April 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
Teacher Training Videos by Russell Stannard is a great resources for screencasts showing how to use lots of Web 2.0 applications with English Language Learners and others.
His website was having some access problems, but it’s back-up again!
I just added it to The Best Sources For Ideas On How To Use Technology With English Language Learners.
His site is also on The Best places to learn Web 2.0 basics list.
April 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
The New York Times has a new slideshow Remembering The Victims of the Binghamton shooting at an immigrant services organization.
The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) has started The American Civic Association Fund to help victims of yesterday’s tragic shooting at a New York immigrant services center.
In addition to donating through the website, you can send a check to:
American Civic Association Fund
C/O USCRI
2231 Crystal Drive, Suite 350
Arlington, VA 22202-3711
April 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
8 Comments
This is going to a relatively short “The Best…” list sharing places where ESL/EFL/ELL teachers who are both new and experienced with using educational technology can find resources, ideas, and support.
Here are my picks for The Best Sources For Ideas On How To Use Technology With English Language Learners (not in order of preference):
A video from Nik Peachey called Web 2.0 For EFL/ESL Teachers. In addition, Nik has three excellent blogs focusing on using technology with ELL’s. He’s just put together a second video and e-book with a similar name — Web 2.0 Tools For EFL ESL Teachers.
A good slideshow presentation titled Using Web Logs In The EFL Class. It’s from an English teacher in Greece, Christina Markoulaki,
Language Learning And Web 2.0, a video by Graham Stanley.
The “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled and some articles that I’ve written. The most useful technology-related articles, I think, are:
Samuel L. Jackson, My ESL Students, And Me
Pointing And Clicking For ESL: Using Video Games To Promote English Language Development
Computers And Community Organizing In The ESL Classroom
Thiago Eduardo has a Slideshare presentation on Web 2.0 tools in the EFL classroom.
EFL teachers Gladys Baya and Claudia Bellusci have an excellent Slideshare presentation on Blogs and Wikis.
Learning With Computers is an exceptional group of ESL/EFL teachers from around the world that was begun by Gladys Baya. It’s part of Webheads In Action, which has helped start several similar collaborations. Learning With Computers has a very helpful Wiki and an equally helpful, and active, listserv.
Another great Webheads group and listserv is called evonline.
Members of both Learning With Computers and evonline are from around the world and are extremely open to helping teachers with their questions and challenges.
Two more listservs worth joining are The Computer-Assisted Language Learning listserv from TESL and the National Institute For Literacy’s Technology Discussion List.
TVO Wikispaces has a large list and description of web tools and how to use them with English Language Learners.
Teacher Training Videos by Russell Stannard is a great resources for screencasts showing how to use lots of Web 2.0 applications with English Language Learners.
Last, but certainly not least, on my list is EFL Classroom 2.0. The resources there are too numerous to mention, and the willingness of members to be helpful cannot be over-stated. Few people have helped more ESL/EFL teachers learn about using technology than David Deubelbeiss, founder of EFL Classroom 2.0. David also suggests Mark Pegrum’s eLearning Wiki. He writes, “It is the most complete resource available in my opinion, a kind of directory to everything out there…. Kudo’s to Mark for all his great information and teaching!”
ELT and Technology is the title of a wiki created by David Deubelbeiss of EFL Classroom 2.0. It’s chock-full of useful information.
“The Appropriate Use of Technology in the EFL Classroom” is a nice presentation by Ronaldo Lima, Jr.
36 Tools to Digitise Coursebook Activities is a slideshow presentation by Nik Peachey.
You might also be interested in my Intermediate English class blog, where you’ll find lots of tech-oriented student assignments.
John Paul Loucky also recommends Call 4 All, an extensive collection of technology resources for teaching English Language Learners.
As always, feedback is welcome.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.
April 7, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before, but students both asking and answering questions at the various online Wiki-like sites like Yahoo Answers, WikiAnswers, and Wikianswers (yes, the last two are indeed different sites) are definitely examples of writing for an “authentic audience.”
I’ve added them to The Best Places Where Students Can Write For An “Authentic Audience”.
I had considered including students writing in Simple English Wikipedia, but decided that it was just too complicated for English Language Learners (and even me!). These question/answer sites, though, are pretty simple.
April 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
There have been some problems with the RSS “feed” from this blog — it hasn’t been updating or has been updating sporadically over the past couple of days.
