Welcome to the Ict in Elt Blog

This blog is devoted to the use of the internet tools as an extra tool in the process of language learning. It gives teachers tips and examples of how to incorporate web 2.0 in the daily classroom.

This blog was created as an assignment for the subject ICT applied to English teaching.

Among all the different tools that web 2.0 gives us I have chosen the blog. So.... WHAT IS A BLOG?

Blogs, Wikis and podcasts are all examples of social software, computer tools which allow people to connect, to communicate and to collaborate online. A Blog is essentially a web page with regular diary or journal entries. The term in short for WEB LOG.

• They can be set up and used by teachers and/or learners.                      
• They can be used to connect learners to other communities of learners, for example to a class in another country.
• The ideas and content can be generated and created by learners, either individually or collaboratively.

These tools engender a sense of social responsibility, with learners working collaboratively on content, also, the public nature if the content created using these internet tools ensures that accuracy and appropriacy become more important to learners.

BLOGS IN LANGUAGE TEACHING

The most common type of blog is kept by one person, who will regularly post comments, thoughts, analyses, experiences of daily life, interesting links, jokes or any other form of content, to a web page. Blogs may consist of written text only, or they may include pictures of photos or even audio and video.

Most blogs will allow readers to comment on blogs entries, thereby creating online community around a common topic, interest or person. They set up informal grassroots links between blogs and writers/readers of blogs. Blogs will sometimes include blogroll, or list of links to other blogs which the blog writer admires, thereby widening the online community of blog writers and readers.

Blogs used in education are known as EDUBLOGS. These cover a wide range of topics related to education, from musings on educational policy and developments to learner compositions. An edublog can be set up and used by a teacher, by individual learners or by a class.

• A blog set up and maintained by a teacher is known as a TUTOR BLOG. The teacher may decide to allow their learners to write comments in the blog.
•              A teacher may encourage their learners to each set up and maintain their own individual blogs. There are known as STUDENT BLOGS. Learners can be asked to post to their blogs once or twice a week, or however often the teacher judges convenient, and the content can range from comments on current affairs to descriptions of daily activities. Other learners can be encouraged to post comments and reactions to student blog postings.
• The third type of blog is the CLASS BLOG, one used by an entire class. This blog can be used to post comments on certain topics or on class work or on any other issue the teacher thinks interesting and relevant to learners. In class blog learners all post to the same blog.

Here are examples of some ways in which you can use blogs with your learners.

Tutor Blog

• Set homework.
• Provide a summary of class work.
•  Provide links to extra reading/listening material.
•  Question and answer
• Exam/Study tips.

Student Blog

•   Personal and family information (including photos)
• Extra writing practice on class topics.
•  Regular comments on current affairs.
•   Research and present information on a topic
• A photoblog in learner’s country, last holiday, town.

Class Blog

• Reactions to a film, article, class topic, current affairs.
• Things learners like/don’t like doing in class.
• A class project on any topic

There are some obvious advantages to using blogs in the classroom. They provide a ‘real-world’ tool for learners with which to practice their written Englosh, as well as a way of contacting learners from other parts of the world. Anyone can read the blog, although only invited members can be given permission to add comments.

One of the issues to bear in mind when setting up student or class blogs is that of correction. Learners tend to want their written work in a blog to be as accurate as possible, given that the blog is publicly accessible, and the teacher needs to be prepared to give learners plenty of time for writing, reviewing, redrafting and checking postings before they are added to the blog.

A further area to consider is assessment. Gicen that a student or class blog is essentially a written assignment, blog postings can be used for evaluation. The criteria for evaluation need to be made clear to learners in advance.

HOW TO SET UP A BLOG

There are a number of free blog sites available on the internet. These include:

• BLOGGER (http://www.blogger.com)
•  WORDPRESS (http://www.wordpress.org)
• EZBLOGWORLD(http://www.ezblogworld.com/)
• BAHRAICH BLOGS (http://www.bahraichblogs.com/)
• GETABLOG (http://www.getablog.net/portal3.php)

The blog pages freely available on the internet tend to be very user-friendly, and setting up your own blog is usually a straightforward process, with no specialist technical knowledge. You simply visit the homepage of the blog and follow the instructions.

Dudeney, G., & Hockly, N. (2007). How to teach English with technology. (pp. 86-94). England: Pearson Longman.

Hope you like this blog and you find it useful!

Wordle Activity

  Wordle Activity

LEVEL: Initial

AIM OF THE ACTIVITY: To reinforce adjectives, vocabulary of parts of the face and sentence formation.

You have to create an image with the description of a monster’s face then you will pass it to one of your partners and he/she will try to recreate your monster.

