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

A SWEET RELIEF

Just playing with Bubbleshare. Hope you don't find it too corny. (Click on the photo and view it from Bubbleshare so that you can see the captions)

BubbleShare: Share photos - Easy Photo Sharing

BUBBLESHARE

BUBBLESHARE is a tool that allows you to upload your photos, create albums and share them in an easy and entertaining way.
It’s very simple to use. You can add clipart and text to the photos, you can display them using different backgrounds, you can add a title to the album and the photos and you can leave comments.
Although the feature ‘add audio/video caption’ is offered, it doesn’t work, which is a pity because I could think of many more potential applications of this software in EFL if audio was available.

Of course the visual presentations (albums or slideshows) created with Bubbleshare could be used as a springboard for writing down the story shown or predicting the ending (ideas contributed by Leigh Thelmadatter, a teacher based in Mexico DF), writing about 'A special place in my country' (idea contributed by Margaret Redus, a teacher from Texas, USA).

The following lesson plans are some other examples of how BUBBLESHARE can be used in EFL.
Wishes and regrets
Personal guided tour of my city

The following link is to a blog by María Victoria Saumell, a teacher from Argentina, who used Bubbleshare as part of a fables project after her students had read the story The Lion and the Mouse. Go to the post of February 6th, 2009.

Educational Technology in ELT

Now if you want to create an album go to

http://www.bubbleshare.com/

and read the information here.

http://www.bubbleshare.com/help/

VOICETHREAD

Voicethread is an online media album that can hold images, documents and videos and allows people to make comments in 5 different ways - using voice (with a microphone or telephone), text, audio file, or video (with a webcam) - and to share them with anyone they wish.
It is an excellent tool to practise the speaking skill, but of course it is also good for listening (depending on the activity we design),writing and reading.

The following are links to different voicethreads created by teachers around the world. I just want you to get an idea of how this tool can be used in the classroom. I am sure you will become enthusiastic and then, learning how to use it will become easier. (In fact, it is easy.)

Below’s the link to a thread created by Mary DiMónaco, a teacher in our city, for her students aged 9 and 10. Let me quote Mary: ‘The purpose of using a voicethread was for the kids to tell their teacher what they wanted to be - and to show their parents what they had learnt in class. I can tell you that they enjoyed the whole process (looking for a pic, practising their lines, recording themselves and listening to each other ) …’
http://voicethread.com/share/223648/

In the following thread, entitled ‘What is your lifestyle like?’, most students made text comments, but students could be encouraged to record their voices.
http://voicethread.com/#q+lifestyle.b178254.i947649

Earth Day Everyday
http://voicethread.com/#q+lifestyle.b113341.i593832

The following is just meant to show how Voicethread can be used to give presentations.
http://voicethread.com/#q+lifestyle.b95585.i485794



Now to learn how to use Voicethread follow these links.

http://voicethread.com/about/

http://www.wikieducator.org/Using_Voicethread_for_practising_speaking_skills

Last but not least, the following pages are just excellent. They show how Voicethread can be used in education.

http://voicethread4education.wikispaces.com/Best+Practices (NB: How to develop lessons, Encouraging appropriate comments and Tips)

http://digitallyspeaking.pbwiki.com/Voicethread (NB: Planning a Voicethread, Commenting Tips for Voicetheaders, and Assessing Voicethread participation)