Every opinion matters!!!

 

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Students may feel frustrated when they don't have a clue about the topic and activities. Students may also feel disappointed when their thoughts are not been taken seriously. So is there a tool to solve this problem without taking much time? The answer is definitely YES. It's Padlet. 

What is Padlet?

It's a virtual massage whiteboard to which you can add text, images, videos, links, etc. Padlet has a simple and intuitive interface and a wide range of functions, which can act as a multimedia presentation and communication platform in language teaching.

How to use Padlet for your classes?

• In class

• You can use it for students to show their work on Padlet, such as understanding of the topics, posters, drawings, learning outcomes, etc. After students post them, you can let students choose one or two based on their interests and conduct further investigations.

• In this way, students not only shared their ideas and evaluated others' ideas, but also they have the opportunity to have more autonomy in choosing their interest areas for deeper digging and understanding. 

• The activity can be conducted by individuals, groups, and in breakout rooms (for online teaching). 

• Before class

• You can use it as a preview activity for students, so that they can have some knowledge about the class topic and bring their understanding to the class. 

• You can also use it as a discovery activity that allows students to present their thoughts, different perspectives, interests and preferences. According to these pieces of information, you can decide how to group your students (which is another aspect of differentiated classrooms). 

• After class

• You can use it as homework for students to reflect and enhance their knowledge through some interesting topics. For example, if you teach past simple tense in class, you can ask students to describe their unforgettable experiences or make a short story. 

With Padlet, every student's voice can be heard. Besides, if students are confused about the activity, they may be inspired after reading their classmates' ideas. 

Here is a video to explain how to create a Padlet:

 

Advantages

• It's really easy to operate! Just enter the topic or the question in the title box and provide some instructions in the description box, and then send the link(s) to your students. Your preparation process is finished. 

• Students can choose to post with their names or anonymously. 

• Increase students' critical thinking skills. 

• Personalised. Students can design the colours of fonts and add additional information, such as videos, pictures, and audio.

Disadvantages

• Teachers may need to take some time to check students' posts, avoiding sharing sensitive content on walls, because it's an open space.

• It requires the Internet and devices. 

Overall, Padlet is good for students because every student's thoughts can be valued and evaluated. They can also develop their critical thinking skills. For teachers, it's a useful, convenient and time-saving tool for language teaching. So, do not hesitate no more, try it now and receive more!

Do you really know what your students are thinking in class?

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Do you really know what your students are thinking in class? Can you know all your students' answers when you ask a question? I guess the answer is no or not completely. So, what if I tell you that you can actually do that using an online platform that is available on various devices, such as computers, mobile phones, and iPads, will you give it a try? If yes, let me introduce you to Mentimeter. 

What is Mentimeter and how to use it?

It's an online interactive presentation and polling platform that allows teachers to create dynamic and engaging lessons. It offers a wide range of features that can be used in various educational settings, from K-12 classrooms to higher education institutions. 

Here are some tips on how teachers can effectively use Mentimeter to enhance their teaching:

    1. Brainstorm and generate ideas:

• Students can do this individually or collaboratively. 
• Use open-ended questions or word cloud functions to bring up the topic or as a tool for activity presentation. 
• For example, you can include questions like "Use three words to describe your ideal life." or "What do your group think feminism is?".

    2. Provide feedback

• Students can answer based on their thoughts during and after the classes, so that you can have some ideas on how to help students who experience some problems or improve your class in the future. 
• Use open-ended questions, scales, ranking or multiple-choice functions. 
• For example, you can write "What do you think of the teaching speed so far?" or "How do you rate this class?".

    3. Quizzes

• You can have a clearer view of students' understanding of the teaching contents.
• The quiz function is similar to Kahoot. 

    Here is a video that shows five functions of Mentimeter and how you can use it in more detail. 

The advantages of Mentimeter

• The answers are anonymous. If you have students who are shy to talk or scared to make mistakes and face threats, you can inform them before using Mentimeter.
• The answers are real-time interaction. Students can see immediate responses from their classmates. 
• Increase Students' engagement in class.
• The data are visualised. 

The disadvantages of Mentimeter

• Students are required to have access to the Internet, which means students who do not have devices, such as younger learners, can not participate in Mentimeter activities. 
• The free version has limited functions, such as exporting data.

I believe after using Mentimeter, you can know what your students are thinking during your classes in time. Let's make your classes more engaging and improve your classes further.

YouTube can be a language learning tool!

 

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I'm sure that you've all heard of YouTube, a platform that contains tons of videos from all over the world. However, as teachers, do you know that it can be a powerful resource for language teaching? Let me introduce to you today's technology: TubeQuizard.

What is TubeQuizard?

• It's an online language-learning website.
• It provides interactive question quizzes from videos on Youtube.
• Students can finish the quizzes by filling in the blanks of what they have heard.
• There are ready-to-use quizzes and self-designed quizzes.
• One video can focus on several teaching objectives, such as grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and spelling.

