Using Google Versal to create an interactive (and flipped) lesson - An introduction to the UK

I have just tried Versal to prepare an interactive lesson about the UK.

With Versal you can create interactive online learning experiences (from full courses to short lessons or homework assignments) to share with your students. It could be great for a flipped lesson. You can add text, links, images and videos; you can create slide shows, quizzes, diagrams, maps and timelines. This is my example.

What can we do to save our planet?

To talk about the Environment to my students, this time I have created a simple Emaze online presentation. 

Emaze is a very interesting web tool, you can select a pre-designed template (or make your own slides from scratch) and easily create your presentation (slideshow, video and even a 3D presentation) by adding text, images, charts and videos. 

You can also save the presentation to view it offline.

This work is just a starting point to talk about many topics related to the environment. Students will learn:

• the meaning of the word environment
• to consider that we belong to a global community which shares resources
• to become more responsible and care about the planet Earth
• to think critically about the impact of people on their planet
• to take some real actions for the environment
• to understand the importance of reducing, reusing, recycling

Click on the image below and watch the presentation:

Let's save our planet!

Creative writing tools - having fun with words and images

Here are some interesting writing tools to make writing activities 

more attractive.

You can play with words to create your text and 

you can link your words to images.

Then you can share your material.

Watch my simple examples.

PicLit

You choose an image from the Piclit gallery and you add some text. You can "drag and drop" choosing from different suggested nouns, adjectives and verbs or you can write "freestyle".

My example:
http://www.piclits.com/viewpoem.aspx?PoemId=237190

Capzles

With Capzles you work most of all with images. You can choose an image as your background and then you can add your own pics or videos to create a sort of presentation. By clicking on each picture it is possible to add a brief description. I think it could be very useful to describe a trip or a school activity.

My example:
http://www.capzles.com/3d3a9ba0-7533-45ca-bb0b-f6a97e03ac8c


Mapskip

This is a very original tool. The world is a canvas for your own stories and photos. You start from a map, you click on the place you like, you add your mark and write your story about that place. You can tell your adventures adding your pictures.

My example:
http://www.mapskip.com/stories.php?story=6681

Storybird

With Storybird you choose some images and write a story drawing inspiration from those pictures. Very useful to write a story and improve creativity and imagination.

My example:
http://storybird.com/books/the-teacher-and-the-little-girl/?token=gtq94fygeu


Magneticpoetry

You can write your own poems choosing among different suggested words. Very funny!

My example:
http://play.magneticpoetry.com/poem/Original/kit/15415/?h=8444d213e9cd688d306fa98d2aa7ca79

For teachers - The power of images in EFL classes

How to become more creative using 

new technology

IMAGES

In EFL classes it is always useful associating words, ideas and concepts with images.
Through their visual memory students can better understand and remember information. Thanks to images you can explain complex information in a simple way. Images help learners manage their ideas and make connections between pieces of information. Moreover, images enhance students' creativity as well as their language skills.
In some previous posts I have already talked about the importance of images in EFL classes and I have tried some digital tools that can be very useful to create graphics or mindmaps.
Now I'd like to take stock of the situation and suggest again some interesting tools.

I tried some free tools and I prepared some short and simple examples. This way it's possible to see directly the final result and it's easier for you to see what is possible to do with each tool.

GRAPHICS,  INFOGRAPHICS AND POSTERS

are visual representations of  concepts, thoughts and ideas. They help students better remember information, improve their reading comprehension, enhance their learning skills and critical thinking.
The following tools allow to cretae interactive infographics.

1)Piktochart 

My example:
https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1198513-journey-of-love

2) Thinglink 

My example:

https://www.thinglink.com/scene/484085101685112833


MINDMAPPING
helps students focusing their attention, enables teachers to organize ideas and concepts, allows to present information in visually attracting and comprehensive way, promotes inquiry and problem solving, enhance learners' note taking. Moreover its organizational structure help students understand effectively. Also the following tools allow to make your maps interactive!

1) Popplet 

My example:
http://popplet.com/app/#/1559358

2) Spiderscribe 

My example:
http://www.spiderscribe.net/app/?ac420a5aeab2f33f7cb411eeebec5938

3) Text2mindmap 

My example:
https://www.text2mindmap.com/k7XZDE?controller=frontpage&method=index&map=k7XZDE

4) Mindomo 

My example:
http://www.mindomo.com/mindmap/0c71d1cf14034f07aaff536e11b2d5ab


COMICS
Comics can really motivate students. With the links below you can create your own comics!

