WebToolsProjectWork

=Digital Tools for Secondary Language skills and Project Work=  // Macmillan Digital Training, Barcelona // **// Wednesday May 4th 2011 // **

//@http://www.macmillanelt.es/fileadmin/files/online_files/teacher_training/programmes/TD2011/Cataluna/DT_Barcelona.pdf//

 There are many different digital tools that can be used to motivate students to speak, read, listen, or write. There are others that lend themselves particularly well to project work. But which of them should we use? And how can we get the most out of them? In this session, we'll look at a variety of digital resources that can be easily used by any teacher to enhance the learning and practice of language either in a computer room or using a class set of laptops. I'll be giving you ideas how to exploit these tools and also showing you practical examples that teachers have done with their learners.

 The objectives of this session are:

** To develop a more critical awareness and understanding of:- ** PDF of handout with links to tools, etc.
 * a range of digital tools that can be used for language skills and project work
 * how these tools can best be used with secondary learners
 * how to create ideal learning conditions when using these tools
 * things to try and things to avoid when using these digital tools

Please also feel free to contact me if you have any questions, and I would love to take a look at any projects that you end up doing using these tools. Hope you have fun! //** Graham Stanley **// //__ graham.stanley@gmail.com __//  // May 2011 //



__**Part 1 Digital Tools for Secondary Language Skills Work**__

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Let's start by having a look at some digital tools that can be used to practise various language skills.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">__**Speaking**__



<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Vocaroo http://vocaroo.com is the easiest way to record audio. You and your students can use it to send each other voice messages which can be private or public. media type="custom" key="9290164"

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">__**Listening**__



<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Voxopop http://voxopop.com is a voice discussion board, which is a great way of starting a conversation / discussion about a particular topic. You can also use it for listening practice with your learners.



<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">Another fun tool for listening is Twist Our Words http://twist.channel4.com that can also be used to focus on sentence order and vocabulary. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">__**Reading**__



<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">My Pop Studio www.mypopstudio.com has a number of different topics that appeal to secondary students. We'll be looking at features of the site that can make for interesting reading activities with special emphasis on vocabulary.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">__**Writing**__





<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Pic Lits www.piclits.com is a fun way to promote creative writing. We'll look at how you can use this tool to inspire students to write interesting stories that will look good when they are printed out and placed on the classroom wall.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.5cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">Tagxedo @http://www.tagxedo.com is another cool tool that is particullarly good at presenting word clouds using original designs. It can also be used to inspire writing. **Suggested use:** <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Use the tool to present mixed-up versions of very short stories (e.g. <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: 100% 50%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding-right: 10px;">urban myths ) such as the one below for the students to unravel

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">**Class idea:** 1) Create four //tagxedos// of urban myths 2) Hand out the images to the students in class and ask them to predict the urban myths in pairs 3) Read the first one out and ask them to use the words to guess which picture it is 4) Continue reading the other stories and ask them to guess 5) Finally, ask them to pick one of the stories and to recreate it using the words in the //tagxedo//.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 0.5cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; widows: 2;">__**MacMillan Voices**__   __http://www.macmillan.voices.e-school.es__

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.5cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; orphans: 2; text-decoration: none; widows: 2;">To finish off part one, we will take a look at the Macmillan Voices e-school – you will see how your students can work with this tool in class and outside.

<span style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; orphans: 2; padding: 0px; widows: 2;">Part 2:Digital Tools for Secondary Project Work