Zimmer Twins -Make a Movie

Today's Website~

● Zimmer Twins-Make a Movie

Zimmer Twins

What is it about?

●  Zimmer Twins is a website in which you can make a movie or create your own cartoon

    through the animation clips provided.

●  Though the function of the free version is limited, it is enough for learners to create a

    simple animation, leave comments and rate the movies.

●  Just send the link of your own movie to your friends and they can see it immediately.

●  You can save your movies in your own account.

Why is the content good for language teaching?

●  It is simple and fun to make an animation of your own.

●  Learners have to make the plot or story smooth, readable and coherent.  It engages them

    with careful planning, word-choosing and the skills of story telling.

●  To make a movie needs collaboration.  Collaboration involves negotiation of meanings,

    communication, idea sharing, brain-storming, compromising and synthesising.

●  Students can apply what they learn in class according to the topic teachers set.

●  It helps engage students in seeking resources related to their task and broaden their

    language learning.  The authentic resources make their learning meaningful.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  I would have students work in group, exploring the functions of the tool first.  Then, I will

    list several topics related to the unit we are learning right now.  Students can choose one

    and start to plan their story or plot.

●  In order to make students feel more comfortable about using this tool in language learning,

    the story should be short.  And they have to use the vocabulary and grammar we learn in

    the unit.  And the clips should be no more than 15 clips (It's for beginners).

●  Teachers could also make a movie with an open-ended question for students to continue

    the story.

●  Students then show and share what they create.  They are encouraged to leave

    comments, (in English if possible) or rate the movies of other groups.

●  The links of students' work can be pasted in the class blog for students and their friends

    or family to see.

●  The outcome could be one of students' assessment.  It can also be used to check

    students' understanding of what they have learned in class. 

Limitations

●  The function of free version is limited, for example, you could not change the characters,

    places or actions at will.

●  There is no voice of the actor or actress' lines created.  The lines can only be read.

●  Once you save the movie you create, you can not edit it.  You can only start over if you

    are not happy with your work.

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Example~ Start to use Zimmer Twins 

●  Check the movie I made by clicking on

     http://www.zimmertwins.com/node/1154182?designated=new

●  Log in and click on "Make a Movie".

Make a movie

●  Click on "Make From Scratch".

Make From Scratch

●  Now you can select "Talk Bubble", "Action Clips", "Close-up Clips", or "Star Clips"

    to make your own movie.  Explore and try each clip.  If you are not happy with the

    clip you choose, you can drag it away (on the bottom).  You can also rearrange the

    order of the clips if you like.

Animation Clips

Voki-Create Your Own Avatar

Today's Website~

● Voki-Create Your Own Avatar

Voki for Education

What is it about?

●  Voki is a free tool that you can use it to create your own speaking avatar.

●  It is easy to customize your avatar, add voice, and publish it.

●  You can post your personalized avatars in your blog or your website.  You can

    also use it as your profile.

●  Voki provides lesson plans (different subjects, different grades) for teachers to use

    in the classroom.  The "Teacher's Corner" provides teachers with a community to

    share their ideas and teaching plans. 

Why is the content good for language teaching?

●  Voki can be used in education to practice speaking and communicating in target

    language.

●  Voki encourages learners to participate in language learning.

●  Voki engages learners in creative expression in target language.

●  Every student (especially shy students) has a chance to speak and

    communicate in target language.

●  It is interesting and motivating.

●  The personalized feature empowers learners and provides learners with choices. 

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

●  I would have students make a story related to the topic, grammar, vocabulary,

    or sentence patterns we learned in class.

●  For example, if the grammatical focus is on comparative adjectives, we can have

    students make a story or according to the adjectives we learned in class.  They

    can use more adjectives if needed.  The teacher should be around for help.

●  Some resources should be provided for students to consult. e.g. online dictionary,

    the websites related to the topic, the grammar rules.

●  If students are beginners of Voki, teachers should offer specific criteria for students

    to follow.  For instance, students can use the 15 comparative adjectives taught to

    create a 2-minute story or introduction related to the topic. 

●  For individual learner, the teacher can have each student to talk about their hobby,

    introduce their pet, family or themselves.  But sufficient computers and headphones

    are needed.

●  There are many other activities, such as tongue twisters, sing English songs,

    practice their pronunciation and intonation by playing different roles.  Check out

    Teacher's corner in Voki for more ideas. 

