My reflections on Barcelona conference

On 2-4 December 2013 I attended the conference organized by British Council Spain Learning and Teaching English in the Digital Age.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to British Council Latvia, Sandra Prince in person, for making it possible for me to attend the conference.


Barcelona is a magnificent city. During the short hours that we could spend outside the conference premises, I managed to enjoy the fantastic weather and some of the most impressive sights of Barcelona, like the grand Royal Plaza.

While listening to the plenary talks and participating in group discussions, I made a lot of notes that in my opinion are relevant to the topic. Below are some of the thoughts pronounced at the conference that reflect the key issue of the present situation, i.e. we teachers need to adhere to the needs of the learners in a new way, and do it fast.

Martin Peacock, director of Global Product Development, British Council UK:

• The future lies in tablets.
• Mobile effect - teachers can pick and mix the content and present it visually.
• Non-linear syllabi that complies with learners' needs.
• Learning networks - groups of learners brought together via digital paths - are getting more and more popular.
• Learning technologies allow learners to learn WHEN, WHAT, WHERE they want. Now they can also choose HOW and WHO WITH to study.

Stephen Heppell, professor, Chair of New Media Environments, Centre for Excellence in Media Practice, University of Bournemouth, UK:

• Teach less so that students learn more.
• Mixed ages learn well together.
• Children can DO because of the teachers.
• Schools should change the rules - Phones on your desk! Laptops open!
• Organize a lesson for 90 students with 3 teachers, this opens up lots of new possibilities for instruction and collaboration.
• Don't overuse overhead projectors at the lessons, the light level in the classroom in bad for eyes.
• In some schools students are required to take their shoes off. Effect? It is hard to bully with your shoes off!
• Bad school toilets have an immediate impact on learning!
• The next ten years will be the most exciting in teaching history.

Kirsten Panton, Microsoft Partners in Learning:

• The rise of new pedagogies.
• ICT is integrated into all subjects, there is no separate computer lab.

Michael Carrier, director of Cambridge English Language Assessment:

• Trends in education - tech supported learning, 1:1 learning, blended learning, flipped classrooms, learning management systems as learning hubs, on-demand content, cloud synchronisation.

Nicky Hockly, director of Pedagogy, The Consultants-E:

• Students need to be taught digital literacies that include texting literacy, tagging literacy, gaming literacy.
• Interactive whiteboards work only if used as a tool, not as a screen.
• Tablets are now on the brink of being implemented in education.
• Beware shiny gorgeous box syndrome! (Gadgets for the sake of gadgets)
• Wikipedia is reliable!       

 Steven Higgins, professor, Durham University, UK:

• Those are not the outward signs that make a difference. A new shiny piece of kit does not mean learning will be better.
• Multitasking does not help learning.
• What internet gives is not knowledge, it is information.
• Motivation mistake - students are better motivated by technology but they don't learn better.
• Tomorrow's learning - augmented reality, voice recognition, multi-touch classroom. 
• Challenge has to be accepted if you set a difficult task to students. If they don't accept the challenge, there won't be any learning.
• Pedagogy trumps technology.

Some feedback from group discussions where I was present.

• We need revolution in the classroom.
• Methodology should come before technology.
• Strategy alone is not enough anymore, you need content, process, redesign teacher training, involve families.
• Motivation to use IT does not mean motivation to learn.
• Teacher engagement is higher when they see tangible benefits.  

Conference results and recommendations will be presented to the European Commission and published by the British Council.

My conclusions:
Barcelona conference confirmed that teaching and learning has entered a new stage where there is no way back, only forward. This change is marked by extensive use of technologies in all spheres of education. The new generation of students cannot be taught in the old ways and it sets an immensely important and difficult task to the teachers, and we have to accept the challenge.

          

New tools for the new school year

You know, teachers celebrate a New Year twice every year, in January and September, the 2nd this year in Latvia. And it pertains to think a little about how you are going to spend it.

My simple and straightforward aim is to use more technology in the classroom because I am sure my students will be waiting for something new and exciting, as most of them are used to working online.

There are loads of web tools that I am going to use, both for preparing my own resources and materials and for involving my students in using more technology in their daily studies.
Here are a few web tools that I would like to employ in my work.

I and my students are definitely going to use Google Drive, documents in particular, for essay sharing and feedback, and I will use voice comments as a very convenient way of giving my opinion. We are also going to try collaborating on a piece of written text or presentations in the Drive.

I would like to teach my students better collaboration skills and for that purpose I will try using Mural.ly which is a great tool for creating attractive non-linear presentations that can be made individually or collaboratively, in pairs or groups.

