Zimmer Twins

Zimmertwins is an online application that allows users to create stories using animations. It is specially designed for kids, however it is suitable for teenagers and secondary school students as well. Continue reading in order to find more information about this tool.

How to make a movie using Zimmer Twins?

1. Go to zimmertwins website http://www.zimmertwins.com/ and this page will appear:

Zimmer Twins not only allows users to create stories, but it also gives chance for us to watch movies created by other people. Click on 'watch a movie' (as you can see in above picture) to watch any movies you like.

2. Select 'make a movie' .  

•  Click 'make from scratch'. 

3. Now when this page appears, you can start creating your story. 

As you can see, there are four different tabs given. Each tab represents different animation clip. The first from right is talk bubble clip (to make characters sing, talk, scream and so on), next to bubble clip is action clip (to make characters walk, dance, run, hugs and more), the third clip is close-up clip (to give emotions to characters such as angry, scared , happy and so on) and the last clip is star clip  (to insert fun things such as newspaper headline, fortune, tickets and so on) .

Click this link to watch one example of short animated stories that is created using zimmertwins

http://www.zimmertwins.com/node/1329566

However, there are some limitations noticed in this tool which are:

Regardless of the limitations mentioned above, Zimmer Twins has many other qualities that make it suitable to be used as one captivating tool in language learning. See below:

Some ideas on how Zimmer Twins can be used in classroom language teaching

Hope you can try this in your class.

Click n Learn

"Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire" (W.B. Yeats)

Upholding the principle above, http://clicknlearn.net/ is a website introduced for interactive English language learning and teaching. This website allows students to experience various interesting activities thus it portrays an active method to language teaching.

Several important highlights about this website are as follows:

1. Easy to use (direct)

2. Contains different options for topics, levels and categories. Example:

Example of topics

Examples of topics: 
-Colors                             -Conditionals
-Numbers                         -Modal verbs
-Classroom                       -Clauses
-Professions                      -Idioms
-Schools                            -The UK
-Park                                 -The BBC
-Weather                           -British Education
-Passives voice                   -The USA
-Infinitive                           -etc...












3. Contains sounds of how the words are pronounced (good for pronunciation improvement)

Students have to drag the pieces into correct position.
This puzzle is about professions. 

4. Interesting activities (e.g.: matching right answers to the right categories)
For example: students do the puzzle









5. Develop students' skills or knowledge in :

• listening (some activities require students to listen carefully and answer the question)
• vocabulary (different topic will have different sets of words used)
• reading (students are required to read instruction/extracts/sentences)
• writing (some activities require students to write answer or sentences)
• pronunciation (some activities require students to pronounce the word)

6. Meaningful exercises 

• Most of exercises demanded students to do practice about the topic that they had just learnt. (skills used are such as remembering, applying, classifying and so on)

7. Easy for teachers (it provides list of index and contents.See below)

Some preview of index of unit and contents

However, two weaknesses of this tool are found so far,which are:

Regardless of the weaknesses mentioned above, it is still advisable for teachers to use this tool in teaching because:

Word Clouds: WordSift&Wordle

What is word cloud?

• Word cloud is an attractive arrangement of randomly positioned words, where the most important /high frequency words are bigger than the others.

Advantages of word clouds and how can it be used in teaching

• Presents which words used so often in the text.
• Suitable for vocabulary purpose of teaching
• Good for pre-reading activities-gives students main ideas about article
• Can be used for writing activity- asks students to use words in word cloud to write an essay

Two famous tools which generate text into word clouds are WordSift and Wordle. Each of these tools has its own specialities and uniqueness. Let us explore each of these tools and have a try.

Some features:

1. Quickly identify important words that appear in text.
2. Incorporates the amazing visual thesaurus.

Continue reading to find out more about WordSift.

• Click this link to go to Word Sift: 

http://www.wordsift.com/

• Insert selective text into the box and press 'Sift'.

Example of word cloud that is formed using Word Sift:

Thesaurus relationship for the word 'career'

• The meaning of most frequent word (career) is visualized through Thesaurus relationship. 

Some features: 

1.     Show words that appear frequently in the text.

2.     Give users to tweek the cloud with different fonts, layouts and color schemes.

3.     Users can print the word cloud, or save it in wordle gallery.

Continue reading to find out more about Wordle.

• Click this link to go to wordle page :http://www.wordle.net/ . Then click on 'create' tab and this page will appear. 

