MKE BELIEFS COMIX

It is a tool that allows you to write and tell stories by building comic strips.
There are 15 characters with different moods to choose from and you can make them talk and/or think.

Here’s a wonderful example of how this tool can be used. This comic strip was created by Leigh, a teacher of English in Mexico City.
http://metamexico.ning.com/profiles/blogs/revenge-of-the-20th-century


Here’s another comic created by Julia Paramonov, who teaches ESL at the University of Akron, USA. She thinks comic strips can help students understand cultural differences.
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZYLPn3fDuyvye2nL4cmWsHSeOROsw4kuhRhUvDBoqmhOLCe2spZ_JhWYRncKuKnYbNw9QyyXCDHlYIi5TpqTEjcGHHNgOz7HdpuzK59kBycpxs2DL_JTeCstXQLudUP0_gLBboA6tKFY/s1600-h/polite.gif
Go to her blog and read her post of February 12th for more information.
http://langteachandlearn.blogspot.com/

To get more information about Make Beliefs Comix and start using it go to
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/
Click on ‘story ideas’ for ideas on how to use this tool.

If you need help watch this tutorial created by Analía Doboletta for the 2009 Enhancing Lessons session.
http://www.slideshare.net/AnaliaD/make-beliefs-comix-tutorial-presentation

DVOLVER

DVOLVER is another easy to use tool for creating and sending online movies.

See a movie created by Anisoara, a teacher from Romania. It is a good example of how this tool can be used to practise different structures, the present perfect in this case. This is a link to her blog, go to her post for February 10th.
http://englishthroughadvertising.blogspot.com/

We could ask our students to make animated stories with DVOLVER using recently learned vocabulary, structures or functional language.

Making a movie is very easy. First you have to sign up.
http://www.dvolver.com/live/mm.html

Then you have to select a background and sky, a plot, the characters and write the characters’ lines. Choose the music and voila: the film is ready. Of course you have to give it a name.

Now click on this link and give it a try.
http://www.dvolver.com/live/moviemaker.html

ZIMMER TWINS

ZIMMER TWINS allows students to create and share animated stories.
I reckon children will love creating stories with these characters: twins who have some kind of psychic powers and their adopted cat called 13.
Apart from the motivational factor, I think ZIMMER TWINS can help teachers practise story-telling skills with their students. See the lesson plan I have designed for this purpose.
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcggp33f_2gz2pd6dz&hl=en

Besides, ZIMMER TWINS will help children memorize and/or learn vocabulary (feelings, action verbs, etc) and internalize the basic structure of a sentence in the present tense (substitution of sentence parts in the creating stage).

First watch this animated movie to get a feel.
http://www.zimmertwins.com/node/653200

Now watch this tutorial that shows how to make an animated story.
http://www.zimmertwins.com/movie/howto

Here you can find some more information about the site.
http://www.zimmertwins.com/movie/welcome

http://www.zimmertwins.com/help

Now give it a try. (You have to master the tool before using it with your students.) Remember you can either create an ending for one of the starters or make a movie from scratch.
http://www.zimmertwins.com/movie/starters

ANIMOTO

With Animoto, you can make videos from your pbotos. You just have to upload your photos, choose the music (supplied by Animoto) that seems appropriate to your pictures and then Animoto does the job of combination and synchronization for you.

Watch this 60 second animoto video to learn more.
http://animoto.com/?welcome=new-user#learn-more

Now watch this video by a drama teacher. It’s called ‘The play comes together’ As you will see, we could use this tool to showcase our students’ work. .
http://animoto.com/play/x9IUtOQmSx81uMb8qKDpQA?autostart=false
He had to upgrade to include more than 15 photos but you can make 30-second shorts for free. Depending on the music you choose, you could include between 12 and 15 photos. Full-length videos cost $ 3 each.

Rita Zeinsteger for example asked her students to produce a video with Rosario highlights and then write a passage explaining why they have chosen the photos and the music. This was followed by a class discussion on video making, purpose videos serve in our society, popularity of You Tube videos, etc. .
Here’s the link to the video made by one of her students. (Students embedded their productions to the class blog)
http://ritamz.ning.com/video/1985596:Video:752

Now try it for yourself.
http://animoto.com/


ONE TRUE MEDIA is a similar tool. You can mix your photos and videos with the site’s effects to create quite original videos. It is a little more complex but it allows you to upload more pictures for free. Besides you can choose different backgrounds, transition, etc.
Try it and you will see the final video is awesome, as the site claims.
Just follow the instructions.
http://www.onetruemedia.com/

SLIDESHARE

SlideShare is an excellent tool to share and find presentations.

For example, if you have a Powerpoint presentation, you can upload it to Slideshare and then to your blog. And as you can add audio to the presentations, it ‘s ideal to extend the walls of the classroom

It could also be used to help students develop academic presentations in their fields of study (in an ESP course, for example).

As I haven’t made a presentation myself, I haven’t been able to try this tool, but I am including it here because I can see its potential benefits in EFL.

For more information go to http://www.slideshare.net/

NETIQUETTE

Netiquette is a neologism formed from the words ‘internet’ and ‘etiquette’ and it refers to the conventions for online communication as regards politeness and safety.

The following link is to a page with very useful information. If we are going to make our students use web 2.0 tools, we should be aware of netiquette and be prepared to discuss it with our students.
http://www3.delta.edu/coop/netiquetterules.html

The following is a quiz we could give our students to start discussing this topic of netiquette.
http://www.carnegiecyberacademy.com/funStuff/netiquette/netiquette.html

STUDY STACK

I think motivating students to study vocabulary is one of the many challenges we face nowadays. They just don’t enjoy sitting at home to memorise it, they don’t know how, they don’t follow our advice, they may not even see the point of doing so. Actually, one of the problems is that we think our students should study vocabulary the way we did, not realizing that they live in a completely different world from the one we lived in when we ourselves were students and that their learning styles and needs have changed. I think we have to reconsider who our learners are. That’s why I got really interested in this tool when one of the participants in the Enhancing Lessons session made us all aware of it (Thanks Margaret)
Robert Squires, a teacher from Montana, USA, has been using Study Stack with his students for some time. What follows is just an example of what he has used it for:

’I had students pre-teach themselves the vocabulary in a Unit on Art and Culture by identifying words that they did not know. They looked the words up in a dictionary and then created their own flashcards. They then embedded the flashcards in their blogs We did this on a Friday and viewed the flashcards on the blogs on Monday when we started the unit. It was a nice way to see what words the other students needed to learn as well. Some of the key words of the unit were quickly identified as well.
Here is an example:
http://narumihorikawa.blogspot.com/
The student was between the beginner and low-intermediate level.’

Well, but what is Study Stack? It is a site to help students learn facts, study for tests or review information in a variety of subject areas. It can help our students learn, memorize, review and/or practise vocabulary in a fun way.

Now have a look at this example to practise the different parts of a verb:
http://www.studystack.com/studystack-118122

The interesting thing is that either you or your students can enter the descriptions for the vocabulary items. Then the software generates different ways in which to practise the vocabulary in order to memorize it (eg. flashcards, hangman, scrabble, crossword, matching, etc)
This is an example
http://www.studystack.com/flashcard-119709

Of course we can use the stacks already created, but in my opinion the strength of this tool lies in the fact that we or our students can create the stacks, thus personalizing learning and helping our students become independent learners.

So now the instructions for building a stack:

http://www.ehow.com/how_2258071_make-digital-flashcards-study-stack.html