There is another great web tool which has aroused my interest - Living Junction. It is a tool for creating media rich online magazines which can easily be turned into presentations. We'll see what we can do with it!

For fun and for younger students I am going to use PosterMyWall which will be a perfect tool for creating different kinds of posters.

As a teacher, I will try out StudyShuffle which is a tool for creating interactive flashcards. I intend to use it for making studying vocabulary more exciting and productive, hopefully.

Finally (and I mean finally for this moment only), I have discovered a superb website Language is a Virus where there is a section of text manipulation games, a fantastic web page with lots and lots of writing games, such as Visual poetry, Text collage, Sentence builder, Word medley, Text weaver etc. Some of the games may be too hard for non-native speakers but they are worth a try!

ExamTime and what you can do with it

Examtime is a website which is primarily meant for students to increase their learning experience and help them revise for the exams. But as I have made sure, it can successfully be used by the teachers.

Examtime has four features which you can choose from - creating mind maps, flashcards, quizzes or study goals. The site also provides a range of study tips for students.

I have already posted a mind map that I created on Examtime a while ago. It is my favourite feature of those offered by Examtime and it produces really attractive mind maps.

Today I made a set of flashcards on the topic Publications.

Each flashcard has 2 sides, the front side for the word, the back side for the definition. Students can flip and shuffle the cards, and study the words at their own pace. In my opinion, it's an activity that has to be prepared exclusively by the teacher.


Creating a multiple choice quiz was a little inconvenient because first you have to prepare the questions with answers and only then, in the next step assemble the quiz. In the end the quiz turned out well, and it looked good. After completing the quiz, students can see where they made a mistake and see the correct answer with an explanation which has to be added in the preparation process.

An option Creating a goal means that students can write their study goals as a reminder of the approaching tests or exams that helps them plan their time and stay organized.

The registration and use of the website is free and its creators have given good thought to the ways of helping students in the study process, but I have a feeling this site should have been aimed at teachers. I don't know any student who would spend hours making a set of flashcards (which means looking up each definition in the dictionary) or creating multiple choice quizzes for themselves.

I find it discouraging that there is no option of sharing an activity by URL, only by email invitations. On the other hand, I admit it gives the website owners more control of the visitors and their online behaviour.
But I can imagine a situation when a student who created a mind map would like to show it to the teacher, and the only option will be inviting the teacher to the site instead of sharing the web address which just seems more time-saving to me.

Computers - friends or foes?

Recently I attended an award ceremony for the best teacher blogs 2012 organized in Latvia.
Yes, my blog was chosen as one of the best (so far, I'd like to add, because I am sure a new wave of talented and insightful bloggers will appear in no time).
While the recognition of my work was gratifying and inspiring, the discussions which followed the event made me think about the fragile reputation of technologies and computers, in particular.

It seems there are still lots of teachers who would gladly ban computers from students' lives blaming the machines solely for the kids' deteriorating physical bodies.

I get irrationally defensive when I hear vehement assertions that computers are to be blamed for the generation of weak, unfit children and their inability to perform well in sport or other physical activities. It reminds me of another popular culprit - PowerPoint, which is held responsible for all unsuccessful, unprofessional, boring presentations.

While I admit that computers can have a negative effect on two things - handwriting and eyesight, I can not get rid of the feeling that we would like to make computers account for physical laziness, inert lifestyle, too much eating, too few walks, parental neglect, lack of interests.

We forget to acknowledge that the use of computers develops young people's brain, their ability to cope with unexpected situations, their decision making skills, their reaction rate, their dexterity after all.

I don't even dare to hope that the time will come when schools here will approve of the flipped classroom method in teaching. That would be one straw too many...

I'd really like to hear your opinion. You can write in Latvian as well.

Some classroom tools from Learning Suite by Microsoft

Last week I attended a professional development course organized by Microsoft Latvia where a handful of teachers were prepared for serving as mentors of Microsoft technologies in education.

The picture which I took on a crisp sunny August day shows the 10th floor terrace of our hotel with a view of the Baltic Sea.







I am sharing with you some ideas about one of the Microsoft products - Learning Suite.
It is a package of innovative applications for education and one of its best features is that it is free to download. The only condition for using most of the tools included in the set is the requirement of Windows7 on your computer. Some of the applications also work on older Windows versions. You will also need MS Office 2010.


First go to Partners for Learning  http://www.pil-network.com/ website and register. Click on Resources and select Free tools. Then download Learning Suite by Microsoft.

