A Picture's Worth

Introduction

1. I found this wonderful site in Nik's Learning Technology Blog. 
2. It is an amazing site which collects together images with short essays (300 - 1000 words); and both pictures and essays are sent in by site visitors.
3. There's a gallery section where you can browse all the images and essays which have been sent in.
4. The feature section has some of the most popular images. There is also a link to Google Maps which will show you the origins of the pictures.
5. However, if you want to submit a picture and an essay, you have to send it to the editor / site owner who decides if it is good enough to be published in the site.

Why do I like it?

• This is an excellent source of authentic materials for students to use in class.
• The images are quite attractive and enjoyable; while the essays are not that long and written in very plain English, which is personal, emotive and easy to understand. 
• The overall quality of the site content is fantastic.
• Besides, page views and comments are available on this site.

How to use it in the class?

• In my opinion, there are many ways that this site is used by both teachers and students in class. 
• For example, the teacher can print out some pictures and essays associated with before class. Then, the teacher can use this materials to carry on a reading comprehension task with students. He or she can divide students into groups, and give each group one picture and essay. Next, the teacher may ask each group to read the small essay and picture, around 15 minutes later, each group will select one presenter to summarize their group's essay to the rest. After all groups finishing their presentations, the teacher may also let students to vote the most impressive picture.
• Another suggestion of using this site is that teacher can play a 'Match Game' with students in class. Again, the teacher needs to print out some pictures and the descriptions which are associated with them. Then, the teacher can either read the description himself / herself, or let students do the task in groups. The main purpose of this task is to motivate students and help them to practice reading comprehension, and meanwhile enlarge their vocabulary input by appreciating the essays written by the native speakers.
• Certainly, the teacher can also encourage students to produce their own pictures and essays after class, and help them to publish their own 'Picture's Worth' on the site.

Some Limitations

1. Users have to send their images and essays to the site owner or editor to have a check. That means, users can not immediately publish their work on the site.
2. Embed code is needed for 'moving' or sharing the picture and its description in another site or blog, so that more people can have chance to enjoy your pictures and the stories behind them.

VYou - Conversational Video

About VYou

I found this amazing website from Jo Gakonga's Blog. Just as shown in the picture above, VYou is a conversational video website which provides people with opportunities to talk with real people through videos. Below is an example I selected from the VYou.com. 

Why is it Good?

• I was firstly attracted by this website's creative way of communicating among people - by recording videos. That is, you type your questions or words you want to speak with the people in strip which is located at the bottom of the video, then, the people in the video will reply you through video recordings as soon as possible.
• Besides, through using this tool, non-native speakers get the opportunities to chat with real English native speakers or Internationals who speak English. 
• Furthermore, this website offers a platform for people to make friends around the world, and meanwhile helps them practise English thorough communicating.
• At last but not least, by singing up for a account without charging, anyone can create their own conversational videos, which I think is a good way to practice English and communicative skills. Certainly, it can be also an effective way of being popular in the 'virtual world (Internet)' if your video is interesting and attractive. =)

Suggestion for its Usage 

• In my opinion, as this tool may be a little bit time-consuming, and the video maker may not reply the new questions immediately, I would suggest teachers to make a short demonstration of this website for students in class, and leave the time for students to experience it after class or at home.
• After a certain period, like a week or two weeks later, the teacher can spare a class for students to share their experience or any feedback about using the tool - VYou.com, which I think will help students apply it more effectively.
• If having interests, the teacher can also create his/her own account, and upload the conversational video with his or her own style, aiming at setting up an alternative stage to help students solve any studying or living problems after class. 

Limitation

• Again, internet access is the basic require to use such amazing tool.
• Another shortcoming could be that the video maker may not reply the latest questions in time, as this tool may not support live or spontaneous conversations.
• Sometimes the video maker may not understand or reply the questions as expected. For example, you ask an open-ending question, the video maker may only answer in very few sentences. 
• Although there are plenty channels and topics, not every video is attractive or students may be interested.
• Finally, I think such tool may not be suitable for those whose English proficiency is low, as the some people speaks very fast in their videos. 

VideoJug - Get Good @ Life

"Welcome to Videojug! With over 60,000 free, professionally-produced 'how to' videos and guides, we provide expert solutions & step-by-step advice on getting good at life."

Videojug.com (2006-2011) http://www.videojug.com/ [Accessed on 13/03/2011]

The video below is selected from the website Videojug.com, and it presents the festivals and events in the capital city of Canada. Yes, you may got the clue, it is Ottawa!

Good Points and Usage

• This video contains plenty festivals and activities which are special and meaningful in Ottawa, Canada, which are very attractive and interesting.
• With beautiful images and showing real people's activities in Ottawa, Canada, watchers can be easily motivated and attracted, especially for those who have the different cultural backgrounds. 
• It is a very short video which I think can be used as warm-up or listening comprehension activity in the class. For example, if the lesson's theme is about 'Festival', then in my opinion, this video can be played at the beginning of the class, as a motivator, stimulation or listening practice, teacher can ask the students to listen for gist or main idea, like how many festivals and activities are mentioned in the video, and what are they? Having finished talking about the video, teacher can motivate students by asking them to think about the festivals in their own country or hometown. 

