Getting started with wikis and Twitter

ITC 4 ELT

Week 1 activities

I have....

• read the Getting Started Page and explored the wiki
• introduced myself to the group
• posted my intro and picture to the Participants Page
• joined the Edmodo Group  
• attended the live session/listened to the recordings
• commented on the Live Session using the Edmodo Group
• commented on the readings using the Edmodo Group
• explored these tools: the wiki and Yahoo Groups

I must admit I find Yahoo Groups very confusing and not useful. There are many more better tools to keep conversations organized. On the contrary, I like wikis. Last year, thanks to BAW13, I created my own wiki but haven't used yet. My New Year's resolutions (is it too late?) include using wikis as digital portfolios of my students' works.

The article I appreciated most is therefore Uses and Potentials of Wikis in the Classroom by S. Pixy Ferris and Hilary Wilder.

Week 2 activities

Synchronous and asynchronous communication tools: Text/Audio/Video

I have...

• attended the live session/listened to the recording
• commented on the Live Session using the Edmodo Group
• explored Twitter

I have already Skype in my computer which I've been using for personal and professional purposes for years. Next week (when the fever's gone) I will talk (via Skype) with a teacher trainer who's doing a research on the use of digital tools.

In the next few days I will

• explore audio and video tools for sending messages
• comment on the readings using the Edmodo Group
• take part in a tweetmeet

Saturday's live session with Michael Coghlan, Blending Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Environments, was very interesting. 

Synch AND Swim - Blending Synch and Asynch Learning Environments from michaelc

In the chat we discussed about the importance of using safe digital platforms when you teach pre-adolescents and some teachers agreed on the opportunity of using Facebook for learning only with teenagers and adults.

During the session one of the teachers posted a link toTeresa Almeda d'Eça's presentation about working well even if you have only one computer in your class with an IWB and Internet connection. That's still one of the luckiest class situations in Italy. 

One-computer classroom_May2013 from Teresa Almeida d'Eca

It is important to know how to use ICT to enhance learning but also to have a plan B when it doesn't work.

Teaching English to Young Learners

Young learners & teenagers SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

This course has a beautiful program of webinars featuring some of the best and most experienced ELT authors and teacher trainers. 

The list of webinars can be found here.

Yesterday afternoon a very busy Shelly Sanchez Terrell (she had been the host of a Google+ Hangout just a couple of hours before) gave us some Survival Tips for Teaching Young Learners English.

If you don't have time to watch the whole recording of the session, you can visit her website page on the same subject or take a look at her clear and useful presentation:

Survival Tips for Teaching Kids English from Shelly Terrell

This is an example of a wiki she used for a course in Germany where she not only taught English to very young learners but she also had them connect with peers from two international countries.

Doubts in the kitchen... how to bake an ebook?

Creating the ePerfect Textbook

Week 2 is over and these are the missions I could complete:

Mission 1: Ebook Design Presentations

As in Italy it's end of first term, all teachers are busy so I arrived late as usual but I tried my best.

I watched the other presentations and began to be scared: my ideas are not clear yet. I know how I would like it to be, but it will take me a lot of time to plan the contents of the book in details. I rely on the moderators and the other teachers and teacher trainers all over the world who are really inspirational.

Have you ever baked a cake that ended up as a real disaster? I have and I don't like that feeling. 

That's my culinary presentation expressing my doubts.

It took me a while to embed my presentation. It was not the first time I had used Prezi but I certainly need to practise more to become a more proficient user and exploit all its possibilities.

Mission 4: Attend our Live Online Session

After posting my ebook design recipe, I took part in yesterday's webinar. Yes, you're right, I still have to accomplish mission 2 and 3 but I will catch up when my ideas are not so confused anymore.

Anyway, the session was fabulous and Shelly Terrell was inspiring as usual.

P.S.: I have to apologize in advance if my posts today may seem a little bit confused. I have been stuck at home for two days with a high fever and a headache and I think it will last for at least a couple of days. Please be patient!

What is CLIL?

CLIL: Using Technology for Content  and Language Integrated Learning

I have been taking part in CLIL courses for two or three years and I am fascinated by this new methodology, even if it is not and probably can't be (at the moment) fully implemented in the school level I teach.

The first webinar of this EVO course provides a clear presentation on CLIL in Italy by Gisella Langé, Inspector at the Italian Ministry of Education.

Here are the slides of her presentation:

Click here if you want to learn more about the European Framework for CLIL Teacher Education.

Digital Responsibility

Crafting the e-Perfect Textbook

Mission 4: Create a Creative Commons License for your E-Textbook

After reading the simple but clear presentation illustrating the various types of licences available for publishing on the web, I decided to choose the following:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The presentation can be used in class to underline how important it is to respect copyright when working on the web, especially for students who are so used to sharing pictures and music.

Italian version (for my students)

Creative Commons:Condividere le proprie creazioni from roberto marcolin

3,2,1 Ready... Steady... Go!

Crafting the e-Perfect Textbook

It's week 0 of EVO but some of the courses are alreading kicking off, at least with participants' introductions. This year I tried a new tool for my 321 Introduction: Powtoon.

Other useful webtools can be found here.

New Year, New EVO

Another year has passed and a new EVO is going to start. Another fantastic opportunity for professional development.

This year there are so many interesting proposals that it is extremely difficult to choose. I can't help but try to follow more than the recommended two sessions.

Here is a list of the sessions I would like to follow.

Sessions
	CLIL: Using Technology for Content and Language Integrated Learning
	Crafting the e-Perfect Textbook
	ICT4ELT
	Teaching English to Young Learners and Teenagers
	The Use of Mobile Applications in Language Classes
	Wonderful Words: Vocabulary Matters

If you want to take a look at all the sessions available, visit the official Call for Participation wiki.