Presentation on online tools useful to ELT teachers.

1. Digital Tools for
Teaching in the
21st Century
Federico Espinosa
AKCENT Conference
May 17th, 2014

2. The Plan
 A little pair work
 A little background
 Far too much
information at once
 Ideas & Examples
 Tips
 A digital handout

3. How “techy” are you?
 Level 1 – I can use email and Facebook,
sometimes even Skype
 Level 2 – I can handle a smartphone, take
screenshots and convert files to PDF
 Level 3 – I know what RSS feeds are, I can
sync files across devices.
 Level 4 + - I know why servers exist, and can
probably write basic computer code.

4. What is Blended Learning?
Face to Face
Instruction
Online/Distance
Instruction

5. How Does Blended Learning Work?
Classroom Instruction
•Comprehension Checks
•Interactive Practice
•Role Plays
Online Work
•Focus on Form
Individual Practice
•Self-Paced
Social Media
•Collaboration
•“Safe Space”
•Public Record
Results
•Learner Autonomy
•Confidence Building
•Effective Use of Class Time

6. What Tools to Use?
That depends, what do you want to do?

7. Learning Management
Systems
 Blackboard
 Moodle
 WebCT
 Desire2Learn
 Success Factors

8. Virtual Classrooms
 Adobe Connect
 WizIQ
 Cisco WebEx
 Microsoft Office
Live Meeting

9. Internet Voice Chat Platforms
 Skype
 Google Hangouts
 ooVoo
 Facetime

10. Blogs
 Blogger
 WordPress
 Edublogs
 TypePad

11. Wikis
 Wikispaces
 Wikispaces Classroom
 PBWorks
 OLP

12. Audio Recording
 Audacity
 Vocaroo
 Voxopop
 YouTube

13. Special Online Dictionaries
 UrbanDictionary
 Howjsay
 Phrasal Verb
Dictionary

14. Corpora
 British National
Corpus
 Corpus of
Contemporary
American English
 Lextutor
Concordance

15. Storytelling
 Storybird
 Google Stories
(YouTube Channel)
 Animoto
 Comic Life

16. Media Sources
 YouTube
 News Sites
 ELT Pics
 TED Talks
 Podcasts
 Video
Downloaders*
* - Copyright laws are tricky, use your
best judgment

17. “The Cloud”
 Dropbox
 Google Drive
 SkyDrive
 iCloud

18. Activity Writing
 Hot Potatoes
 NetQuiz Pro
 Puzzlemaker
 Quia
 SurveyMonkey
 Google Drive

19. Vocabulary Tools
 Quizlet
 Merriam-Webster
Word of the Day
 Phrase Mix

20. Screencasting
 Jing
 Screencast-o-Matic
 Copernicus
 AVI Screen

21. Online Activity Sources
 English Grammar 4U
 BBC Learning English
 VOA
 UsingEnglish
 A4esl

22. Apps
 Macmillan Sounds
 Headway Phrase a
Day
 StoryCubes
 Word Games
 Socrative
 So many more…

23. Organizational Tools
 QR Code Generators
 URL Shorteners
 goo.gl
 Tinyurl.com
 Doodle Scheduling

24. Social Media
 Facebook
 Google +
 Twitter
 Instagram
 Padlet (Wallwisher)
 Scoop.it

25. Tutorials and Instructions
 About.com
 TeacherTrainingVideos.
com
 YouTube
 EdTechTeacher

26. Overwhelming?
Don’t worry, it’s not all or nothing
(and it’s all in the handout)

27. You Can Pick and Choose
Use and adapt the tools to your
teaching scenario.

28. Scenario #1 – Blogs as Course
Websites

29. The Advantages

30. Cost
 Blogs are free
 Plenty of Space
 5 GB on Blogger
 32 GB on Edublogs
 Many blogs
possible on one
account

31. Statistics
 Track views
 By date
 Per post
 Know generally
how active
students are

32. Interaction
 Student questions
in comments
 Replies go to their
email
 Comments are
visible to others (if
you want)

33. Organization
 Automatic Date
Sorting
 Labels for Topic
Sorting
 “Featured posts”
and “Pages” to
highlight material

34. Mobility
 Create posts from
phone apps
 Easy for students to
view and comment
 Great for longer
commutes

35. Flexible Privacy Options
 Public, Member, or
Invite Only
 Priorities
 Student/Content
Privacy
 Easy availability

36. Trick/Tip #1 – Explore The Basic
Blog Options
 Create a (Test) Blog
 Browse Add-ons and Settings
 Play around, explore others’ blogs
 Find a format and layout that fit your
needs

37. Exploit Sidebars/Gadgets
 Word of the day
 Phrase Lessons
 Grammar Points
 Dictionary

38. Trick/Tip #2 – Multiple Authors
for Collaboration
 Multiple accounts can author a single
blog
 Ideal for team-taught courses
 Fun way to get students involved
 Projects/Homework could be done this
way

39. Tip/Trick #3 – Embedding
Original Interactive Activities

40. What is NetQuiz Pro?
 Freeware developed by the Centre
collégial de développement de matériel
didactique (CCDMD) in Quebec
 Let’s look at the student interface…

41. Writing a New Activity

42. Choose a Question Type

43. Edit Question Settings

44. Write Your Question

45. Add Media By Clicking Icons

46. Preview, Then Drag Qs to Quiz

47. Produce HTML Coded Web
Quiz with Two Clicks

48. Magic Trick – Using Dropbox as
a Host Server

49. Magic Trick – Using Dropbox as
a Host Server

50. Magic Trick – Using Dropbox as
a Host Server

51. Now You Can Publish Them on
Your Blog!

52. Scenario #2 – “The Cloud”
and VoIP for Distance Lessons

53. What Does Dropbox Do?
 Keep your files
online
 Safe
 Accessible
 Share folders with
others
 Create public files

54. Change a File Somewhere,
and All Versions Get Updated
Older versions are saved for 30 days for free (just in case)

55. Tip: Exploit Shared Folders with
Private Students

56. Files Update Automatically for
Everyone

57. Great for Editing Written Work

58. Great for Editing Written Work

59. What About VoIP (Skype)?
We all know it’s great for distance speaking lessons

60. Skype Screen Share for
Creative/Interactive Lessons

61. Scenario #3 – Blended Task-
Based Projects

62. Student Collaboration on an
Online Project
 Create a new business
 Film a movie trailer
 Design a restaurant
website
 Organize a package
tour
 Conduct a research
study

63. Project Structure
In-Class
 Ss pick groups and
topics
 Intro to tools (lab)
 Checkpoints
throughout course
 Final presentations
Out-of-Class
 Ss divide duties
 Use the tools to
collaborate as
needed
 Prepare the final
product
 Prepare presentation

64. The Result
 Ss free to explore
their interests
 Skill development
through autonomy
 Ss practice online
collaboration
 Mostly out of class

65. Some Final Tips
 Play around and try
things out
 Find others and share
ideas
 When in doubt,
Google/YouTube
have the answer
 Remember Murphy,
have a “Plan B”

66. Thank You!
 The handout for this presentation is available
via Google Drive here:
TinyURL.com/TechyTeacherTools
 Or here
 It is a work in progress – please add your
experience and knowledge. It is publicly
editable.