How to use TubeQuizard?

• In grammar classes:
• You can choose videos that match your teaching goals and use TubeQuizard questions to test students' mastery of different sentence patterns and grammatical structures.
• In vocabulary lessons:
• You can find the vocabularies that you want to test your students from the videos. If the templates provided can not satisfy your objective, you can simply change the blanks in the templates or design a new quiz. 
• In listening classes:
• Because TubeQuizard's quizzes are categorized into different language proficiency levels, you can distribute different video quizzes to students from different levels. In this way, you can achieve a differentiated classroom, which can satisfy all students' needs and make sure that all students can benefit from their levels.
• In-class and after-class:
• You can use TubeQuizard in class as a way to practice their knowledge from that class and a way to acknowledge students' understanding of the topic. Students can finish the quizzes all together or in groups.
• You can use TubeQuizard after class as homework to consolidate students' knowledge. Again, different students can be assigned different levels of content. 
• Clear instructions on how to use TubeQuizard:
• If you are interested in using it, there is a video explaining how to use the templates, how to design your own ones, and how to find YouTube videos with proper and accurate subtitles (human-generated subtitles):

         (Caution: the volume of the video may sometimes be louder and sometimes quieter.)

It's good because...

• Easy to use! If you don't have enough time to design your own quizzes, just use the templates!
• Personalised! Make your own quizzes and design a differentiated classroom!
• Rich video resources! 
• Introduce different cultures to your students!
• When you click on a sentence, the video will automatically jump to that part!

It's bad because...

• Extra work to check the accuracy of the subtitles. There is a possibility that some error may appear. 
• Choose the proper contents. Teachers may take some time to make sure that the video is ad-free and politically correct (if needed).
• May need a VPN if you cannot get access to YouTube. 

As a teacher who fancies differentiated classrooms, I believe TubeQuizard is a perfect tool for language learning. However, it can also be used in all contexts. Let's make entertainment videos into language-learning resources!

INTERACTIVITY is the key to ENGAGED classroom!!!

 

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"Your content is good, but it'll engage much more if it's interactive."

                                                                        ---- Genially

Have you ever considered why your students fall asleep during classes, even though your teaching content is absolutely fine-organized and interesting? Perhaps, one of the reasons could be the way you present your content. Let's make it interactive and creative through Genially.

What is Genially?

• It's a media platform that can make creative presentations, infographics, videos and games, connecting similar and different content.
• It allows teacher-student communication (teach knowledge), student-student communication (group activities), and student-teacher communication (teaching feedback). 
• Teachers can use it to create interactive and personalised teaching materials for online teaching, offline teaching, flipped teaching, blended teaching etc.  

How to use it in your teaching?

• Present information

• Over 2000 predesigned templates are ready to use for teachers. 
• Teachers can create interactive presentations/PPT slides, mind maps, timelines, images etc. 
• If you want to learn more about Genially in class, THIS will be a big help. 

• Gamification

• Not only students can be more engaged in language learning, but also they will have the sustained motivation to keep learning. 
• Various games, quizzes, and escape rooms can be used to check students' understanding of concepts.  
• Here is a video to guide you on how to design your games:

Advantages of Genially

• Interactive and engaging content
• Easy to access and ready to use
• A clearer display of instructions and information

Disadvantages of Genially

• Limited function for the free version
• Because of the content ownership, the content created in Genially can only be accessed in Genially. However, teachers can share links with students or embed them in their learning management systems (LMS). 
• Perhaps too many options to choose from.
• Some instructions in the templates are not in English.

Let's design your own interactive content and make your class to the next level!!!

Think critically and work collaboratively

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Do you know that in comparison to students working alone, collaborative learning teams are believed to achieve higher levels of thinking and retain knowledge for longer periods of time? It is because students are able to learn through discussing with their teams, clarifying concepts and ideas, and evaluating others' opinions and ideas. In this way, not only encourage students to express their ideas and enhance their acknowledgements, but also allow students to develop their critical thinking skills and increase their sense of responsibility. 

How to conduct collaborative activities online? Tricider would be a fantastic option for you!

How can Tricider help you?

Tricider is a website that allows students and teachers to generate and evaluate arguments and ideas. 

It will be perfect for the polyphonic form of teaching, which emphasises dialogue and collaboration between teachers and students as equals to gain mutual understanding and knowledge. Knowledge is created through the communication of various individuals with different perspectives of the world, which are floated and critical. 

With Tricider, students and teachers can use it as a tool to generate and evaluate ideas. 

In the classroom, students can provide their thoughts on some specific topic in Tricider. The purpose of this activity is to generate different perspectives as many as possible. Therefore, the word of choice and grammar can be simple or even incorrect because of time control. 

