciting! My favourite one right now is TEACHING AND LEARNING SCOTLAND! There is lots on cognitive development and teahcing students to think about thinking and about their learning. Empowering them so that they can understand and reflect and think about what works best for them in the classroom. Really cool stuff!

Screenjelly!!!

I just came across this great resource while navigating English360 - a great and new platform. It's super easy to use and allows you to create 3 min videos wchih are great for classroom work with both ss and teachers. Here's the link: www.screenjelly.com

Adrian Underhill's Blog on Pronunciation

Many ELT famous and not so famous writers have been blogging for a while. Mainly about their books and how to use them and about their own views and ideas in ELT, which is great as one can now get to know more about them through the blogosphere and not just through their books.

Anyway, Adrian Underhill's doing it now too and I think this is really worth mentioning as the teaching of pronunciation is still an area teachers are not very comfortable with. As a CELTA and YL Extension to CELTA trainer, I think that it is really important that teachers approach pronunciation with open arms and a 'Sound Foundation' regardless of their own idiolect!

Here's a link to Adrian's blog: http://adrianpronchart.wordpress.com/
Enjoy!

E-Moderation

With so much going on out there and seeing how courses and demand for them are changing, I decided I really needed to get on to a course on how to moderate online courses. Well, I'm to start the E-Moderation course offered by TheConsultants-E in October and so I've been trying to get my head round the course and the materials. Here are some links to the course and materials which may help you decide whether this course is for you... it certainly is for me :-)

Here's a link to the course description: http://www.theconsultants-e.com/courses/em/index.asp

Here's an entry on it in Wikipedia: E-moderation

Ready to Resume!

Right... I'm now back in Italy and a week into my new job. I'm still in the process of settling down after the summer in Canada running CELTA courses and coming back to then attend the AISLi DoS Day conference a few days into my new job!

This is just to say to those few followers :-( Hahaha that I'm back and will resume blogging soon :-)... OK blogging may be too big a word for what I do with my humble blog, but still!!!

Moodle Moodling Moodler

Moodle.org is a great site which allows you to use their software to create online courses. This Modular Object Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment is super cool! I did the ICTCert course in Moodle and it was really easy to use. There are tons of video tutorials in the following links if you want to learn how to use it.

Moodle Video Tutorials

Russell Stannard's Training Videos

2-minute Moodles

Enjoy!

I was browsing through Rusell Stannard's wonderful site Teacher Training Videos and I found his video on www.languageguide.org and I loved it. I love languages myself, I'm a very visual learner and so this is an absolutely fantastic site and not only for English but for many other languages. It's so exciting to be able to see and hear lots of basic vocabulary in other languages. Really easy to use and wonderful visuals and graphic quality too and FREE!!!! God bless the internet!

I'm back!!!! VISUWORDS v Visual Thesaurus

I really like Visual Theasurus and I bought it myself as I find it really useful when preparing vocabulary related lessons or training session on how to teach vocab. I recently came across Visuwords and I love it! It's very similar to Visual Thesaurus but I find that this one offers more visual support thanks to the left handside bar with a list of explanations as to what each colour and line represent. Visual Thesaurus is nice in the sense that if you buy it then the application is in your pc although some options are only available online. Visuwords, I don't know whether you can buy it, but the best thing is that it is free so all you need is an internet connection.

Well, have fun exploring it!

Big Move!

Hello,

I'm in the process of moving back to Europe and so in the middle of a very hectic time. I haven't had time to blog lately but this doesn't mean I will not do it anymore, on the contrary! I'll come back soon.

In the meantime, a big thank you for following my blog! I've been thinking that with hindsight I would've called it something different as with its current name not many people get to see it as it's got nothing to do with ICT and languages! :-)

Bye for now :-) and I'll be back soon!

