My Brainshark

MyBrainshark is quite the 'grown-up' website among all the other tools I have explored. It is a site that allows one to embed their voice into the power point slides one has prepared. It is suitable for those who wish to present their slides from afar or send their slides (voice included) to their tutors for assessment.

What is amazing about it :

1. Useful tool to embed voice in presentation slides.

2. The quality of voice embedded is good.

Limitations :

1. Not that easy to use.

2. Requires time to explore the whole tool.

3. The slides are not saved directly sometimes. May result in doing the whole recording session again which can be annoying.

4. It cannot play the voice once it has been recorded right away. One would have to wait till the whole recording session ends then one can listen to it. It would be annoying if one made a mistake and wishes to correct it and had to do it all over again which is definitely time consuming ( especially if one has to say a lot of things on a certain slide.)

How it can be used in the language classroom (suggestion):

Although I made a point that it is a rather grown-up tool to use among learners, but with the right instructions and guidance from teachers and cooperation from students, brainshark would serve as a great tool for all.

It is a great tool for school projects for instance.

1. Teachers could group the students up and assign topics for them to do a research on.

2. Each student would do their part and they would gather their findings and make a power point slide out of it. They will be expected to embed their voice too in it thus brainshark will be used.

3. The project would require them to use the target language and they would all have to record themselves speaking the target language.

4. Once the students have completed their slides, they would send the slides to the tutor.

5. The tutor/teacher will then listen to all the slides, and making notes on the language usage of the learners. The teacher would bring in the common errors made by students to the class and carry out a lesson based on  the analysis he or she has made.

6. This approach resembles a task based learning approach for it requires students to carry out a task first then have a focus on the language used.

Have fun trying it out with students! Click on the link to give it a go :

 http://www.brainshark.com/

clicknlearn

'clicknlearn' is such an interactive website designed to make language learning fun and can be learnt at a fast pace. The exercises available are organized according to different levels of difficulty, catering the different needs of the pupils. clicknlearn is suitable for all ages and levels. All one has to do is click and have fun at the questions provided.

What is amazing about it :
1. Easy to browse through- the flow of the pages after doing the exercises on the website is smooth and it makes the learning faster and accessible.
2. There are four languages available for learning on this website; English, Spanish, French and Valencian.
3. It has a range of levels; from basic to advanced level ( it is designed to cater the different levels of students).
4. Range in various topics as well; the topics are categorized according to students' interest and level for example, for an advanced student, topics like global warming or racial discrimination might interest him/her.
5. Attractive illustrations.
6. Gives clear use of grammar rules in its' exercises. The exercises also shows how the grammar is used according to context. There are also good examples of sentences displayed.
7. The exercises uses a lot of repetition technique, thus may be good for memorization of phrases and expressions.
8. Interactive- gives an impression of a fun and game- like website that would attract younger students especially in exploring and using the website.

Limitations :
1. Some of the activities may rely too much on memorizing that it limits the use of common sense and logic that may be needed in terms of guessing the right answer for the question.
2. Some of the activities provided uses long texts that may put off students' interest to start on an activity.

How it can be used in the language classroom (suggestion) :
1. The exercises provided on this website actually comprises sufficient amount of drills for students to at least remember a few phrases in a different language. Therefore, teachers could use this website as a supplement to a lesson taught in class. Teachers could ask students to spend half an hour on the site after a previous lesson that focuses on a certain topic like prepositions.

Have fun trying and click on the link to give it a go: http://clicknlearn.net/
Thank You.

Vocaroo

Vocaroo is an online voice recording tool. It is such an effective tool to get the students to speak on something, record it and send it to their teacher. It is easy to use and with just a click on the link, we are directly linked to the webpage.

What is amazing about it:

1. Free

2. Easily accessible.

3. Easy to use.

4. The recordings are very clear.

Limitations:

1. If one does not have internet connection, then this tool cannot be used as it is an online recording device therefore it very much relies on the internet connection.

2. The recording tool has a time limit which is five minutes. It would be a disadvantage for students who would like to speak more.

How it can be used in the language classroom (suggestion) :

This tool would be great to use for developing students' confidence in speaking a second language. Since they could do it in the comfort of their own home, their affective filter would be lowered down thus presenting a less pressure environment for them to speak. 

Teachers could actually develop a lesson plan revolving the use of podcasts. The podcasts would function as an aiding tool and not the main tool in this lesson plan. This lesson plan could also be carried out without the use of it but it would be more fun and interactive if recording tools can be used. 