• To turn the text into word clouds, you can either paste the text or enter the URL.
• Example of word cloud that is formed using Wordle is as below:

Comparisons between WordSift and Wordle

Brainshark

Brainshark is an online application that allows user to include recorded voice into slide presentation/document/video/photo album/ or produce podcast. Anyone can sign up into this application for free. This application upholds 3 main stages, which are:

1. Create -Once we prepared the content (powerpoints, document, video clips), simply log in into Brainshark account, upload the content, and add audio/voice into the content. This audio /voice can be recorded through microphone , phone or MP3 . Then, that content will transform into voice-enriched presentation.

 2. Share - You can share your voice-enriched presentation through several ways such as via as link in email, posted to social media sites, or embedded into blogs or websites. Once we share it, anyone can view it anytime they want.


3.Track-  After you share your presentation, Brainshark allows you to track who has viewed your presentation, when they viewed, and also where they viewers are from.

How can teacher use Brainshark in facilitating English language teaching in learning?

1. Teacher can use this application as one way to measure students' speaking skills, especially to observe students pronunciation, how students elaborate their points, or give opinions.

2. Teacher can use this tool to assign weekend homework or weekly project to students. Students might be boring with traditional method of teaching and learning therefore through this tool, it is hopefully motivates students to learn English.

3. Teacher can use brainshark in order to give oral explanation on certain issue to students during term break or when teacher are away from school.

However, there are several limitation about this tool:

1. It would only applicable in good internet connection areas. Therefore, it can not be used in schools which has limited or not good internet access.

2. In certain countries, not all students have internet facilities at home. So, it would be less possible for teacher to assign brainshark work-based for students.

3. This is recorded-voice based, therefore the element of spontaneous in speaking most probably disappear because there is tendency for students to write down their speech before they start recording.

Regardless of the limitations mentioned above, this tool is a great application that can be used in teaching and  learning. So why don't you try this in with your students. Below is an example of voice-enriched power point presentation that is done through Brainshark application:

Vocaroo

Vocaroo (one way of podcasting)

Vocaroo is an online voice recorder that allows users to record voice/conversation/speech. You can either record it in its page or just upload your recording. Once you upload your recording, you will be able to share it through online networks such as facebook,twitter, gmail, stumbleUpon, linked and so on. And more interestingly, you could embed it in your blog. Continue reading to find out more about Vocaroo.

How???

1. Go to vocaroo page or click this link: http://vocaroo.com/, and you will see this page: 

2. Click tab 'click to record' and start the recording.
(click 'or upload' if you already have specific file to upload)

3. When you finish recording, you are given chances to listen to your recording or retry.

4.  Click 'click here to save' in order to
save your recording.

5. There are many sites that you could save your recording such as in facebook, twitter, gmail and  so on.

6. You could also embed the recording in your blog.

Using Vocaroo in language classroom?

Vocaroo would be a great tool to be used in teaching and learning activities. This tool could benefit both teachers and students. Below are some ideas on how teacher could use vocaroo to facilitate language learning.

On top of that, teacher should always encourage students to use vacaroo to practice their speakings. They could do it in their leisure time and choose any topic that they want to talk about as long as the medium used is English. A lot of practice would facilitate their speaking skills. This method also enhance autonomous learning.

Storybird

Story bird is an online application that allows users to create a story. There are no limitation of pages for the story. You can write anything you like and how long do you want. Different sample of pictures are also given in order to incorporate interesting effect. To begin with, go to storybird website: http://storybird.com/accounts/login/.

• Create your account

• Once you have create your account, you are free to create any kind of stories that you want. You also can read stories that have been published by other people at 'read' tab on top of the page. There are thousands of storybirds that have been published in this website. 
• You are given the choices to read recent, active, or popular storybirds. See picture below:

To create a storybird:

• To create a storybird, click the create tab and you will be directed to the page that contains a number of story arts and themes. 
• Choose an artist or a theme, gets inspired, and start your storybird.

This application allows you to collaborate with you friend in creating a story, as long as your friend has his/her own storybird's account. In order to do this, click menu, and then click invite someone. Fill in the details in the box and then you are ready to invite your friend.

•  Publish your story and share it with your friends.

As a teacher, we can use this tool in order to develop students' writing skills. This application also exposes students to creative writing. So, why don't you try this with your students and make English lesson more interesting!

