Sunday 25 August 2013

Organizing resources for teachers and teacher trainers

As a teacher and teacher trainer I have found that I need to have multiple resources, tools or websites at hand, easily available. I have over the past years experimented with a few different tools so here they are!

One possibility is using a startpage to organize the resources you regularly use.







Another possibility is to create an interactive bulletin board with these resources.




You can also use a social bookmarking tool to create lists of resources



Other tools to organize your resources







And last but not least, when you need to work with multiple tabs open in your browser, there are extensions or plug ins that allow you to save a “session” and re open it whenever you need it.









Monday 1 July 2013

Video-related tools

I have been working with my students on several projects that involve the making and editing of videos. So I have decided to share some of the tools I recommend.

Video repositories

There are several websites where you can find videos, You Tube being the most famous one, but not the only one.
You tube 



Vimeo 

Teacher Tube  


An interesting tool to remove all ads around You Tube videos is Safe Share TV



Downloaders

Some videos may be gone when you need them or you may want to avoid an internet access failure from spoiling your plans.

You Tube Downloader is a free piece of software that you install in your computer and easily downloads You Tube videos




 Save Vid is an online downloader if you do not want to install anything on your pc.



 Editing tools 

There is a variety of other tools to enhance You Tube videos in several different ways.

Tube chop allows you to choose a part of a longer video and save it.



Sometimes you need to add captions or subtitles
Caption tube



You tube itself

Blubbr.tv allows you to create quizzes based on videos


Here’s a tutorial
And here's an example based on a Blended Learning video.

If you want to edit your videos in order to create your own remixes, these are some options
Windows Live Movie Maker 
Creaza Movie editor 



Hope you have found some new tools to solve your video-related problems!


Sunday 26 May 2013

Isil Boy on M-learning: is it a portable circus or just an illusion?

My fifth post in this series related to technology-related IATEFL talks is Isil Boy's take on Mobile Learning. Again a post full of resources for you to explore!

Sunday 19 May 2013

Joe Dale on Mobile Technologies


Joe Dale: Combining hardware, software and mobile technologies to support classroom interaction, participation, distance learning and success : what really happens!

The fourth review in my IATEFL series is for Joe Dale's fast-paced talk about mobile technologies, especially iPads. There were so many resources mentioned in this talk that I'm sure I missed some!

Here are my notes and references.



Sunday 12 May 2013

Kristina Smith on Autonomy in Online and Blended Learning


The third in my series of IATEFL related posts is the review, tweets, notes and resources from Kristina Smith's session, which I thoroughly enjoyed!




Saturday 4 May 2013

Paul Braddock on The Flipped Classroom

Next on my sharing list of IATEFL talks is Paul Braddock's take on The Flipped Classroom. A very interesting  walk through theory and implementation ideas.

Monday 29 April 2013

Huw Jarvis on Learner Autonomy, CALL, MALU and e-acquisition

I have recently returned from IATEFL conference in Liverpool. It's been hectic, insightful and fun. And I have decided to share the notes for some of the talks I attended. In fact, for each talk you will find the abstract, related tweets, presentation slides or videos and other reviews, which I have collected using Storify, a tool I will review soon!

So here's the first.... and more to come

Wednesday 30 January 2013

Storytelling websites and apps


Storytelling in all its forms (traditional pen and paper or digital) has always been a favourite of mine. I always include some kind of storytelling activity with my classes so I decided to write about some available tools for use online (digital storytelling) or in the classroom to support pen and paper storytelling. 

To support storytelling in the classroom

Sets of 5 images that make up a story. Assign a set or have your students choose one and write the story.



Story Starter Jr
Random creators of story starters

Rory’s storytelling cubes $1.99 for iPhone and iPad 
Dice with images. Simply shake your iPhone to roll the cubes and create a story using all 9 face-up images. Thanks to Graham Stanley for this one!



Story dice $1.99 for iPhone and iPad 
Story Dice is a creative tool to prompt ideas for plot, character, and setting. This idea generator can be used effectively for both written and oral storytelling.


Story Shout $0.99 for iPhone and iPad 
Story Shout is an innovative fun game for iPhone and iPad that challenges players to invent and tell stories out loud whilst prompted by a set of onscreen images (glyphs/icons).


Tell a tale Free for iPad 
You’ll get the first and the last sentence of a story, three pictures are added and the rest is up to you.


Writer’s Hat $0.99 for iPhone and iPad 
Writer's Hat is an ideas generator to inspire creative writing, oral literacy and imaginative thinking.


To be used online

I love Pic Lits. You can read my previous post on it for more details



Folding Story is a web game in which players write one line of a story, fold the paper, and pass it on to the next person.



Zooburst Free for iPad and website 
ZooBurst is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone easily create his or her own augmented reality 3D pop-up books.



Story wheel $2.99 for iPhone and iPad 
1-4 players can create a story. Start by spinning the wheel to get a picture. Next, record your voice as you develop a story with that picture. Each player will build upon the story with a new picture. When done, you can listen to your story and share your creations online, or email them to family and friends.


Story Patch $2.99 for iPad 
Story Patch is a new application for the iPad that children can use to create their own picture books. With hundreds of included images, easy-to-use controls, and the ability to import photos.


Scribz Free for iPhone and iPad 
Scribz is a simple, creative and funny way to share short stories. Make artistic storyboards with your iPhone: add 3 pictures, write a few captions for the storytelling and use the « film noir » template to share the story on Tumblr, Twitter, Facebook or even by mail. 


Storyrobe Free for iPhone and iPad
This is a really great app for making photo slide shows with voice recording.



Tellagami Free for iPhone and iPad
Tellagami is a quick and easy way to create and share a fun short story called a Gami. Just select and customize a character. Personalize your Gami with photos and your own voice. Then share your Gami with friends. 


Thumbstruck Free for iPhone and iPad 
Thumbstruck is a social networking/ storytelling application that allows users to improvisationally write stories together through three methods of interaction: Choose my words, Use my words, and Fuse my words.


There are other tools that I have used over and over like
  • Voicethread
  • Storybird
  • Zimmer Twins
  • Xtranormal
  • Bubblr
  • Bookr

I have already written about these tools in a previous post which you can read here 

Hope you have found something to spice up your storytelling activities! If you have any suggestions for other tools or how to use them, please leave a comment.