If you don’t see new posts in your RSS Reader during the day, you might want to check this blog out directly until the feed problems are resolved.
April 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Popego looks like a real interesting way to get website recommendations. It looks like Stumbleupon on steroids.
It’s a little complicated to explain, but you watch this very short video.
I’ve added it to The Best Places To Get Blog, Website, , Book, Movie, & Music Recommendations.
Thanks to Keisa Williams for the tip.
April 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
4 Comments
We know earthquakes here in California, and the terrible tragedy in Italy today is a reminder to my students and me what could happen here.
I’m sure I’ll be adding to it, but here’s a quick, and short, listing of The Best Sites To Learn About The Earthquake In Italy (and are accessible to English Language Learners):
CBBC Newsround has some very accessible text and images about the event.
Deadly Earthquake Rocks Italy is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.
The Associated Press has an online video report from the scene.
Deadly Earthquake Strikes Italy is a slideshow from The New York Times.
Earthquake In Italy is a slideshow from MSNBC, which also has an online video.
Reuters also has a video report titled Earthquake Hits Italy.
Here’s a useful interactive from CBS News on Understanding Earthquakes.
The Times Of London also has a slideshow on the Italy Earthquake.
Deadly Quake Hits Italy is a video from The Wall Street Journal.
Earthquake In Italy is a series of photos from The Sacramento Bee.
Here’s an excellent interactive explaining earthquakes.
Here’s an interactive map of the quake area from the British newspaper The Guardian.
Deadly Earthquake Shakes Italy is a video from The New York Times.
Italy Braces For Quake Recovery Efforts is a video from The Wall Street Journal.
The Wall Street Journal also has two more resources — an interactive map showing past Italian earthquakes and a video on the Search For Survivors.
Quake Rocks Italy is an interactive from The Associated Press.
An Italian Earthquake slideshow from The Financial Times.
The Search For Survivors is a series of photos from the Sacramento Bee.
Italy Earthquake: The Aftermath is an audio slideshow from The Guardian.
Recovery Efforts Continue is a slideshow from The New York Times.
The Boston Globe’s Big Picture has a series of images from the earthquake site.
Surveying The Cultural Cost is a slideshow from The New York Times.
Mass Funeral In Italy is a slideshow from The New York Times.
You might also be interested in The Best Websites For Learning About Natural Disasters.
As always, feedback is welcome. Feel free to offer additional suggestions for this list.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous “The Best…” lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.
Italy, The Aftermath is an audio slideshow from The Guardian.
April 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
April is recognized as Financial Literacy Month by many states, though resolutions by Congress to name April either National Financial LIteracy Month or National Financial Literacy For Youth Month apparently never prompted then President Bush to issue an official proclamation.
Given the attention being played to financial literacy, I just wanted to suggest that people want to check-out The Best Sites For Learning Economics & Practical Money Skills.
April 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
Fifty years ago this week, NASA introduced the first American astronauts. To recognize the event, NASA has created an unusual interactive feature.
The 50th Anniversary Of The Mercury 7 Press Announcement has two elements.
One just shows video of the press conference, and it also includes closed-captioning. That obviously helps English Language Learners, but not nearly as much as the other element.
It also has what it calls an Interactive Press Conference. It, too, has closed captioning, but instead of just listening to people speak, users can click on a menu of the questions asked and just listen to those responses instead of having to listen to the whole thing.
This second feature makes it much more accessible to ELL’s — both for just listening and for other exercises — like having to answer a series of questions developed by an instructor or other students.
Both features are accessed by the main link.
I’m adding it to the Planets and Space section of my website.
April 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
3 Comments
I’ve posted in the past both about Animoto and their newer site, Animoto Education Program.
Both let you easily create videos with music. At first, Animoto didn’t have the ability to include text in the video, which limited its use as a language-development activity for English Language Learners. They added that capability late last year, but, when they did that, I forgot to add them to the The Best Ways For Students To Create Online Videos (Using Someone Else’s Content).
So this post is just to let people know that Animoto has now been added to that list.
April 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Sometimes I’m just amazed at both the creativity some people have to develop these web applications, plus the technical knowledge to actually make it happen. I felt that way after I saw Moment Tracker.
Moment Tracker lists key events in modern history. You pick one, and you’re shown a map that indicates the key event and what happened. On the same map, you see other pins indicating where other people where at that moment. Click on the pins, and you can read where they were and what they were feeling at that moment. You, too, can write about your own experience.
