ACTIVITY No. 4: FODEY

This activity is aimed at a group of pre-intermediate students of English so as to practise speaking skills.

ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENT

After working on the use of Going to so as to talk about future arrangements and intentions, and on vocabulary based on future plans and travel, students will be gruoped in pairs so as  to create a advert focused on the kind of holiday they like most (e.g. a working holiday in Scotland). When they finish writing the adverts, they will exchange them so that the class can roleplay a conversation to make use of indirect questions.

For this activity you will have to create an advert about your favourite kind of hoiliday. These are the steps to follow:

1.      Go to http://www.fodey.com

2.      Insert the name of the newspaper you like the most

3.      Insert a date and headline based on the kind of holiday you like the most

4.      Enter the information you want others to ask for. Try to save a copy in a Word document just in case.

5.      After this, click on the “Generate” button

6.      Now that your advert is ready, prepare a Word document with your opinion about working with this web site and write the link to your Fodey activity. Write what you think about your performance and your classmates’ performances, too.Do not forget your personal information. Once your work is ready, send it by e-mail to your teacher.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Students will be evaluated following the chart below:

	Poor	Good	Very Good	Excellent
Language
Vocabulary
Grammar
Overall impression
Organization
Mastery of the tool

ACTIVITY No. 3: ANIMOTO

I think this activity could be aimed at young learners as well as adults with an elementary level of English. The simplicity of this tool helps anyone to make use of it. Of course the vocabulary used in this activity can be adapted.

ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENT

After  working on the use of  Simple Present to talk about routines students will create a video using Animoto so as to share their daily routines with the teacher and classmates. After this, students will be able to discuss what they find interesting about their classmates’ routines. By doing this, everyone can get to know more things about each other.

For this activity you will have to create video of your daily routine. These are the steps to follow:

1.Gather a number of pictures about your daily routine and choose a song you feel identified with so as to create a video using Animoto.

2. Go to http://www.animoto .com

3. Click on Sign Up

4. After signing up you will find the types of videos you can create.

5. Choose your Animoto style.

6. Once you have chosen your style, you may watch the tutorial on how to use Animoto or you may just skip this part because you can watch the example I prepared for you.

7. Then, click on the “Add pictures” button. You may choose your favourite pictures from your own computer.

8. After that, you will be able to use the kind of music you like the most by clicking on the “Choose your music” button.

9. Click on the “Add text” button so as to insert the text MY DAILY ROUTINE.

10. Now that your video is ready, prepare a Word document with your opinion about working with this web site and write the link to your Animoto video. Do not forget your personal information. Once your work is ready, send it by e-mail to your teacher.

11. Then, after all the videos are ready, students will watch all the videos and will discuss what they find interesting about the different routines shown.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Students will evalute their work and that of their classmates. On the Word document, they will state what was difficult and what was not for them and their peers. Then, they will include some points they found interesting or important about all the videos watched. They will have to include the link to their videos and send it by the teacher by e-mail for further discussion in class.

ACTIVITY No. 2: GLOGSTER

This is my favourite activity of all because you can get beautiful productions from this website: Glogster. 

I think this activity can be aimed at adolescents of a pre-intermediate level of English. As I could not make use of it easy, I think that this tool can be used by students with a deep knowlegde of web tools.

ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENT

After  working on the use of  Past Simple to talk about past actions and on the use of vocabulary related to holidays-tourism, students will create a poster about their last holidays.

For this activity you will have to create a poster about your last holidays. These are the steps to follow:

1. Gather a number of pictures, videos, memories and favourite songs about your holidays. You can use songs you feel identified with, pictures from the places you have been to, phrases that summarise your experiences and any other kind of media you would like to include in your poster.

2. Once you have the material you are going to work with, create an account in Glogster.

3. Under you account name, you will find the option "Create a Glog", click on it.

4. Now, you can leave it all to your creativity. You will see a white poster ready to be filled with your material and graphics, wallpapers and other things Glogster offer you. On you left, you will find the menu. There, you can choose what to add to your Glog. You can upload you material from this menu and choose graphics and images already included in Glogster.

5. When you are done, click on "Save or Publish" and give it a name. You can include tags and assign it a category. You also have the option to make it public or private.

6. Prepare a Word document with your opinion about working with this website and write the link to your Glog. Do not forget to include your personal information. Once the document is ready, send it by e-mail to your teacher.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Students will be evaluated following the chart below:

	Poor	Good	Very Good	Excellent
Language
Vocabulary
Use of tenses
Overall impression
Organization
Mastery of the tool

ACTIVITY No. 1: PENZU

This activity is aimed at elementary students of English.

