Teacher+Trainee+Resources

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Using blogs and wikis in the classroom
Wiki is taken from the Hawaiian word for "fast", a wiki allows lots of different users access to edit and create content. Driven by a simple text editor, a wiki can be a focal point for a community of users to share resources and create content. [|Wikipedia] is of course the most widely known.

A Blog is a simple, online platform for publishing content. Blog posts are published in chronological order and each one has the facility for the audience to comment on what they read. The community of teachers and educators blogging/writing is rich and diverse.

[|Blogger] is the Google platform for creating your own blog. Watch out for the random "Next Blog" link in the top navigation bar if you have a class or school blog.

[|Posterous] has redefined the way that people have blogged. With Posterous all you have to do is send an email to post@posterous.com and you have written a post. It even allows you to setup your Posterous blog via email. Send an email with photos or video attached and these will be embedded in a blog post. It does not offer the same personalisation and widgetry of other platforms but is a highly recommended lightweight tool for blogging.

Moblogging is using a mobile phone to blog photos. Many mobile phones allow you to do this by linking up with tools such as Blogger. Moblogging is a useful form of communication for parents during field trips and residential visits . Phlogging is all about recording a short audio post using your phone. Tools such as [|iPadio] are great for dealing with this sort of method and you can then embed what you create elsewhere. [|Suzi Bewell] is a languages teacher and has begun using it in class - here is [|one example] of her using it with Year 10 students. [|Wordpress] is a popular open source blog publishing application. It is user friendly and powers the blogs of millions of people around the world. Services like [|Wordpress multi-user]. Get some web hosting and install Wordpress to get started, or even just get a free blog from Wordpress themselves.

[|Edublogs] is a free service for creating blogs for teachers and students. [|Sandaig Primary School] was the first school blog that I ever encountered and continues to set the bar for school blogs. Make sure that you explore the [|older site] for examples of moblogging on their [|Netherlands trip] and their [|use of a wiki too]. [|Robin Hood Primary] is another good example of a primary school using blogs across the school.

[|Google Sites] is another excellent online application from Google. It allows the quick creation of web spaces which can be kept private or open to invited colleagues. There are a range of dedicated wiki tools to be found including [|Wikispaces],[|Wetpaint] and [|PBWiki]. All of them have slight differences, but essentially do the same job.

MyEbook
myebook aims to revolutionise the way we create, publish and share ebook content online. Built on a feature-rich social platform, complete with powerful, browser-based, builder software, and a slick reader environment, there's never been an easier way for anyone and everyone to 'get it out there'. [|MyEBook] []

[|Storybird] is a website that allows you to write a story using fantastic artwork by illustrators. You can collaborate with other writers on the same story or write it yourself. There are lots of possibilities for using Storybird in the classroom which have been magnified by the recent addition of class accounts. You can [|click here] to create one after initially signing up for an account. Each child can have their own account, all tied to yours. You can also create assignments where children submit a book they have written for that purpose. == ==

Using story birds for MFL http://mfl-storybirds.wikispaces.com/German+Storybirds

**MeeGenius is a new site that has been popular on Twitter recently. MeeGenius is an online library of picture books for young children. Currently there are nearly 30 books available to read, most of which are popular fairy tales.**

The books can be read independently or there is an option to hear the book being read to you with the words being highlighted as you hear them. If you choose the read along option, you can pause the books as they are read aloud. This is useful as it allows you to ask the students questions and focus on teaching points.

One of the most exciting features of this site is the ability to personalise the stories. This could be a great way to entice reluctant readers and a fun tool to make the stories more meaningful to your students. You simply answer a few questions and the book is rewritten to include new character names and locations etc. You can also click on the “edit” button to rewrite the whole book. This could be useful for creating “Fractured Fairy tales” with students.

You don’t need to sign up to read the MeeGenius stories, however you do need to sign-up if you wish to save and email your personalised stories

Mindmeister web-based mind mapping tool [|Mind Meister's]basic account is free and has all of the features that a teacher or student needs. With a free account users can collaborate with others, share via email or embedding, and download or export files. One of the features I really like is the ability to add active links to websites. The linking feature is a good one for students trying to organize their thoughts for a research paper. The intuitive piece of Mind Meister is in the creation aspects. To add a new topic or "idea box" users simply click the green "add" button. To remove an item click the "delete" button. Organizing the items with Mind Meister is a simple matter of dragging them to the position you want them in. Changing the size and type of text is as easy as changing the size and type of text in a word document. collabrative tools