●  See a lesson plan using Voki in  TEFL Teacher.

Limitations

●  Need computers and headphones (microphones) for students to create their avatars

    and add voice.

●  It is not easy for collaborative learning because one can only create one character.

●  Also need more time to teach students how to publish their avatars in the blog or

    website.

●  It might be very noisy when everyone records their voice at the same time.

●  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 Voki

●  Log in and click on "Create your own Voki" or "Create".

Log in and Create

 ●  Customized  your Voki.  Choose the character you like, dress it and add accessories.

Choose, Dress and Add bling

Select the character

 ●  Add a voice to your character.  You can record your voice via phone or microphone,

     text to speech, or upload an audio file from your computer.  Here, we use "text to

    speech" function.  We type the text, choose the language, the voice and accent

    you like.

Text to Speech

●  Select the background  you like.  Publish your Voki now.

Select Backgrounds and Publish

●  You can embed your Voki in your website or blog, or send a link to your friends.

     You can click on "My Voki" to edit your characters.

Send a Link to Your Friend or Embed Your Voki

●  An example of my Voki character.

●  You can watch  Voki Tutorial in Russell Stannard's Teacher Training Video for more 

    instructions.

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

Chatzy-Free Private Chat room

Today's Website~

●  Chatzy-Free Private Chatroom 

Chatzy-Free Private Chat room

What is it about?

●  Chatzy is a free private chat room.  You can start a quick chat.  It has no registration 

    steps.  Just invite your friends or your students, they can join instantly. 

●  You don't need Flash or any installation on your computer to use Chatzy.

●  Chatzy is user-friendly.   It works on many major browsers and with any languages.

●  It is an ideal chat room for idea-sharing.   

Why is the content good for language teaching?

●  It is a user-friendly interface for learners to share their ideas and communicate with 
  
    one another.  It engages students in cognitive learning through communication. 

●  Encourage students to interactive with their peers through reading others' opinions

    and have a deep discussion about certain topics they explore in class.

●  Encourage students to share opinions and respect one another by using the discussion

    interface.

●  Everyone has a chance to speak out their ideas.  Shy students benefit from the different

    way of communication a lot, too.

●  Encourage students to work collaboratively according to the tasks the teacher design.

●  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.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?

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

    another.

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

    patterns they learned in class) to check their understanding, or ask students to work in 

    group to make a story (e.g. with vocabulary, phrases they learn in class or a topic  

    related to your curriculum).

●  Students can work collaboratively to rewrite a story, e.g. each group takes turns to write a

    sentence.  They should try to make the story cohesive and reasonable.  The teacher can

    give guidance to help students use appropriate linguistic meanings of  expression and

    generate appropriate content.  Students will learn a lot through the negotiation of meaning.

●  For low-proficiency students, they can do some simple spelling competition, type what

    they hear (words or sentences) from the teacher or news, or answer some simple

    questions to check students' understanding of the sentence patterns and the content.

●  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

    encourage students to reflect what they have learned in class. 

●  The script of the discussion or classroom activities can be printed out, which can be used

    to assess students' in-class performance.  The teachers can also reflect their own

    teaching and revise the curriculum, and make it more suitable for the 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.

●  The teachers can paste the saved discussion in the class blog for students to review.

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.

●  It might not easy to read if there are too many students writing on the same screen.

●  It is better for collaborative writing and opinion sharing.

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Example~  How to Use Chatzy 

●  First Click on "Start Quick Chat".  Write down your name, and choose your color.

    After filling in your "Title/Subject", you can invite your friends or students.

 Start Quick Chat

●  You can either write e-mail or offer the link to your friends or students so that they can

    join the chat room.

Invite Your Friends

●  Now you can start to chat.

Start to Chat

●  Check on your visitors you invite.

Vistor List

●  Click on "Save/Print" to save or print out your discussion.

Save or Prin

●  Here is the video tutorial from YouTube.

●  Here is the transcript of our discussion in class.  "Second Life" in language

    learning was our topic in class.  And after the presentation of our classmates, and

    the oral discussion led by the presenters, guided by our tutor, our tutor asked

    some questions for us to think about.

    The transcript:

Classroom Discussion 1 (By using Chatzy-Free Private Chatroom)

Classroom Discussion 2 (By using Chatzy-Free Private Chatroom)

Jing- Another Useful Screencast Tool

Today's Website~ 

●  Jing

Capture Your Screen (Jing)

What is it about?