ACTIVITY DEVELOPMENT

After working on vocabulary related to healthy food and good eating habits, students will record their eating habits in a journal log using Penzu and then share their daily menu recordings with their teacher using the “share” feature on Penzu. Through the use of Penzu, students will write down their daily eating habits for four days.  They will record this in the Penzu journal and share it with their teacher and classmates after the four days so as to create a poster with  food and drink items that can help young people to have a healthy life.

For this activity, these are the steps to follow:

1.      Create an account in www.penzu.com

2.      Start writing your NUTRITIONAL LOG with your eating habits for four days. Remember that you can insert pictures of what you eat and drink.

3.      You will have to include all your meals and drinks as well as how you distribute them along the day.

4.      Then, once your journal is ready you will save it clikcing on the “Save” button.

5.      After saving your work, you will  click on the “Share” button and type the e-mail addresses of your teacher and  classmates.

6.      Once your work is finished, get ready to discuss your eating habits and the ones of your classmates so as to have a healthy life and prepare a posters about tips to achieve this goal!

7.      Do not forget to create a Word document with the link to your Nutritional Log. Include how you feel working with this tool and send it to your teacher.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

Students will be evaluated following the chart below:

	Poor	Good	Very Good	Excellent
Language
Vocabulary
Overall impression
Organization
Mastery of the tool

HOW TO USE FODEY

Here there is a list of basic steps so as to use Fodey in order to create a newspaper clipping:

1.      Go to http://www.fodey.com

2.      Insert the name of the newspaper

3.      Insert a date and headline

4.      Enter your story. Try to save a copy in a Word document just in case.

5.      After this, click on the “Generate” button

6.      Now, relax and enjoy your work!

SAMPLE No. 4: FODEY

Fodey provides templates to apply text to. This seemingly simple idea creates fun clips and resources which I imagine students would love. You can apply these features to almost anything and enlighten any lesson by using them.

I really liked using this tool because I did not have to create an account or sign up.

I created my own article using Fodey. I wrote an article on “How to find the perfect housemate”.

Follow this link so as to have a look at it: http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

If you want to see an activity you can use with your students, click here http://lauracaceresblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/activity-no-4-fodey.html

HOW TO USE ANIMOTO

Here there is a list of basic steps so as to use Animoto:

1. Go to http://www.animoto.com

2. Click on “Sign Up”

3. Click on the “Try now” buttonto start working

4. Fill in the registration form.

5. Once you have created an account, click on the “Get started” button

6. Choose your video style by clicking on the image chosen

7. Make sure you choose the free version of this tool.

8. Then, click on the “Add pics and vids” button. You can choose whether you want to upload pictures or retieve from an online service

9. Next, you need to choose your music. You can either upload it from your computer or choose from their online collection by clicking on the “Add song” button

10. After that, you will need to add a text by inserting a header and a text, too

11. When your choices are made just click on the “Save” button.

12. Then, click on the “Produce video” button,

13. After following all these steps, you will have to wait some seconds so as to watch your own video. This is quite exciting!

SAMPLE No. 3: ANIMOTO

Animoto is a website designed to help people create videos out of pictures. The user is able to choose any desired images and music they want, they are also given the option to download from well known sites. They can then make an Animoto short video (30 second) or an extended video with the material they have chosen.

I really like this web tool because it is quite easy to use and anyone can make use of it.

Animoto can be used by teachers and students. Due to its simplicity, even young students can create awesome presentations.

This tool can be used in the classroom at any time so as to bring lessons into life!

I created a video using Animoto about my favourite sports. Have a look at it following this link: 
http://animoto.com/play/0zNEmsYRAYiCoumHeDN1yA#resolution

If you want to see an activity you can use with your students, click here http://lauracaceresblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/activity-no-3-animoto.html

HOW TO USE GLOGSTER

Here there is a list of basic steps so as to use Glogster:

1. Go to http://www.glogster .com

2. Click on “Sign Up”

3.Fill out online registration form. (Nickname is the same thing as screen name or login)

4.Type the code from the code box in the box below the code.

5. Check the box beside “I confirm being 13 years or older and I agree to the Terms of Use

6. When you open a new Glog, you will see an example so as to start working

7. To remove any elements you don’t want to use in your Glog, click on the element and then click on the RED TRASH CAN.

8. At the top of the Glog screen, there will be a rectangular box labeled “Glog name” next to it.When you first open your Glog, it is only identified with a Glog number. Click in the box and give your Glog a unique name.