One of the ways podcasts can be used in a lesson is by asking students to imagine themselves as someone they would like to be in the future for example a journalists, a doctor, an explorer or even a traveller. Then, they are required to come out with a brief text describing themselves ( who they are, what do they do, and their future plans are as that role). They would be required to practice what they want to say to the person sitting next to them. They could exchange ideas and brainstorm on what else would they want to say for 5 minutes or less. Then, after they have talked to their partners and drafted out their brief text, they are required to record their answers on Vocaroo and send it to their teacher. It is quick, simple and manageable. 

If this lesson plan were to occur without a podcasts, it could go on by instead of students recording their 

answers and sending it to their teacher, they would just directly go talk to the teacher and tell their answers personally ( whether it is in the classroom or outside of the classroom) and teachers would take note of their answers and this could be done as one of the formative assessments teachers could do.

Click it to give it a go: http://vocaroo.com/

Have fun recording your voice!

Wordsift

Word Sift is a quick and an easy tool that sifts the frequently used words in the article. Thus, making it a very useful tool to get the gist of the article quickly.

What is amazing about it :

1. The layout used in word sift is clear and the colours used are not too distracting thus making it great  for learning.

2. It is not limited to only the English language but other languages as well can be used.

3. It has a thesaurus application where the common words highlighted in the text, if we click on them, they would show a chain of words linking the possible words that may mean the same.

4. We can also learn words from context for the tool would highlight from which sentence the word was taken out from. By clicking on the word, one would get to see how it functions in the particular sentence.

Limitations :

1. The words collected in the word cloud could not be categorized into word class. It would have been really good if it could do that. Would really help in a language learning process in identifying word classes.

2. Numbers or dashes from an article are also taken into the word cloud after being sifted. It does not remove them which actually might only be a distraction.

3. This tool could not also remove the use of foreign language from the word cloud. It might be troublesome if one would only want to focus on words in one specific language only.

How it is used in the language classroom (suggestion) : 

1. This tool could really be great for a pre-reading activity for the teachers could ask the students to get the gist of the article through the word cloud. This would also resemble a top down reading strategy for it is from a general view to a specific one.

2.Teachers could actually make use of the tool to get the students create sentences on their own using the words highlighted in the word cloud. Then, they could compare their sentences with the sentences used in the article and thus they could learn the usage of it in context.

3. Teachers could also ask students to summarize the article through the words used. 

another suggestion by my lecturer, is that teachers could also carry out a story guessing activity. Students will be asked to write out their own story and then copy the work they have done and paste it on word sift. After  the words have been sifted, students could print it out with their original story and bring it to class. Students could swap their word sift with their classmates and the teacher could choose one original piece from the students and read it out. Then, all of them would have to guess which story would the word sift belongs to.

Click it to give a go : http://www.wordsift.com/

Have fun 'sifting'!

Intervue

Intervue is a website that enables you to do video recordings of oneself.

What is amazing about it: 

1.You can do recordings of yourselves whenever you want to. 

2. There is no time limit given for the length of the video. 

3. You can send the video right away to the intended recipient. 

4. Motivating. 

5. Fun tool to use individually and with friends and teachers. 

6. Multiple functions and not only for classroom purposes. 

7. Appeals to visual aid learners. 

8. Flexible for different types of topics as long as it get the students to speak. 

Limitations : 

1. Too intimidating for beginners to speak and record themselves right away. 

2. Internet connection is crucial for this task therefore it is truly limited to areas which do not have good connections. 

3. If it is done in the classroom, it may be too noisy for one to record themselves. They may be too distracted with others and perhaps being cautious of their own language use and limit themselves from speaking. 

4. If it is done in the classroom, students may not take it seriously as they would have at home for the atmosphere generated by this tool is a fun atmosphere so they may take it lightly and have too much fun at it while the task is neglected. 

5. However, on the other hand, with a fun atmosphere it may actually motivate students to do the task immediately and not postpone their work any longer. Thus, enabling them to finish their homework in time and learn not to procrastinate. 

6. In areas which have limited access of internet, it is awfully good to ask students to do it straightaway for they may not have the facilities at home.

How it could be used in a language learning classroom (suggestion): 

This is a great way to promote speaking in a second language for second language learners for they may do it in the comfort of their own home. Then after a recording has been made, the recordings can be sent to the teacher's mail for private assessment. The fact that it is only viewed by the teacher may console students who are conscious of their own performance and thus motivates them to speak for they feel they do have an audience but the audience is not too intimidating.