1.  In a paint document draw a monster’s face. Paint it as you wish and then save it with a secret name.

2.  In a word document, write a paragraph describing your monster’s face. Save it.

3.  Go to Wordle.com and click on “CREATE YOUR OWN”.

4.   Write your description in the box and then click on GO.

5.   You can do as many changes (typo of letter, colour, layout, etc) as you need.

6.  When you finish save your wordle.

7.  Once everyone has finished their wordle, the teacher will ask the student to exchange their work.

8.  Once you have your partner’s work, you will have to recreate his/her monster.

9.   When both of you have finished drawing, you will have to look at his/her picture and tell him/her if he/she have made the correct version of the monster.

10.      Remember that you are supposed to re-write your partner’s description on your notebook.

11.      You have three opportunities to draw the correct version of the monster’s face.

12.       You have to tell your partner the things that he/she has drawn correctly.

13.      If anyone draws the correct monster’s face, he/she will win a special price.

Here you have a tutorial of Wordle and one sample that you can use as a guide.

Wordle Tutorial

You will be tested on your writing and your vocabulary.

	Needs Improvement	Good	Very Good	Excellent
Writing
Vocabulary
Content

PhotoPeach Activity

PhotoPeach Activity

LEVEL: Intermediate

AIM OF THE ACTIVITY: To learn how to search on the internet, how to select important information.

You will have to create a slideshow about your favourite band using images, music and information that you have to collect from the internet.

1.  Choose a music band that you like.

2.  Search for information about the band. Create a word document with the information and then send it to the teacher for corrections.

3.  Choose pictures about the band that you want to use in your video.

4.  Once you have collected all the information, go to Photopeach and star working on the video.

5.  Remember to give certain order to the photos, to choose the right music and to write only the most important information.

6.  Once you have created your video, save it.

7.  Remember that all the student have to show their videos.

8.  To finish with the activity, send it to your teacher so she/he can post it on the blog.

Here you have a tutorial of PhotoPeach and one sample that you can use as a guide.

PhotoPeach Toturial

You will be tested on your searching skills, on your ability to select important information and your writing skills.

	Needs Improvement	Good	Very Good	Excellent
Writing
Searching
Content

Glogster Activity

Glogster activity

LEVEL: Initial

AIM OF THE ACTIVITY: To practice the demonstratives (there is/ there are) and to reinforce vocabulary about animals.

 

You are going to create wallpaper in which you have to paste different pictures and describe them.

1.  Find pictures about animals you like.

2.  Ask your teacher for help to create an account on Glogster.

3.  When you have your account, choose one of the already made wallpapers and star editing it.

4.  Paste the pictures, write a short text and if you want add music and videos.

5.  When you finish your wallpaper, show it to your teacher before you save it.

6.  Once the teacher has corrected your work, you can save it.

7.  Remember to tell your teacher that you have finished so she/he can post your wallpaper on the wall.

Here you have a tutorial of Glogster and one sample that you can use as a guide.

Glogster Tutorial

You will be tested on your writing and vocabulary.

	Needs Improvement	Good	Very Good	Excellent
Writing
Vocabulary
Content

Smilebox Activity

SmileBox Activity

LEVEL: Intermediate

AIM OF THE ACTIVITY: To practice writing and speaking skills.

You are supposed to create a smilebox album, using photos of a previous journey you have made and to write a little description of them. Once you have finished your album, you are supposed to show it to your partners and to explain them what is the album about. Then the teacher will post you album on her blog.

1.  Choose photos of a journey you had made.

2.  Create a smilebox album. Remember that you are supposed to write a little description in the boxes that are next to the photos.

3.  Once you have created your album show it to your teacher for correction.

4.  When you have corrected everything save the album following the steps.

5.  When all the students have finished their albums, they will have to show them to their partners and describe it to the rest of the class.

6.  Remember that you have a period of three classes to finish your album.

7.  Once all students had shown their work, you have to send your album to the teacher so he/she can post it on the blog.

Here you have a tutorial of Smilebox and one sample that you can use as a guide.

SmileBox Tutorial

 

You will be tested on your writing and speaking skills. Here you have the criteria.

	Needs Improvement	Good	Very Good	Excellent
Writing
Speaking
Content

How to use Wordle

How to use Wordle

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

I find it very useful to practice writing and to put some beauty in what you write. It is really useful to focus on vocabulary and grammar too.

In order to create a wordle you will have to:

       1. Go to **http://www.wordle.net/**

2.  Then choose the option CREATE your own.

3.  You will see a box where you have to write the text. Also you have the option to insert the text from your personal page.

4.  Once you have chosen the text you want to use, click on GO (if you had written the text) or SUBMIT (if you had insert the text).

5.  Remember that the page works with the latest JAVA program. So if you do not have it in your computer it is advisable for you to download it. You can do so from this page **http://www.java.com/es/download/**

6.  The next step is to modify the things that you do not like of the version that wordle offers you. You can change colours; you can change the prominence of the words; you can chance the font.

7.  Once you finish editing you wordle you have to click on SAVE TO PUBLIC GALLERY.

8.  You also have the option of printing it.

Here I leave you the one that I had made. Hope you enjoy it!

My Wordle

• Now that you know how to use Wordle,  create your own