However, for after-class activities, it can be used for a debate activity as homework. Teachers can ask students to choose a side to participate in the debate and post their own ideas in Tricider. In this part, the vocabulary and grammar are required to be correct and complete. In this way, students can not only develop their critical thinking skills by debating but also practice their writing, vocabulary and grammar at the same time.

How to use Tricider?

It is very easy to use and free!! You can follow the simple instructions with the video below:

Advantages of Tricider 😊

• Free of charge!!!
• No need for login!!!
• Teachers and students can receive real-time feedback!!!
• Develop students' critical thinking!!!

Disadvantages of Tricider 😢

• Maybe some students do not like writing.
• Could be time-consuming for in-class activities.
• May have some technical issues during the process.

That's all for today's content. Hope this blog can give you some inspiration for ICT in TESOL. Let's think critically and work collaboratively!!!

Running out of inspiration? NOT ANYMORE!

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Have you ever had a class where many of your students fell asleep? Have you ever wanted to have some interesting activities but do not know where to find them? Have you ever doubted whether your teaching materials are suitable for your students' language level? This blog will be perfect for you! 

Today, I want to introduce a tool for you to search for some suitable samples and teaching materials for your students. It is called English Listening Lesson Library Online (ELLLO).

What does ELLLO have? 

• Over 1500 free listening lesson materials based on the different language levels
• Online classes for both students and teachers
• Natural English conversations read by real English teachers from different countries
• Different points of view on different topics 
• Short videos, audios, quizzes and games

How can the ELLLO help you?

• One minute English: you can use this activity in the warm-up or lead-in stage to introduce the topics at the beginning of your classes. Or, you can use this as sample answers and examples for your question. 
• Views: it is a good place for both teachers and students to have broader and international perspectives on specific topics. I may say it is a perfect way for IELTS students to practice their listening and have more critical views on speaking part2 and part3.
• Quizzes and games: this can help teachers to have some practical materials for their students rather than creating their own. Games can also stimulate students' learning motivation. 
• Understanding English varieties ("accents"): because all conversations are recorded by people from different countries, different English varieties are accessible. It may benefit students to have more acknowledgement of varieties of English speaking. It may be especially useful for international business students, because they maybe will get in touch with clients from different countries.  

Advantages of ELLLO 😄

• No account needed!
• More multicultural than traditional textbooks!
• Automatic feedback!
• Materials are printable for teachers!
• Access from mobile devices!

Disadvantages of ELLLO 😢

• Some audios are not working
• Games function needs Flashplayer
• Maybe too many options and do not know what to choose

Personally speaking, I think ELLLO would be a very useful tool for both teachers and learners. If you are running out of inspiration, it's time to give ELLLO a go!
Hope you can find this week's content helpful! See you next week!

 

Compete and Learn better

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What do you think of games? Are they good or bad? One of the reasons why students like to play video games is that games can give them enough competitive stimulation. The competitive environment and the desire to win can make students not afraid of failure and more motivated to improve their game competence in order to win in the future. What if we use this kind of mechanism in learning and teaching contexts? 

• For students, a healthy competitive environment can fuel their desire to win. In the case of individual competitions, students are expected to have a good grasp and application of knowledge if they want to succeed. In the case of team competitions, students are expected to have a sense of teamwork and the ability to work together to solve problems.
• For teachers, compared to traditional practice tests, the use of competitive games not only can increase students' interest in learning but also provide intuitive and immediate insights into students' acquisition of a particular piece of knowledge.

So, which game can do so? One of them is Kahoot.

It is an extremely useful tool to examine how much students understand the class contents, especially language learning classes. Basically, Kahoot is a platform for educational gaming. Teachers can formulate and show questions on the screen, while students answer them in real-time, using any device they have, such as computers, tablets, or smartphones. The quicker students answer the correct answers, the higher scores they will receive. 

Advantages of Kahoot

• It is a visual and interesting type of quiz.
• It enables teachers to receive feedback from their students immediately and explain according to students' performances. 
• Teachers and students can create and conduct in a few minutes.
• Teachers can use it for various activities, such as ice-breaking, practice part of PPP, TBLT, etc.
• It can be efficient to check the understanding of knowledge, especially grammar and vocabulary. Here is a video about how to use Kahoot in a grammar lesson:

Disadvantages of Kahoot

• Free version can only have access to limited functions. 
• Students may be too competitive.
• Some students with reading difficulties may find it difficult, because most of the questions are written texts. (Teacher can repeat the questions by reading out loud.)

How to create my own quiz?

Overall, the creation process is really easy. You can simply put the questions at the top and some answers in different boxes with different colours. You can also change the question type on the right-hand side of the page. 

If you want more details about Kahoot in language teaching, this video will be a good help for you!

Hope this week's content is helpful for your language-teaching journey. Let's Compete and Learn Better!