The new interface lets you see all tools in one place. Tick the application you want to install on your computer. You need not install all apps, pick those which you would like to use. If you wish, you can install other tools later.



Here are some of the applications I tried and found useful.

AutoCollage is an easy and quick way to make collages. Upload as many pictures as you wish and let the tool do its job.




Here's a collage I made.
Can you guess the question I was going to ask my students?

Right! - What London landmarks can you see in this collage?












Another fun tool is Songsmith.
Songsmith generates musical accompaniment to the voice. Students write lyrics, choose a musical style, sing into the microphone and the tool puts everything together in a song.
It's a perfect tool for music lessons but students can sing grammar rules or new vocabulary as well. Working in pairs or groups adds to amusement and helps to overcome shyness.

Photosynth is an application for photography fans. The idea is to take a large number (20 to 300) of images of one object, upload them to Photosynth and the tool will create a 3D picture with zooming and rotation features. You may suffer a couple of failures until you succeed in making your first 3D picture though.
Students can use this application to create innovative visual projects. Visit Photosynth homepage for more ideas and inspiration.




Flashcards can be made by both teachers and students for studying vocabulary online. One deck can have up to 300 cards. A card can have text, image, and sound to make the learning process more optimal. All flashcards are stored on the Flashcards homepage and can be accessed at any time. To play flashcards, you will need Silverlight plug-in which can be downloaded for free.

Mouse Mischief is a fun tool for younger students. As it is a PowerPoint add-in, after the installation you will see it when you open your PowerPoint. The teacher can then click on the Multiple Mouse tab in the toolbar and start making a quiz, a test or a poll. A student is given a mouse and votes or answers a question by clicking on the right option. The teacher can control the pace and procedure of the activity.


Partners in Learning website offers resources and tutorials for each application, and of course there are a lot more tools to be discovered and mastered to engage and motivate students.
   

My #scoopit digest - the most popular tools in May/June

I looked through my scoopit website to find out which tools and software have produced the largest number of reactions during the months of May and June. The number of responses may indicate how serviceable and practical the technology is. It may also suggest which tools are in greater demand or more called for.


Free online mind mapping software - MAPMYself (Mapul) - 57 reactions
Multimedia tools for educators - 54 reactions
6 Top Tools For Creating Presentations In 3D - 54 reactions
Present.me officially launched today - 52 reactions
TweetShow - 52 reactions
Create interactive infographics - Infogr.am - 50 reactions
PDF Presenter - 42 reactions
Ezvid - Record Screencast And Create Slideshows - 41 reactions
How to create an animated presentation with #PowToon - 37 reactions
Viewbix - empower your video - 36 reactions
Open Sankoré | The Free Interactive Whiteboard Software - 36 reactions
Add Speaking Animated Characters To PowerPoint Slides With SitePal - 36 reactions
How to create a great prezi (iPad) - 36 reactions
Grabilla – ScreenShot and ScreenCast tool - 34 reactions
Conceptboard for education - 31 reactions


There are some fantastic tools that have failed to attract due interest from the site visitors therefore I'd like to point out some of them.

SnapCrab for Windows - Screen capture software (free) - easy screen capture with one click of the mouse.

CanvasDropr - How to create and back up multimedia presentations virtually? - a web based visual collaboration service that is available for free. It helps you to create presentations and place them on the digital canvas in real-time.

LittlePPT - Free Powerpoint Reader and Presentation Editor - a free powerpoint processing program similar to Microsoft PowerPoint, compatible with all formats.

EFL In The Information Age

Guest post by Sofia Rasmussen.

  

Sofia is a graduate student in journalism who writes for blogs and newspapers around the world in her free time. Her primary interests are science and education. When she's not reading or writing, Sofia enjoys traveling, hiking, and cycling.

Classrooms around the world are becoming much more accepting of different types of technologies as the educational potential of different systems improves daily. As educators in English as a Foreign Language, or EFL, classes are discovering how technology can be used to disseminate information more quickly, expedite the process of gaining fluency, and even improve a student’s desire to study independently.

Industry organizations for EFL and related disciplines are working hard to spread the word about technology use and increase access to those tools. The global education association TESOL, or Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, reports that there will be at least five EFL, TESOL or ESL conferences during 2012 that focus mainly on the use of technology in EFL classrooms. Accreditation programs around the world, including traditional master's and online doctoral programs in ESL/EFL, are re-molding their curricula in order to ensure that new teachers are teaching students how to harness the power of chat programs like Skype and online vocabulary flashcard sites.