Robert

This is a really cool tool. you can make 60 sec videos in a flash. Super easy and perfect for those snippets of video that you want to use in the classroom to add that little extra umpthhh! I came across this tool at the E-community. Ana D'Almeida used it to summarise the PicLits tool contributions.

Enjoy!

Here's the link: http://flixtime.com/

And here's a video advertising the Teacher Training Development Centre where I've been working for the last two years here in Singapore!

Teaching the Mobile Generation by Nicky Hockly at IATEFL Harrogate 2010




It's a very, very interesting session which I highly recommend. It've watched it twice and every time I get new ideas and see things from a different perspective. Feel free to add your comments here.

Preschool Fingerplays

This is a wonderful site I found and which is very useful for those of us working either teaching or training teachers on how to teach English in kindergarten. there are loads of finger plays and activities for the KG classroom. My KG trainees love this site.

Here's the link:

http://www.preschoolrainbow.org/preschool-rhymes.htm

Revisiting the resources gathered here so far!

Hello :-)

I haven't posted anything for over 2 weeks now, but I'm back. The last few weeks have been very hectic and so I've been trying to make use of what I have right now rather than trying to find new tools. A few comments on my recent experiences using some of the tools here:

Xtranormal - I went ahead and created a short intro movie clip for one of my courses on using web tools. The trainees loved the fact that it was relevant and a clear example of what the course is about and not just me telling them about something, but seeing it at work. So, good feedback here which is encouraging.

PicLit - also good feedback. I've used a few pictures in order to create interest and explore ideas by activating prior knowledge at the beginning of a session or before starting an important point. I've used it just as Wordleb and comments from trainee teachers have been good.

Triptico.co.uk and word magnets - I've used it more often with both adults and YLs and they love it. It's a shame that you cannot save the examples as it takes a little prep before the sessions and if there's no live internet connection, then it's out the window! All together, it can be used in many ways and not only as a warmer.

Jing - I've been using it a lot not only to manipulate images but to create short videos with extra info or questions or tasks for the trainees teachers. Their feedback has been very positive in that they feel it's not an extra handout they can read at home, but videos especially, are a little more engaging as I through in various questions throughout the screencast clips.

Ok, this is it for now and I'll be back soon with more reports of new resources!

Do feel free to comment on the resources you encounter here under each post as it'd be great to get the ball rolling and see how you use them too.

Robert

PICLIT - creative writing

This tool is Tool of the Month 3 in The Community-E. What I really like about this tool is that there is great support to LEARN about CREATIVE writing. Simply click on LEARN IT and you will find three sections to learn about. Here's the link:

http://www.piclits.com

Triptico.co.uk... and WORD MAGNETS

I found this site through TeacherTrainingVideos and while checking it out I found WORD MAGNETS. It's super cool and can be used for lots of different activities in the classroom.

Try it out! here's the link: http://www.triptico.co.uk/?p=43

Copyright in education and in general

I was looking at the entries on this subject in the TheConsultants-e.com community and realised that I had no entries on the subject in my blog. Well, I'm adding here all the links and info I have on it and hope it is useful. I'm also adding links shared by Bea in the community.

Here are the links:

http://creativecommons.org/
http://creativecommons.org/choose/
http://copyrightfriendly.wikispaces.com
http://www.ict4lt.org/en/
http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/01/six-resources-for-learning-about-fair.html
http://wiki.creativecommons.org/FAQ
http://blip.tv/file/2900391/
http://www.spffy.com
A fair(y)Use Tale

Edutecher - wow, wow, wow

I can't even remember how I came across this site, but it's super cool. There are tons of resources and links, I mean thousands... Too much to say and very little time! Been checking the site for over an hour and I can't get enough. Check it out: here's the link http://www.edutecher.net/index.php

Pixuffle along the lines of Jigzone!

And this one too is really cool! Along the same lines as jigzone. I was thinking that I can also use it as a pass time too!! Hahaha Nice though!

Here's the link: http://www.pixuffle.net/

Jigzone rocks!