Today's meet

Today's meet is a website that allows users to connect with each other through text chatting. This online conversation is possible when one user creates a room and invites preferred audience into that room to give feedback, comments , or to discuss some issues. Steps below will present how 'today's meet' works:

Step 1: Go to today's meet website http://todaysmeet.com/. As the page below appears, create a room by:

• name your room : (for example: warwick)
• delete the room in: (for example: 2 hours)

Step 2: You can invite other people to join your room by giving them today's meet website followed by "/" and your room's name. Let's say the room's name is 'warwick', so the link that you should give to those who you would like to invite is: http://todaysmeet.com/warwick. Once they click at that link, a page below will appear: 

Write a name, click 'join' and the audience will be directed to:

As soon as you join the room, you will be able to join the discussion. From there, you can also view other's comments.

Bubblr

Have you ever heard about bubblr?

Bubblr is a tool to create comic strips using photos from flickr. To start with, go to bubblr website http://www.pimpampum.net/bubblr/ and begin your work by searching any photo from flickr. There would be thousands of photos from flickr,just type your search in 'tag' box on the upper left of the bubblr page and select any photo that you like.

It's up to you to choose any topic for your strip. It could be about food, places, history, cartoons and etc. Add bubbles to the pictures that you choose and you can write any interesting caption that you want. Click 'publish' button on the page when you finish it. So easy right? Besides, you can share your strip/presentation to other people via sending to their emails or post it to your blog.
Here is one example of bubblr strip:



Why not try this with your students and see how creative are they. Enjoy!

Dvolver

Dvolver: Moviemaker

Teenagers nowadays are being exposed to various graphics and animations, mostly via television and internet. As a teacher, why don't we take this opportunity to make our teaching interesting and most importantly, to let students enjoy the process of learning. One way that could link graphics and animations with teaching English in school is through a tool called as 'Dvolver'. It is an online software that allows users to make customized animated videos. Dvolver's website has simple layout and is very easy to use. This application does not require user to sign up to any particular account, therefore it is free of charge. To begin with, go to Dvolver's website: http://www.dvolver.com/live/movies-776638  or simply type 'Dvolver' in google, and choose the first option that comes out in the list. Right away, you'll see a link to 'make a movie', which is the first step toward your animated movie. Then, you will be given several lists of 'background' and 'sky'.

There are about 11 choices of background, and each background has its own description (location, language, population, activities, mission and etc) . After selecting the background, you need to choose 'sky' for your background. Having 12 choices of skies, you are allowed to choose any sky that you like.

Next, you need to select a plot for your scene. There are 4 plots available. See below: 

Move on to the next step, you will be given several choices of characters. Each character has its own details/descriptions such as name, occupation, skills, language and etc. 

Once you have selected your characters, the next button will bring you to dialogue boxes or character's lines.  Add up to three lines for each character. The limit for one line is 100 text. 

Finally, select the music for your scene. By clicking on the options, you can preview the sound and its recommendations for use. After making you selection, you will have the options to add a new scene , or to finish the movie. You can make up to there scenes for you Dvolver animation. By choosing the same styles and characters, your video will appear as a continuous scene. 

 



 

This tool can be used in classroom with your students.

The advantages of this tool are :

 

1. Student can develop their creativities.

2. A wonderful way to practice writing skill and at the same time having fun.

3.Have ownership value.

4.Easy to use.

5.Free of charge.

6. This tool involves a lot of visuals and graphics, so it may engage students with this activity.

 

 

 

However, there are some limitations as well. For example:

1. Some may find the characters and animations are boring (because of having no expressions).

2. Some characters may not suitable for kids or young learners (inappropriate characters).

3. This tool requires good internet access. (It is impossible to be done in school which has no or limited internet access).

 

 

 



Helloooo Everyone! Let's watch this

Lyric Training

Hellooo everyone!!!

Always thinking what is the best way to learn or develop you English? Here I have one interesting way that could enhance the learning. It is called as 'Lyric Training'. Some basic ideas about this tool are:
1) Learners can practice their listening and spelling skills.
2) Listen and type the lyrics.
3) Lyric training welcomes different levels of learners (beginner, intermediate, expert).
4) Contains many songs and more than five languages.

Here is one example:

Interested????? Go to Lyric training website now and have fun!http://www.lyricstraining.com/

A brilliant blogger

Today Russel showed us his big rival, Nik Peachey. Here is the link of his brilliant blog. You'll find many interesting articles about teaching and learning English with the help of technology.
-Hope you'll find it interesting too!-
http://nikpeachey.blogspot.co.uk/