●  Jing is a free screencasting tool by which you can record videos of your computer screen

    to demonstrate and explain the tasks (orally) you are doing on the screen to the viewers.

●  You can record your screen up to 5 minutes (free version).  And once you sign up, you

    will have 2GB of storage for free.   

●  You can catch images on the screen and write down notes on the images.  You can also

    select the area of the screen you would like to show before you record the screen.

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Like all the screencasting tools (Screecast-o-Matic and Screenr), Jing is a simple, easy

    tool for teachers to give students feedback according to different tasks students do in

    class or outside the classroom. 

●  The visual and audio characteristics make the teacher's feedback, directions, and

    instructions clearer and easier for students to follow.

●  The feedback from teachers are authentic English.  Students can practice their listening

    skill.  

●  Learners can use this tool to present their work, too, e.g. practice their speech, describe

    a picture or comment on a video, or tell a short story (e.g. the photobook they create). 

●  The video can be shared via links or be embedded in your website or blog. The teacher

    can record the common problems or errors students might make and send them to

    students to reflect and improve their English, e.g. pronunciation, grammar, or writing

    skills.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?  

●  Teachers can use Jing to correct students' writing, pronunciation, or explain the common

    errors students make when learning English.  It can also be used to give students

    feedback and instructions as their visual notebooks.

●  Students can use this tool to do film-dubbing, picture describing, videos commenting, 

    story-telling.  And because the visual and audio are the main characteristics of this tools, 

    the teacher can have students work collaboratively using Mixbook, YUDU, Issuu, or

    Powerpoint to briefly introduce their works, and share them with their peers, friends

    their family. 

●  Before students present their works on the screen, the teacher has to give students

    some instructions, have them practice, and make sure that students are ready to record 

    and present their work.

Limitations~

  

●  Need sufficient computers and Internet.  Headphones are needed, too.

●  You need to install Jing on your computer.

●  You will need a "pro" version (14.95/year) to publish your vidoes to YouTube, or download

    the MP4 files in your own website or blog.

●  Even though you can save the videos in your Jing, it might be better for teachers to paste

    the links in the blog and provide a description of each link, or you can embed them in the

    blog. 

●  When students work collaboratively, it might be very noisy when all of the groups are 

    talking simultaneously.  A computer with only one headphone makes it difficult for several 

    students to talk in turn.

●  If there are too many students in a class, it might take the teacher lots of time to give 

    individual students feedback.

●  You can only record up to 5 minutes, so the teachers have to adapt the task to the time.  

    limit.  Perhaps they can have students divide the task into several parts (videos).

●  Learners can only save their videos in their computer with WTF format.  MP4 format is

    only available in "pro" version.

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 Example~

●  Here is the tutorial of how to use Jing from Teacher Training Videos. 

  Teacher Training Videos-How to Use Jing

●  Here are some other ideas of how to use Jing from Teacher Training Videos.

  Teacher Training Videos-Ways of Using Jing

●  Check out the webiste.
 

Capture Your Screen (Jing)

Screenr-A Free Tool to Create Your Screencast

Today's Website~ 

●  Screenr

Capture Your Screen (Screenr)

What is it about?

●  Screenr is a free, simple, easy-to-use tool for creating screencast videos.  You can record

    your screen up to 5 minutes.

●  You need a Twitter account to publish your screencast videos.  And once you Tweet your

    screencast, you get a URL link, and you can see it in Screenr.  You can also publish it to

    YouTube, download the MP4 file, or embed it in your own website or blog.

●  You can save your screencasts in the Screenr website once you have a Screenr account.

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  Like Screecast-o-Matic, Screenr is good for teachers to give individual students

    feedback.  5-minute video means teachers would make the feedback concise.

●  The visual and audio characteristics make the teacher's feedback clearer and easier

    for students to follow.

●  The feedback from teachers are authentic English.  Students can practice their listening

    skill.  

●  Learners can use this tool to present their work, too, e.g. practice their speech, describe

    a picture or comment on a video, or tell a short story ( storybook they create). 

●  The video can be embedded and shared.  Learners can keep their works or the teacher's

    feedback in their blog, or export it to their computers.  It could be students' e-portfolio.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?  