EMBEDIT.INyou to embed almost any sort of file or web page. You can choose whether you want to allow people to print and/or download your file. This is a very versatile tool. Here is an example of a PDF using embedit.in   VOKI Class Examples  Avatars for students? What are the benefits of students using this resource to create their own avatars? A great deal of relevance would be in reflecting their views and responses to learning tasks/experiences. The use of avatars could encourage group work, commenting and reflecting on learning experiences and peer use of the resource. When used for authentic tasks, making use of real life problems and solutions in group situations that benefit others the learning experience begins to utilise the [|Learning Engagement Theory] created by Greg Kearsley & Ben Shneiderman. The theory uses three components to encourage and engage learners. These are Relate, Create and Donate. The theory is basic but essential; learners in group settings, creating something that is of particular use and then donating it to someone else that will benefit from it. Through doing this, students see more purpose in the activities and are more likely to become and continue to be engaged in the learning. When combined with [|Lynch's 8 Learning Management Questions], the learning experiences developed should be planned according to what the learner already knows, what they should know by the end of the lesson and how they best learn, making sure to check they have arrived at the end of the learning experience. Classroom activities using voki avatars could easily be planned to incorporate these theories. When engaged, learners take responsibility and ownership of their learning ensuring a deeper understanding of the content. Therefore, students are further encouraged to become independent learners.

This tool may encourage students of all [|learning styles] to write, be creative in their responses to tasks, use audio effectively and create an accurate visual representation of their characters, engaging them in the learning. As the Voki site is user friendly, free and easy to navigate, primary students would not need much help in creating avatars. The process would of course need to be monitored. The great thing about these voki avatars is that shy students, ESL students, vocally impaired students or simply those students who find it hard to express themselves will gain an easy way of sharing their opinions. Students can also create avatars to express different points of view, for example creating avatars to resemble characters from a story book which share their thoughts on the major events in the story.

panish 1 Voki assignment (scroll down for Voki example) [|Instructor reminder]
 * S**

** Strengths: ** ** Weaknesses: ** ** Opportunities: ** ** Threats: **
 * It is free!
 * Fun & interesting, students will spend time on it
 * User- and viewer- friendly
 * Ability to share "voki-videos" with others (students, teachers, parents, other classes)
 * Easy to embed, in a variety of ways
 * embed to blogs, web pages (good for course pages/discussions), and social networking sites.
 * Can email to a friend
 * Students don’t need a microphone - they can use any telephone, including their personal cellphone.
 * Voki recordings can be called in by phone, created with text-to-speech (typing), using a microphone, or by uploading an MP3 file.
 * For world language teachers, Voki is a great tool for recording auditory monologues.
 * Students can remain anonymous by not revealing their actual picture and instead using an avatar when publishing to the world.
 * Able to download a Voki to your phone
 * Provides a new method of student presentation (can be viewed outside the classroom)
 * Content friendly - can be integrated in any curriculum area.
 * Preparing for a Voki creation enables students to carefully organize their thoughts
 * Provides students with the opportunity to practice their speaking (and pronunciation) skills
 * The maximum recording time is 60 seconds.
 * If too many students are working at once on their recordings using their cellphones, the website can experience slow running time.
 * Requires an email address to set up account, so that one can “keep” his/her Voki creations.
 * TOO fun—making the avatar is so much fun that students lose their focus on task at hand, and spend more time making funny avatars.
 * Users can experience frustration by not being able to keep the same avatar for future use (one needs to start from scratch every time you create a new Voki.)
 * Foreign language students can use Voki to practice, record and listen to their speech.
 * Students can keep a “log” of Vokis to show progression of learning over a course.
 * Students can use Voki as a “practice-run” for Podcasting.
 * As well as recording their voice, students design an appropriate avatar, and can import a photo as a background or use a background from the Voki menus. This enables students to create an “authentic setting.”
 * Teachers can create an account for each class and ask students to create a Voki character. Students can grab the code for a "web page" to include in a discussion message in the course or teachers could control which Voki appear. Even though students may want their own accounts, shared accounts give TEACHERS access to and control over the "class" content.
 * There are no limits on type of content or content filters.
 * Teachers will have to monitor students’ work carefully to check on appropriateness.
 * Students unaware of internet safety can easily reveal identifiable information about themselves.
 * Ideas for the classroom: **
 * Students can use Voki to create a class introduction, recording a message and using an avatar that resembles themselves.
 * Students connect with others, by exchanging these Voki recordings with other classmates, and with other students in other schools.
 * Foreign language students can use Voki to speak “in character” for different role-play assignments.
 * Students can orally share their “writing pieces.”
 * Anyone can use it for a classroom “newscast.”
 * Can be used as an item in a student electronic portfolio
 * As an “authentic” foreign language experience, students are writing, reading, revising, and speaking to an audience.
 * To aid resource students, teacher can record oral pronunciation of vocabulary words as a review-guide for upcoming assessments