9. Backgrounds: To add a background, select “Wall” from the tool box. (The tool box may be repositioned on the page as needed by sliding it.) The Glog Wall tab places the background on the actual glog.

The Page Wall tab changes the color or pattern of the border outside of the glog wall.

10. Graphics: Use the “graphics” button to include many of the decorative graphics provided by Glogster. Search through the collections, click once on your selection. It will appear by itself in the preview area above the USE IT button. Click on “USE IT!” to add the graphic to your Glog.

11. Images: Use the “Image” button from the toolbox to upload photos, pictures, sound files or video files. Click the “Upload” button and browse to the files on your network folder or flashdrive. (It’s just like adding an email attachment.) Select the image you want and click “OPEN.”Your photos will be added to your online Glogster library. You may hold down the SHIFT key toselect multiple images at once. To add images to the Glog, select your image, and click “USE IT!” You may use it “as is” or you may add a frame by clicking the “ADD A FRAME” button. You will be able to try out and select from a wide variety of frames. When you add your image, it always moves to the bottom of the screen. Locate it and drag it to the desired position. It is easy to move it to any location on the screen.

12. Sound or Music Files: Insert same as Video files. There is also an AUTOPLAY button for music files if you click on the “EDIT” button for the audio player and select the” AUTOPLAY” feature as you do for a video.

13.Save your Glog: by using the “SAVE AND PUBLISH” button at the top or bottom of the screen.

SAMPLE No. 2: GLOGSTER

I particularly enjoyed Glogster.com very much. A Glog is a sort of multimedia online poster. There you can include images provided by Glogster as much as your own, music, videos and more. Results can be lovely, funny, interesting, for educational purposes or just for fun.

I created a Glog inspired in a song a really like. You can read the lyrics and listen to it in the Glog:

Follow the link:http://lauracaceres.glogster.com/my-favourite-song/

If you want to see an activity you can use with your students, click here  http://lauracaceresblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/activity-no-2-glogster.html

HOW TO USE PENZU

Here there is a list of basic steps so as to use Penzu:

1.      Go to www.penzu.com

2.     Sign up for a free account. All you have to do is sign in with your e-mail address and make a password.  

3.      Start journaling in Penzu's secure network

4.     Click on  “NEW ENTRY” when you are ready to start your journal entry, and it will take you to a new, clean sheet.

5.     After starting your entry you can save it. Click on “SAVE” and Penzu will save your work after 30 seconds.

6.   If you want to insert pictures all you have to do is attach the photo to the document from a file on your computer or directly from your Flickr account, and the viewers of your journal will see your new pictures!  The photo appears small, but if you drag your mouse over the photo, it becomes enlarged and gives you more choices in enlargement or removal of the photo.

7.      If you want to share your journal with others click on the “SHARE” button and type in an e-mail address, and add a message if you want. Your journal will be shared with those people.  They can only view your journal, not change anything, so your journal is safe!

SAMPLE No. 1: PENZU

SAMPLE No. 1: PENZU

This website is called Penzu (http://penzu.com/). Penzu is an online diary and personal journal that is focused on writing. I chose this web tool because it could be used to ask students to keep a free online diary or journal to write about any topic. They may add images to the pages they write, print them and share them with other students, too.

In this example, I decided to create my own personal journal about my last trip to Mar del Plata. I really liked the idea of adding this picture of the beach!

Follow this link to find this example https://penzu.com/p

If you want to see an activity you can use with your students, click here http://lauracaceresblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/activity-no-1-penzu.html

GETTING STARTED

My name is Laura Cáceres. I am from Argentina and I am studying so as to become a teacher of English. This blog was created as part of Assignment No. 4 for the subject ICT (Information Communication Technology) in the INSPT-UTN in Argentina.

The aim of this blog is to present Web 2.0 Tools which can be really useful for teaching English. Here you will find examples of the tools, activities where to apply them and examples, too. All the presented websites have an educational purpose.


What is a blog?
A blog is essentially a web page with regular diary or journal entries.


Why is it a good idea to use blogs in language teaching?

• It can be set up and used by teachers and/or learners
• It can be used to connect learners to other communities of learners

It can be very motivating for learners and teachers who are fearful of the technology, or feel that they are not technically competent enough to use this tool.