●  Teachers can use Screencast to correct students' writing, pronunciation, or explain

    the common errors students make when learning English.  It can also be used to give 

    students feedback and instructions as their visual notebooks.

●  Students can use this tool to do film-dubbing, video commenting, picture describing,

    or story-telling.  Since the visual and audio are the main characteristics of this tools, the

    teacher can have students work collaboratively using Mixbook, YUDU, Issuu (publishing 


    tool) or Powerpoint to briefly introduce their works, and share them with their peers, 

    friends and their family.

●  Before students present their works on the screen, the teacher has to give students

    some instructions, have them practice, and make sure that students are ready to record 

    and present their work.

Limitations~

  

●  Need sufficient computers and Internet.  Headphones are needed, too.

●  When students work collaboratively, it might be very noisy when all of the groups are 

    talking simultaneously.  A computer with only one headphone makes it difficult for several 

    students to talk in turn.

●  If there are too many students in a class, it might take the teacher lots of time to give 

    individual students feedback.

●  You can only record 5-minute screencast, so the teachers have to adapt the task to the 

    time limit.  Perhaps they can have students divide the task into several parts (videos).

●  Even though learners can save their screencasts in their own Screenr accounts, it is 

    difficult for other students to search for their works from Screenr website.  The teachers 

    might have to embed students' works in the class website or download them.    

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 Example~

●  Here is the tutorial of how to use Screenr.

    1.  Click on "Record" button.   

    2.  Put and resize the recording frame needed.

    3.  Click on the red button to record (everything you say and do on the screen).

    4.  When you finish, click "Done", add your message, and tweet it.

    5.  You will get a short URL, and click on the link,  you will see your screencast.

    6.  You can share it by embedding it in your blog, publish to YouTube., or just download

         the MP4 file. (You can see "SHARE THIS SCREENCAST

         your screencast video).

How to Use Screenr

    

Screencast-o-Matic-Capture Your Screen

Today's Website~ 

●  Screencast-o-Matic

Capture Your Screen (Screencast-o-Matice)

What is it about?

●  Screencast-o-Matic is a web-based screencast creation tool.  You can record your screen

    up to 15 minutes (for a free version).

●  You can choose to record your voice or record your image simultaneously when you

    record your screen activity.

●  After you finish recording, you can upload it to Screencast-o-Matic or YouTube.  You can

    choose to export it (MP4) to your computer. 

●  Before you upload or export it, you can add notes at a certain moment in the recorded

    screen.

Why is the content good for language learning?

●  This tool is good for teachers to give individual students feedback.

●  The visual and audio characteristics make the teacher's feedback clearer.

●  The feedback from teachers are authentic English.  Students can practice their listening

    at the same time.

●  Learners can use this tool to present their work, too, e.g. practice their presentation and,

    describe a picture or a video. 

●  The video can be embedded and shared.  Learners can keep their works or the teacher's

    feedback in their blog, or export it to their computers.

How might you use it in a language teaching context?  

●  Teachers can use Screencast to correct students' writing, pronunciation, or explain

    the common errors students make when learning English.  It can also be used to give 

    students feedback and instructions as their visual notebooks.

●  Students can use this tool to do film-dubbing, video commenting, picture describing,

    or story-telling.  Since the visual and audio are the main characteristics of this tools,

    the teacher can have students work collaboratively using Mixbook, YUDU, Issuu (online 

    publishin tools) or Powerpoint students to briefly introduce their works, and share them 

    with their peers, friends and their family.

●  Before students present their works on the screen, the teacher has to give students

    some instructions, have them practice, and make sure students are ready to record 

    and present their work.

Limitations~

  

●  Need sufficient computers and Internet.  Headphones are needed, too.

●  When students work collaboratively, it might be very noisy when all of the groups are 

    talking simultaneously.  A computer with only one headphone makes it difficult for several 

    students to talk in turn.

●  If there are too many students in a class, it might take the teacher lots of time to give 

    individual students feedback.

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 Example~

●  Here is the tutorial of how to use Screencast-o-Matic.

How to Use Screencast-o-Matic

●  After you finish recording, you can upload it to SOM (Screencast-o-Matic) or your 

    YouTube film folder, or you can export it to your computer.

Upload the ScreenCast or Export It to Your Computer

●  If you choose to upload it, you can also embed it in your blog.
  

Embed Your Screencast