Sync.in-Realtime Document Conferencing

Today's Website~

● Sync.in-Realtime Document Conferencing

Sync.in-Realtime Document converencing

What is it about?

●  Sync.in is a web-based word processor for everyone to write collaboratively in real-time.

●  Many people can edit the same document simultaneously, and you can see any changes

    on the screen instantly.  You can chat (on the right-hand side) at the same time, when

    edit the document together.

Why is the content good for language teaching?

●  It is useful for any notes (classroom/meeting), a place for brainstorming, project planning

    or training.

●  You don't have to sign up to create a new public note.

●  Different authors can choose different colors, and you can easily see each one's

    contribution.

●  Students follow the link (the note related by the teacher) and start the classroom

    activities.

●  The note can be exported as HTML file, Plain text file, or Bookmark file. 

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  This tool could be used best for collaborative editing, writing, brainstorming, project

    planning or topic discussing.  The teacher can write down some questions about the

    article students read.  Students can discuss in group,

●  Students can work collaboratively in group to rewrite a story, to summarize the article

    they read, or answer the questions after their discussion.

●  For lower-level students, the teacher can ask them to make sentences by the sentence

    patterns, vocabulary, or phrases they learned in class.

●  Students can collect some articles related to what they have read in class, and briefly

    describe the articles.  They could be a collection of some topics for students to keep

    as their resources.

●  The document could be saved or the teacher can paste the content in the class blog for

    students to review.

●  Students could learn from one another from reading the instant response.

●  Help teachers to assess students' language output after language input.  It can also be

    used to check students' understanding of what they have learned in class. 

Limitations

●  Sufficient computers are needed.

●  You can not add pictures, videos.  Writing activities are suitable for the tool.  It is better for

    collaborative writing and opinion sharing.

●  Even though they have a chat function, students still need to "speak out" to practice

    their speaking and pronunciation.

●  The teachers need to organize the questions or content they would like their students to

    answer in case it looks messy on the screen.

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Example~ Start to use Sync.in 

●  Click on "Create a new public note".

Create a New Public Note

●  Select your color, type your name, and start to write or edit.

Select the Color, Enter Your Name, and Start to Write

●  You can zoom in to make the content bigger, or hide the chatbox column to have more

     space.

Zoom In or Hide the Chatbox Column

●  Click on "invite", and you can paste the link, or send e-mail to invite your friends or 

    students to co-write or co-edit.

Invite Your Friends or Students

●  You can click on "Export" and download your document.  However, there is no PDF or

    Word format.  You can paste the content on the word and convert it into PDF format.

Export the Content

●  Quick Introduction to Sync.in

●  The Collaborative Authoring Activity in Warwick ELT (ICT & MM)

This is a collaborative authoring activity.  Our tutor provided several blogs (related

to ICT in ELT) and several links for us to search the tools for language teaching 

and learning.  We have to search for the tools for ELT introduced in some blogs,

discuss the tools, learn how to use them, and briefly describe the tools.  Each group

gave a brief description about the tools below each question.  You could see what

we did below. Click on the page to zoom in.

Created by Issuu Publishing Tool

Open publication - Free publishing - More syn.in

Today's Meet- Chatroom for Classroom Activities and Idea Sharing

Today's Website~

● Today's Meet 

Today's Meet

 

 

What is it about?

●  It is more like a chat room for students in English class.

●  The teacher creates a room and invites students to join the classroom talk.

●  Students follow the link and start the classroom activities.

Why is the content good for language teaching?

●  Encourage students "talk" and communicate in the virtual room

●  Encourage students to read other students' language outcome.

●  Encourage students to share opinions and respect one another

●  It is interactive.  Everyone has a chance to speak out their ideas, especially shy students.

●  Encourage students to work collaboratively or individually

●  Sudents could learn from one another from reading the instant response.

●  Help teachers to assess students' language output after language input

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  First, introduce students Internet Etiquette in the virtual room, e.g. how to greet

●  The teacher could either ask individual student to make sentences (e.g.

    with past tense) to make sure they understand the grammar, or ask students

    to work in group to make a story (e.g. with past tense, words students learn

    in class or a topic related to your curriculum).  Each group takes turns to write a

    sentence.  The story should be cohesive and reasonable.  The teacher can give

    guidance to help students use appropriate linguistic meanings of  expression

    and generate appropriate content.  The story should be cohesive and reasonable.

    (The teacher could introduce conjunctions)

●  The teacher can encourage low-proficiency to key in the vocabulary,

    words or sentences they hear or they remember from the last lesson or

    some topics (e.g. Name one animal you know).  If the teachers would like to

    know whether students are familiar with the sentence patterns and the content,

    the teacher could ask simple questions and encourage students to answer

    them to check their understanding and students' language output  (e.g.

    What does Mary usually do before she goes to bed?).

●  The teacher could ask high-proficiency students what they know about the topic

    and the experience about the topic they are going to learn.  The teacher could also

    check students' understanding by asking them to answer certain questions

    in class or at home. 

●  The teacher could print out the script and assess students' in-class performance, and also

     it could be used to reflect the teacher's own teaching and revise the curriculum, adjusting

     to students' learning process.

●  The students could always go into the room and review something they are

    unfamiliar or reflect their answers, or print out the transcript.

Limitations

●  Might need computers for everyone in order to assess individual performance

●  If it is a large class, it might take students lots of time to read everything in

    a short time.

●  Students still need to "speak out" to practice their speaking, pronunciation and

    communicating skills.

●  Might take teachers too much time to assess students' performance if they

    have too many students to teach in a short time.

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Example~ 

TodaysMeet

Our Tutors Russell and Tilly created a room for us to sharing the ideas about

the tool "Wordsift" we learned in class. The link is: http://www.todaysmeet.com/wordsift

Here is the transcript:

● Transcript of the "Ideas about Wordsift"

    The transcript: