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Post by fernandar on Feb 7, 2010 17:00:35 GMT -5
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Post by gabycrocilla on Feb 8, 2010 12:48:03 GMT -5
I read the article and visited some of the sites. I really like Discovery Channel because it is suitable for the age range I teach. In addition, it has a Parent's Corner that can help parents when kids are on holidays, knowing it is a reliable site. I also like ClozeMaker, it will definitely help me with test designing or even helping sts for gap filling. In the school where I work, my students have the possibility to sit for Firstwords and one of the exercises is a cloze paragraph so ClozeMaker will help me a lot to save time while preparing extra activities for the test. TrackStar is wonderful, too. You can make your own activity or use one already created. This is fantastic to save time or adapt one already made to suit your own need.
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Post by mlujan on Feb 9, 2010 12:36:22 GMT -5
I've used some authoring tools before, like Hot Potatoes. I also use Discovery and puzzlemaker to make crossowrds, wordsearches, etc. Not only can you use them online, but have them printed as worksheets, too. I'm an ESL Printables member, a wonderful site where you upload your worksheets and powerpoints and download other members': www.eslprintables.com/ It also enables you to create online exercises and make online notebooks for your students and track their results. As regards Hot Potaotes, I tried using it but the free account didn't suit me since I could have only one or two classes published, I think... (I don't remember exactly now.. XD). Using authoring tools has helped me to make original, well-designed materials for my students, and I can assure you that they really appreciate having"tailor-made- material". In my case, I teach in a technical school and it's very hard to find suitable ESP resources for lower levels, that's why this kind of tools is of the outmost importance to my practice.
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Post by Miriam on Feb 10, 2010 13:07:38 GMT -5
There were many interesting and useful tools featured in this article. I would like to use Clozemaker /VLC. It offers many ways to create and use activities. I think the “Vocabulary Drop” is great. It seems easy to use and no registration is required. It offers a simple template to use to make educational activities. I am excited about using these features.
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Post by beabees on Feb 11, 2010 5:10:34 GMT -5
I’ve read this article by Isabel Pérez and besides the interesting sites she mentions, I agree that these tools allow us, teachers, to do in a different way what has always been done, authoring material, creating activities and doing all we can to engage students. A lot more has been made available since 2003 and the more it goes, the more efficient our creativity can be. Having instant results to a survey, exercises that focus on specific purpose vocabulary or structure, interactive presentations, video and audio activities that don’t require winding and rewinding tapes, etc. makes class preparation more rewarding. However, the evolution of all this is so fast and digital natives so demanding that constant updating is a time-consuming must. We’re fortunate to have webinars and sessions like BAW for that purpose.
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Post by Mounia on Feb 11, 2010 18:13:08 GMT -5
Hello everyone, I've been very upset to have some windows not opening at all last week and this week. The engine has turned to be a demon the time of need. I consider myself to be unfortunate because I didn't really want to miss any of the sessions nor lagging behind with my heavy tasks that I like to finish on time ! In addition, I've being away for almost a week because of first session exams and attending some conference away from home. But, once back , I started looking for some left footsteps trying to catch up with the group. Some moderators have been of great help as well! Concerning this week's reading! I tried to open all the tools and use them. I devised one exercise in each and had some problem including some in my wiki or blog. Hot potatoes looks like some old fashion tool, though what you may do with it is huge. Discovery education is good as well (used the crossword device), but why this complicated way to sign up? I didn't find it much user-friendly. Clozemaker make it easier for us ;D So, no username and no code at all while it allows for many personalized exercises; I like it ! Trackstar is rather a multi-function tool. So, track star is useful to track works and links on topics you share with others ; quizstar is rather to make quizzes and webposter is to make a homepage for a lesson or a class, but know what! you need a username and a password for each I will explore it's multi-functions later For survey, I think I'll opt for zoomrang. Lately! I managed to have an account in lingt as well! I like it because it suits my students' needs and level as well. Thanks for sharing useful material and interesting readings. Wish you the best all. #evomlit Mounia Morocco
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Post by Mounia on Feb 11, 2010 18:40:44 GMT -5
Sorry! I've forgotten to mention nicenet. I started using it. However, I still need to add more material on it. You can have your virtual classroom there. I like it Cheers Mounia
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Post by carlosbarrera1975 on Feb 12, 2010 7:42:36 GMT -5
Taking advantage of every available tool to help learners and teachers improve the teaching process is a must today. I really liked science things and discovery is attractive, but my students really need more support with the language and I guess they need to get introduced to new tech little by little. So, I guess that listening is quite OK, but I'm going to include video. That would help them get to see language learning from a different perspective and learning more interesting. As for surveys Hotpotoes is pretty cool, I've sued every once in a while. I am going to get hands-on two tools and explore deeply their functions.