Workshops & Seminars

Some organizations use communicative technologies, such as the Internet, to increase access to workshops, seminars and other educational opportunities regarding EFL. For instance, TEFL Tech, a Britain-based company, develops workshops for EFL educators that inform teachers about new technology advances in EFL and ESL teaching. TEFL Tech also offers consultancy services to educators who are interested in purchasing computers, software or other technical equipment for EFL classes.

E-books

Teachers of English as a foreign language also benefit from the use of ebooks in the classroom. An article published by Language Magazine reports that EFL students introduced to a wide selection of ebook material are more likely to engage in independent reading, reinforcing the lessons learned in the classroom. Rich text applications that feature illustrations and additional content about authors can also encourage independent reading among EFL students with access to ebooks. eBook content currently available on the market runs the gamut from classic literature to basic instructional communication. The variety of content and the ease of downloading new materials make ebooks a valuable addition to the EFL curriculum.

Devices

Hardware devices are becoming smaller, encouraging hand-held use as well as the ability to keep technology with the student instead of tying the student to a computer station. The use of handheld tablets and technological devices among students is becoming more acceptable in educational settings. An April 2012 story published by The Greenville News talks about the use of smart tablets and related devices by elementary school students near Greenville, S.C., for English language instruction and other subjects.

The use of educational technologies like tablets and other smart devices can be enhanced through learning management systems, also known as LMS. An LMS can be used to store lesson plans and group activities online for access by students while away from the classroom. EFL classrooms utilizing an LMS can store English educational videos and other types of English language learning content for students.

Blogging

Writing in the English language helps to cement the lessons learned in class by English as a foreign language students. Many blogging services offer free blogs that EFL students can publish their work to. This also allows for teacher feedback as EFL educators can read these blogs and offer constructive criticism on the student’s use of the English language.

 

My reflections on using Papershow in class

When I first wrote about Papershow digital toolkit, I promised to give my feedback about the tool.
Now I have tried it out in the classroom with my students and here are some of my thoughts.

Basically, the tool consists of a digital notepad and a bluetooth pen. What is written in the notepad is seen on the screen. The teacher can choose whether to show the pad at the beginning of the activity or reveal the outcome at the end.

I tried all the activities mentioned on the Papershow website, such as mindmapping, checking and correcting student handwriting, doing dictations, checking spelling, taking notes (in groups and individually).

How else did I use Papershow with my students?

• Students made a list of difficult key words from the text they had studied.
• Students in groups studied idioms and wrote the most interesting ones in the notepad.
• Students put down their ideas of healthy / unhealthy food items.
• Students listed the causes of global warming.
• Students brainstormed ideas for an essay.

After each activity students' notes were discussed, they could see what other groups had done, read what other students had written. This is one of the main advantage of the Papershow tool. It produces immediate visual response, and I think this is what attracts students, especially younger, to this gadget.

The use of the tool may involve each student in the classroom and make them active participants in the learning process. For younger students it really makes a difference if they use a plain pen and write in their workbooks or use a "magic" pen to write in a special notepad.

Now my few cautious critical remarks.

The initial excitement and interest quickly wore off once the students had understood how the tool worked (or not worked). Unfortunately the pen did not work in the distance of the promised 10 metres, it did not even work 5 metres from the computer. Students had to move closer to the front or I sometimes gave the pad to those sitting at the front desks. They even made up a joke that the bluetooth ray of the digital pen was too short for their classroom (no more than 4 x 6 m).
The older students realised (and told it to me) that the pen was fun but it was actually a waste of time. I had to agree with them.

Perhaps I and my students have been too serious (we had our bit of fun though) or my expectations have been too high, but I am going to pass the toolkit on to a colleague.
 

My favourite web tools now

We all have our favourite web tools and technologies that we prefer to use in our work. This is the word cloud of my favourites at this moment. It is highly possible that in a few months my preferences will be different.

I use Weebly and Posterous for class blogs.
Vocaroo is indispensable for audio homework.
Penzu is great for student online writing (journals, essays, reflections)
I can't imagine my work without PowerPoint.
Linoit is fantastic for short student reponses.
Wordle and Tagxedo are the tools for making word clouds (like this one which I made with Wordle).
WordDynamo is my newest favourite site for making interactive vocabulary quizzes.
Bubbl and SpicyNodes create great mind maps.
Kubbu is a wonderful tool for making interactive online exercises.
Glogster helps to create attractive online posters.
Flisti is just one of the numerous poll creating sites.
YouTube has always been the site where I find most videos that I need.
IrfanView is a simple (and therefore easy to use) picture editing tool.
Moodle is the platform I use with my older students.