Limitations

• Internet access is the basic requirement.
• To watch this video or use it as a in-class activity, either watchers or students need a higher level proficiency in English, as the introducer speaks in a speedy pace.
• Perhaps, not everyone is interested in the festivals and activities in Ottawa, Canada.

Flash Quizzes for English Study

About Flash Quizzes

Flash Quizzes is part of the Self-Study Quizzes website, aiming at providing learners with various quizzes to help them improve their comprehension and skills (eg. vocabulary, grammar, and even culture aspect and so on) of English.

The sample quiz selected is about verb forms practice. In the following, I would like to discuss about it through the aspects of its advantages, disadvantages and usage.

Advantages

• As shown above, the sample quiz is about verb forms, which contains 8 questions in total.
• It is very easy to follow. Just click 'Start' and you can begin the quiz. (Sample picture is presented below.)

• Apart from the convenient control, the immediate feedback is also among the features of this flash quiz. (Below is the demonstration if you got a wrong answer.)

• As the quiz only includes 8 questions, it will not take too much time if the teacher applies it in class for students.

Usage

• As mentioned previously, since this quiz does not take too much time, in my opinion, it can be used as a exercise for review in class.
• Teacher can use it to check whether students grasp what have been taught, by doing this small quiz with students together, or leave this quiz to students to do it individually or in pairs.
• If the computers are limited, or there is no computer in the classroom, I suggest the teacher print out these 8 questions in one paper, then use it as a in-class test. Perhaps it might be an alternative to check what the students have learnt.

Disadvantages

1. As mentioned previously, if the classroom does not have any computer or the computers are not enough for students, then such quiz may not be employed in class.
2. There might be not adequate questions for students to practice, as in my opinion, only 8 questions can not cover all aspects of verb forms.
3. While feedback is provided for each question, it still needs further explanation for those wrong answers.

Self-Study Quizzes for ESL Students - Vocabulary Quiz

Introduction

As shown on the title, 'Self-Study Quizzes' is a free-access online quiz website, which is particularly designed for students and learners who study English as a second language. There are various types of quizzes on this webpage, such as grammar quizzes, vocabulary quizzes and even bilingual quizzes. Furthermore, all these quizzes can be applied by both teachers and students or learners themselves. In the following parts, I will choose an easy vocabulary quiz as a example to explain how to use it in class or for learners themselves.

Vocabulary Quiz Sample - Months of the Year

• This quiz selected is an easy vocabulary quiz referring to the 12 months of a year. As shown on the image above, this quiz contains 12 questions and after each question, users will get an immediate feedback to show whether their answer is right or wrong. In my opinion, the immediate feedback is considerable and helpful for learners to figure out the mistakes they made.
• The questions are designed in a very creative way with newstyle which can easily catch users' attention and arouse their interests.
• Besides, quizzes are designed with different kinds and levels of difficulty, so learners can choose the type and difficulty level of the quizzes according to their own needs.

How to adapt it to class?

1. As the selected quiz only contains 12 questions and it will not take too much time, teacher can use it as a warm-up or wrap up exercise in the class.
2. As a warm-up task, it may help teacher motivate students with its creative way of asking questions.
3. If taking it as a wrap up exercise, this quiz can help teacher to check how much have the students learnt from the lesson.
4. In addition, the website 'Self-Study Quizzes' can be introduced to students or learners as a practice tool for their self-study.
5. Certainly, teachers can also use it as a source of in-class exercises or tasks.

Some limitations

• Again, the basis of using this quizzes website is Internet access, so for those schools or classes without computers, such wonderful tool may not be applied.
• While there are many kinds of quizzes on this website, and the sample vocabulary quiz selected here is attractive, there are still many other quizzes which are not suitable for in-class practice.
• Not all quizzes are designed with feedbacks, so users or learners have to choose the quizzes carefully.

Wordle - Beautiful Word Clouds

About Wordle

• Wordle is a free online tool for generating “word clouds” from text that users provide. 
• The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. 
• Users can tweak their clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. 
• The images created with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.
• Below are sample images I created with Wordle:

Wordle.net http://www.wordle.net/ [Accessed on 03/03/2011]

Features

• The most attractive feature of Wordle, in my opinion, is that it can highlight the most frequent words in a text, especially a very long one, which I think can help readers grasp the gist of texts.
• Prominence words can be laid out in various colours and layouts, which very attractive and easy to catch people's attention.
• Users can edit the layout, colour and language according to their own interests with Wordle, which indicates the tool's convenience and consideration for users.
• Users can type either texts or the links of texts' source to create their own Wordle texts.

Usage

• In my opinion, this tool is better to be used for learners in their reading practice, as the highlight words will provide them with the key words in the texts.
• Besides, by using Wordle, learners can grasp or guess the main idea of a text through the frequent words, in turn, they can predicate the theme or gist of the text they are reading, which help them develop the ability of predicating and guessing.
• This tool can be applied as a stimuli by teachers, to catch students' attention before their reading, because the colorful layout can easily attract students' eyes.

Limitations

• Internet access is required.
• Too short texts are not suitable.
• There is a problem to save the word cloud creating by Wordle into the computer.