It’s such a simple idea, but a great one. I’m adding it to The Best Places Where Students Can Write For An “Authentic Audience” and it’s a great place for students to learn history, too.
April 6, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
If you’re not on Twitter, but still are interested in learning about the one-to-three additional resources I’m sharing there daily (that I don’t share here on this blog), you can just periodically visit my Twitter page to scan the links.
Another option is to subscribe to an RSS feed of those “tweets”. Just subscribe here. They show-up a little weird-looking in an RSS Reader, but they are still understandable.
April 5, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
Even though I haven’t gotten a chance to try it yet, PodOmatic looks like an extraordinarily easy way to create a podcast. Sign-up and your class has your own channel — all you need is a computer microphone.
I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English.
I’m also adding it to The Best Places Where Students Can Create Online Learning/Teaching Objects For An “Authentic Audience”.
You might also want to check-out the Podcasting Resources section of my website.
I’ve never had my students actually try podcasting, though it’s in the cards for summer school. If you have more experience with it, and have a different opinion about PodOmatic, please let me know.
April 5, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
I can certainly understand people’s reluctance to join Twitter, and I still have a lot of ambivalence about joining a couple of days ago.
There are two sites, though, that I began periodically visiting a few weeks ago that easily generated some Twitter benefits without joining — OneRiot and MicroPlaza.
Both of these sites are search engines and have some elements in common with other tools on Not “The Best,” But “A List” Of Search Engines For Social Media.
The key difference, however, between these two and others are that once you type in your query, the results just show links to websites that have been recommended on Twitter — not all the back-and-forth conversations that are happening around the topic. MicroPlaza also actually shows screenshots.
I think they are both worth a visit now and then whether you are on Twitter or not. I’ve also added them both to The Best… list I mentioned.
April 5, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Rent Bits is a very accessible site where you can find information about available rentals all across the United States. You can search by city or by zip code. It seems to have one of the most complete, if not the most complete list of any other web tool out there.
This is another application that my students can use when they do their annual analysis of local neighborhoods, as well as a source of information when they study economics and have to develop a realistic idea of how it will cost them to live.
I’ve placed the link on my website under Student Neighborhood Maps.
April 5, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Picturing The Recession is yet another exceptional interactive from The New York Times. It’s composed of photos contributed by readers, including captions, divided by topic or location.
I’m adding it to The Best Sites To Learn About The Recession.
April 5, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
It’s sure been an interesting first 36 hours at Twitter. I appreciate all the welcomes, and the helpful advice.
Based on some suggestions from Twitterers and my Twitter gurus — Sue Waters and Alice Mercer — I’m going to try-out a few things.
One, though it still doesn’t make sense to me to “tweet” about every one of my blog posts, I will start letting Twitterers know when I’ve posted a “The Best…” list.
Two, I’m going to put what I guess is called a “hashtag” in each of my resource-sharing “tweets.” These will mirror the categories I have in my blog, and will each be prefaced with “esl”. For example, “#eslbest,” “eslscience,” “eslsocialstudies.” If you then feel like sharing any resources back to me, feel free to use, or not use, a similar tag.
April 5, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Archives and Museum Infomatics is having its annual People’s Choice vote for The Best Of The Web 2009.
Check out the amazing museum online exhibits — many which I’ve already posted about and some which I have not.
April 5, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
0 comments
Mindopia is the newest addition to The Best Websites For Students Exploring Jobs and Careers.
After clicking on a career you might be interested in, you’re led to a page of simple interviews with people working in that profession, along with other resources (including salary projections).
I particularly like that the videos are divided into separate sections answering specific questions, which makes it a lot easier for English Language Learners to follow. In addition to that, you can see the transcript of the interview right below the video. Ordinarily, I don’t think video transcripts are that helpful to ELL’s who also need the visual clues being shown — it’s hard to look at both (which is why closed captioning is so much better). However, these interviews are just “talking heads,” so students really don’t need to watch the videos and, instead, can just listen to the audio as they follow along on the transcript.
The site is just beginning, so it doesn’t have a huge list of careers, but they promise to be adding more.
April 4, 2009
by Larry Ferlazzo
1 Comment
Edublogs has been running a bit slow over the past day. Sorry if you’ve had problems accessing this site on occassion.
I’m sure they’ll have the bugs ironed out soon.
Even with a technical glitch now and then (and what site doesn’t have them?), I still say it’s the best blogging platform out there.