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Post by Mariana on Feb 13, 2010 3:26:53 GMT -5
Hello everyone!
I enjoyed a lot the "discoveryeducation" website. I try to link our traditional/universal topics from the book with the most current events, so then I look for interesting articles in the news.
Designing puzzles or surveys takes a lot of time, so the online tools presented in the article, are very useful!
Thanks!
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Post by vesile on Feb 13, 2010 13:48:52 GMT -5
Hello! After reading "Creating Materials Online with Free Teacher Tools" by Maria Isabel Perez Torres I wanted to tyr all of them and I am still working on them I have used Discovery Education for creating puzzles many times and we were given a kind of workshop about Hot Potatoes last term but I have used it just once since then and the others are new to me. I feel both worried and excited. Every week I realise that there many more things to explore and I don't want to miss anything just because of not having enough time to practise
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Post by dimivalmi on Feb 13, 2010 15:43:09 GMT -5
The article explains everything clearly and it is a good instruction for a beginner in interactive exercises. I prepared various Hot Potatoes exercises for both university and Access schoolkids last year. They like them very much. I've created ProProfs, MyStudio, SurveyMonkey and Poster4teachers worksheet this weekend. I've never used them before. I hope that my Access kids will play and learn a lot.
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Post by belkisy on Feb 13, 2010 20:06:50 GMT -5
I found this article very informative since it described some recommended tools while helping teachers how to choose the most suitable platform for our needs. I’ve learned about authoring tools and their online and offline uses. I’ve never used any of them, but I’d like to try Headline Makers.
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Post by gilder on Feb 15, 2010 7:36:23 GMT -5
It is incredible all the potential we can add to our classes by simply use an online material. After reading the article for this week, I realized that most of the exercises I’m used to using in my quizzes are made by those pages cited in the article. I never thought that I could have done all those exercises by my own. When I used HotPotatoes, Zoomerang, ClozeMaker, and some others for the first time I blamed myself. Oh my… how my classes would have been if I had used those online resources. My students would have enjoyed each tool instead of being using the whiteboard and some recopied material. Well it is not the end; it is the beginning of a new age, as I decided to call it. For now on, I will use all those resources and will spend more time surfing on the net looking for new material. Thanks to the author of the reading for this amazing advice.
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Post by carolina on Feb 16, 2010 9:21:40 GMT -5
Creating Materials Online with Free Teacher Tools by María Isabel Pérez Torres According to the reading, Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) has been cheaper and easier to develop through the years. Therefore, it has also been cheaper and easier to run because of its real possibilities for authentic interaction. As a result, several instrumental tools on internet have been developed for language teachers. There are some sites where teachers can design specific activities such as quizzes, tests, puzzles, surveys, among others. It is important to know that the teachers tools can be carried out either online or offline depending on technical resources and student's needs. Furthermore, the teacher tools are divided into three types: a) educational environments or platforms (e.g., Nicenet); b) authoring software packages (e.g., Hot Potatoes); and c) online authoring templates and designing tools. This article concentrates on online authoring tools. The sites that offer them share certain characteristics: a) there is normally more than one type of template available for puzzles, quizzes, worksheets, lesson plans, etc.; b) they allow the teacher to create online activities; c) they usually guide the teachers by giving clear and specific instructions. If a teacher wants to use one of these tools, he or she needs to consider four aspects: a) the format of the activity; b) the place where the activity would be stored either on the web site where it has been created or on the user's computer or on removable storage devices and run locally; c) the type of activities and exercises the teachers create (e.g., filling the gap exercises, memory games, lesson plans, worksheets, surveys, etc); and d) the conditions of access and use of the sites. This article offers some of the sites for fee web-based authoring tools. They are: ClozeMaker www.edict.com.hk/clozemaker/Trackstar trackstar.4teachers.org/trackstar/index.jspHeadline Makers lang.swarthmore.edu/makers/index.htmDiscovery Channel school.discovery.com/teachers/index.htmlZoomerang www.zoomerang.com/In general terms, this article gives an overview of free teachers tools available on the Web. As a result, teachers around the world may use them to create more interactive and dynamic activities for their students.
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Post by marci2010 on Feb 21, 2010 17:11:56 GMT -5
I really liked the article. The author presents several websites that seems to be very helpful and are quite easy to use. I teach English for kids and adults. For kids courses I think I could use Discovery Channel printable worksheets to reinforce the books lessons which are quite short and we always have 15 or 20 minutes free before finishing the class. I also like Tracstar because it offers exercises that are already created which is great for me because of job schedule and other occupations I barely have time for myself. For Adults courses I would choose Clozemakers, HeadlineMakers and Zoomerang.
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