A present for my new school year - Papershow

My school administration surprised me by giving me a present to be used in the classroom in the new school year. The present is a digital writing set consisting of a special interactive notebook and a Bluetooth digital pen - PAPERSHOW.

image from geek-speak.co.uk

Its version Papershow for Teachers developed for and by teachers can be viewed here. 

The idea of the tool is to enable the teacher write (anything) while walking around the classroom. The teacher's notes are displayed on the screen / whiteboard instantly. (You need a computer connected to a video projector, of course.)

image from thecoolgadgets.com

I have tried it and I like it for the simple reason that it is another way of making the lessons more interactive and technology-supported. The tool can definitely be used also by the students which will increase their interest and participation in the study process.
After I try the tool out in the classroom, I promise an update about how it works and what its benefits are.
   

The super book of web tools

This is a must-read book for every teacher who uses technologies or would like to start. Written by a team of highly-qualified and experienced tech profs, the e-book is a rich source of information and new knowledge.

Published on Free Technology For Teachers website by Richard Byrne, the e-book gained immense popularity overnight and I can confirm that it deserves it.


The Super Book of Web Tools for Educators

Quiz maker for online testing

Here is another great application Class Marker which lets you create quizzes online and use them with your students. It is free if you use the basic version.

You can create online tests with combined multiple choice, true false, free text, short answer, fill in the blank, punctuation and essay questions types.

It is possible to register your class or a group and invite the students to do the test online.


I have made a few sample tests and here you can have a look at one of them. (Don't take it seriously though.)

Test maker

A practical and easy-to-use test generator for creating online multiple-choice tests.
http://testmoz.com/. I first learned about it from the website Free Technology for Teachers.

There are several good things about this application. First, you do not need to go through the lengthy process of registration. However, the teachers will have to create two passwords - one for the students and another for themselves to see the test scores. If you decide to make the quiz available to anyone on the net, you don't have to create a password.

Great from the teacher's perspective (but not so handy from the student's) is the one-attempt limit per test. Students can't redo the test (using the same name) to get higher scores.

What takes most time for the teacher is to create the quiz but once you do it, you can use it as many times as you wish, provided you have not lost or forgotten the web address of the test. Each test has a unique address. The teacher can make it accessible to everyone or just send the link to a selected group of students.

Look at the short sample quiz which I made to test the tool. Use any name to enter the quiz http://testmoz.com/975.

Typography

What once was a simple selection of letter forms to be organized into words and sentences and then printed, now is the art and technique of arranging type, type design, and modifying type glyphs.
Typography has evolved as both a science and art for one main purpose: to make words easier to understand and more meaningful to read.

Typography is also what you get when you use word cloud generators mentioned in my post Web tools for making word clouds.

Example of typography (click to enlarge):

An awesome example of creative typography

Further reading on typography:
http://free-web-design.co.cc/the-art-of-modern-typography-design.html
http://sixrevisions.com/design-showcase-inspiration/30-creative-typography-art/

Infographics

Browsing the net lately, I have come across the term infographic on many occasions. What is it?
Infographics is the mixture of text and images to tell stories, explain concepts, describe processes, or provide instructions.

This is how Dave Gray defines it:
1. It's a visual explanation that helps you more easily understand, find or do something.
2. It's visual, and when necessary, integrates words and pictures in a fluid, dynamic way.
3. It stands alone and is completely self-explanatory.
4. It reveals information that was formerly hidden or submerged.
5. It makes possible faster, more consistent understanding.
6. It's universally understandable.

Look at some examples (click and zoom to enlarge):
                                                                    

Further reading about infographics:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/start/2010/07/tips-for-a-startup-infographic.php
http://spyrestudios.com/an-inspirational-showcase-thatll-change-how-you-display-data/
http://sixrevisions.com/graphics-design/40-useful-and-creative-infographics/

Moderating my first online course

[P o s t p o n e d !]
Next month I am starting a new course, approved by the British Council and the Ministry for teachers who want to learn new ways of using the internet with kids at school. This is a great course, challenging, demanding but also satisfying the needs of a caring, professional teacher who wants to be knowledgeable in Web 2.0 tools.

I am looking forward to this course not only because I will have to test my skills as a moderator but also as a blogger who has been blogging in solitude for about a year, writing for myself, as I like to remark. I would love to have comrades who would care to visit my blog and I would be immensely interested in visiting their blogs in return.

I don't feel like twittering or chatting but somehow blogging has an inexplicable appeal to me. A blog is like an open door to a person's thoughts and views. I would like to have a chance to be a guest to another world-of-mind now and then...