One of my colleagues just told me about this site and I had to just go and check it out. It's great and a wonderful way to use pictures as a warmer and springboard for a discussion or simply to get the ss thinking about the topic of the article if in a reading lesson or the topic of anything really. Great to show trainees how technology can be fun and follow pedagogy rather than all the way around.

Here's the link:

http://www.jigzone.com/

Xtranormal - making your own movies

I remember being introduced to this tool early on when I was doing the CertICT course with the Consultants-e.com, but somehow I never really got to do anything with it. Yesterday a colleague of mine showed me a cool 3 min video he created for a session and so here I go again! It's super cool and adds that little extra to some discussion tasks in teacher training sessions on how to use ICT in the classroom!

Here's the link: http://www.xtranormal.com

And here's my first movie for an ICT course I taught last year! :-)

Emerging EdTech- cool site with lots of info!!!

This is a really cool site with a wealth of info I came across thanks to some posts in Tweetdeck. So much to look at, read and do to keep up to date! Lots of articles and links to resources, absolutely worth exploring!

Here's the link: http://www.emergingedtech.com/2009/04/10-internet-technologies-that-educators-should-be-informed-about/

Safeshare.TV - this is cool!

I was checking out Nick Peachey's Learning Technology Blog and came across this tool. It's really cool and easy to use and you don't have to download any software. You simply paste in the URL from YouTube and then click generate safe link. It also gives you the option to crop the video so as to see only the part you need for your lesson - even better! Nick's also prepared a video tutorial on how to do it, so do visit his blog!

Do try it out! Here's the link: http://www.safeshare.tv/

Bye for now,

Robert

I'm alive and will resume posting soon!

I know, I know. It's been almost a week since I last posted anything. I'm sorry, but I've been really busy and although the situation hasn't changed I want more resources to try and find out about!!! This is just a gentle reminder to myself about keeping up with my blog!

:-) R

GLOGSTER Rocks

I came across this great tool when doing the CertICT but didn't really started using till a couple of months ago. Anyway, I came across it again after joining The Consultants-e Community and so here we go. I used it to create my professional profile. I got the idea from one of the members of the community. You can use it with ss, so why not for yourself. I've added the link to my CV!

I've been quite taken by Glogster as a tool and so Ihave been using it as a way to prepare summaries on sessions I've delivered to either CELTA or YL Extension to CELTA trainees and so here are the links to some of these sessions:

http://robertmartinez.glogster.com/cuisenaire-rods/

http://robertmartinez.glogster.com/teaching-yls-writing/

http://robertmartinez.glogster.com/yls-learning-grammar/

Signup Sheets - useful tool

This is a very useful site I found. Super simple to use and useful if you need to get groups of trainees?students organised and signing up for an activity.

Check it out! The picture is hyperlinked, just click on it and you'll be there in a sec!

Phonics, phonics, phonics

I regularly teach phonics for primary school teachers and so here's a list of websites that offer lots of phonics ideas, materials, sources. The picture here is of one of my favourites: Progressive Phonics.

Feel free to explore the others here:

http://www.adrianbruce.com/
http://www.starfall.com/
http://www.schoolbell.com/ (Dolch words and games)
http://www.teach-nology.com/worksheets/language_arts/phonics/
http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Worksheets/

Wordnik - super cool dictionary and more!

Wow, I came across this great resource thanks to a RT by Valentina Dodge and goodness me. I think it is absolutely great. So many things you can do with it in the classroom! I'll come back with more on it once I've given it a go with trainees.

here's the link: http://www.wordnik.com/

Online Journals with PENZU!

I recently found this tool and I think it's very useful. At work we use our own site hosted by ning.com byt PENZU could be very useful for any tutors running courses anywhere and who don't have access to a site on ning.com or don't want to create one and simple have the possibility to have their trainees' journals online.

Top tool for me because of my work context in teacher training. here's the link: http://penzu.com/