 Teachers will find the time to assess students' speaking performance based on the video, and they too can do so in the comfort of their own home. Teachers may gain a lot of information on their students' progress based on their recording, although there may be a tendency for students to have corrected themselves repeatedly to get it right and may even read a script for the recording.

Though there is a danger to that, still the effort made by students to actually produce a non grammatical script might as well benefit them in the long run in terms of self correcting and self learning skill.

Click on the link to give it a go : http://intervue.me/
Have fun trying!

Storybird

Today's entries is about Storybird.

Storybird is a tool for which you could create your own stories through it. It has all the animation you need and all you have to do is think of a story, select the type of illustration you want, and add in the words and finally publish it. A very simple way of making the stories in your head comes to life through books.

What is amazing about it:

1. There are many types of illustrations provided, ranging from different artists. 

2. Very motivating- the idea of being able to create your own story is incredible.
3. Ownership- one would be able to produce something according to their own interest and ideas.
4. Challenges and explores one's creativity.
5. Saves time if one is thinking of creating a story for professional reasons, they could create their stories quick and have them published.
6. Great for long term working skills. It would help them to get used to the pressure of having a dateline and improve on their other skills that may be needed in the future. 

Limitations :
1. Initially, it needs one to explore a bit before they could really use it. It is not that quick and easy to understand how it works in the beginning.
2. If one does it collaboratively with another person, it would be need really good planning of the storyboard and when to do it as if not, if two people are working on it in separate places, they would not see what the other person did and they may have their ideas all jumbled up.


How it can be used in language classrooms (suggestion) :

Teachers could introduce this site to their students as a tool for them to get creative and have a go at making stories of their own. It could be very useful for group or a paired project.

Students can be paired up and or in a group and start a story together. They may discuss the storyboard together in class. This website would be a great motivation for them to brainstorm their ideas. Once they have drafted their story, each would be given their part to do and they can do it at home. Later, they could collaborate their stories and produce a story of their own and perhaps present it to their friends.

Teachers could make this as a fun group project in which one could take students' work to be used in a competition for which the students could benefit.

Or teachers could use this site to encourage the art of storytelling among students and narrating them while focusing on their grammar use, past tense. Teachers could assess students' use of past tense in their stories.

Have fun trying, thank you!

Click on the link to give it a go:  http://storybird.com/

Lyrics Training

Lyricstraining is a website where not only can you listen to songs of different languages but also type in the lyrics while you sing it.
It is a useful tool for a fun and interactive language learning.

Check out the clip showing a preview on how lyricstraining. com at work. 

What is amazing about it:  

1. A lot of songs available ranging from different genres (pop, hip hop, R&B, ballad etc) which would attract and cater to different music interest of learners. 

2. It is user friendly. The website is easy to use where in a matter of seconds, learner would know how to use it on their own without a lot of instructions given. Plus, the songs can be easily searched for. The selections vary.

3. Selection of songs is not only of English language but other languages are available as well ( French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portugese and German). This encourages learners to get to know and explore other languages through this website. 

4. Appeal to all level of learners,beginner, intermediate and advanced. Very motivating. 

5. It would help in learners' spelling, vocabulary and listening skill for they have to listen and know the words to be able to type in the lyrics so that they can finish the song. Learners could also practice their typing skills for speed typing is essentially good to do the activity. 

6. Fun type of homework. 'Go home and sing to Adelle's someone like you' on lyricstraining.com and let me know how long did it take you to complete the song'. Imagine your teacher giving a homework such at this, it would be a really fun thing to work on. 

7. Great for extra curriculum projects especially for choir practices. They can practice singing and memorize the words through here.  

Limitations : 

1. Not all languages are available, asian languages mainly. It would create a demotivating scenario especially when learners from Malaysia or Indonesia trying to find a Malay song which they could not. 

2. Not all songs are available either in the available languages. Only mainstream songs are uploaded. 'Underground' songs which some learners do listen to may not be there. 

3. Short forms of language for example 'ain't, gonna' may influence learners' use of language in their written work which is not preferable in a formal, academic piece of writing. 

How it can be used in language classrooms (suggestion) :
Teachers could pick out a song that may be unfamiliar to the students and ask them to complete it by listening carefully to the song or they could guess the words that are used. An unfamiliar song is used so that it would be fair for all students to have a guess at the words used in the song.
Later, when everyone has completed the song, the teacher could ask the students to listen to the song again and note down any words they did not understand or get the meanings confused. Then perhaps, the teacher could work on the words the students find difficulty in and have some language practice with them. 

Click on the link to give it a go : http://www.lyricstraining.com/

Have fun trying teachers, thank you!