Think critically and work collaboratively

©Copyright: freepik.com

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!

                                                          ©Copyright: freepik.com

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

                                                  ©Copyright: freepik.com

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!