1) Storyboardthat 

My example:
http://sbt.blob.core.windows.net/storyboards/robertamartino/school-rules.png

2) Make Beliefs Comics

My example:
http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=49325928C1233233

VIDEOS
Audiovisual material can be very helpful for both teaching and learning. Also videos, as images, can effectively communicate complex information to the learners. You can use videos with your students in three fases (pre-viewing, viewing and post-viewing) or you can also create your own videos with your students. It can be a really rewarding experience and can enhance students' creativity.
The following tool allows you to choose a video from the web (or use your own) and embed anything you like in it (questions, lesson information, links to websites). 

Educanon 

My example:
http://www.educanon.com/public/10011/23475


CARTOONS
You can make your own animated cartoon with:

Goanimate 

My example:
http://goanimate.com/videos/0rcV1JZ_xBL8?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=usercontent


PRESENTATIONS
Presentations can make the students better understand a topic through its essential points. Besides using PowerPoint, you can create more fun and engaging presentations.

1) Powtoon 

My example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMOHzvLk3rY&rel=0


2) Haiku Dech 

My example:
http://www.haikudeck.com/p/PJjQjXTrL1/haiku-deck#

I hope I have been of any help. Enjoy being creative!

P.S.: This post has been shortlisted for the British Council Teaching English blog award! Thank you!

For teachers - some storyboard generators to create comics

Using storyboards can help us to easily transmit any idea, even the most complex, to our students. Storyboards or comics could make it easier to explain events or processes and could help students remember details and put them on a timeline. 

I have to say that I really had fun! StoryboardThat is a really enjoyable tool to create your own comics!

http://www.storyboardthat.com/ 

This is my short example: 

Click on the link below to enlarge the image:

http://sbt.blob.core.windows.net/storyboards/robertamartino/school-rules.png

I've also tried Make Beliefs Comics.  

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/ 

Click on the following link to open my strip.

http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/Comix/?comix_id=49325928C1233233

Lastly I tried Zimmer Twins to create animated strips. It's fantastic!

http://www.zimmertwins.com/splash

Here you can see my example:

http://www.zimmertwins.com/node/1447552

I think it would be very useful to make our students create their own storyboards, too.

For example, instead of writing only words they could insert drawings to create their reports or summaries.

Moreover, by allowing students to use digital tools we can teach them  technological skills that will be very important for their future.

For teachers - GoAnimate to create animated videos

This time I tried a fantastic tool to create animations.   

GoAnimate is very fun! 

You can choose your characters, backgrounds, animations, music and voices! As regards the voices, you can record your own voice, upload a file or use the "text-to-speech" (you type in the words). Of course if you use the last option the result will sound more "robotic".

http://goanimate.com/ 

 

In my example I could'nt use my microphone, so I typed in my dialogues.

Anyway, the brief video I created gives the idea of the things you can do with this great tool! Click on the link below. Have fun!

http://goanimate.com/videos/0rcV1JZ_xBL8?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=usercontent

For teachers - Fakebook

Today I tried a very interesting tool. 

With Fakebook you can invent a profile of any historical or fictional character. Your result will be a Facebook-like page!You can add images, links, "friends", comments and "likes"! It's very interesting and students can have a lot of fun. They can create their own pages or comment yours.

I think it could be very useful to study history or literature. 

I created the following brief example with my students. Some time ago we watched "The king's speech" about king George VI (http://thetravellingteachers.blogspot.it/2014/01/holocaust-memorial-day-january-27th.html), so the Fakebook page is about the period between king George V death and the outbreack of world war II.

There are some quotes, original pictures and links to original videos, as well.

Have fun!

Fakebook:

http://www.classtools.net/FB/1049-4XFSKp

For teachers - Educanon to create interactive videos

 

I love using videos in my classes and with the following tool I can even create my own interactive videos! 

With Educanon you can choose a video from the web (YouTube, Vimeo, or TeacherTube videos) and embed anything you like. You can  transform what is traditionally passive content into an active experience for students.

http://www.educanon.com/

You can:

(1) Build. You can add questions, lesson information, paste a video or a url directly INTO any video.

(2) Assign. You can create your class(es) and assign lessons.

(3) Monitor. You can watch student progress in real-time, question-by-question.

The following simple example I made for you is in preview mode (I didn't create my own class). In the actual student lesson, students cannot fast-forward or skip parts. Moreover, when they are asked to answer some questions, they can write in a blank space that you cannot see in the preview mode.

Watch my example: 

An invitation to visit Britain:

http://www.educanon.com/public/10011/23475

I think Educanon it's perfect to create your own video lessons in flipped and blended learning environments.Try it!

Cineforum: movies taken from British or American novels for children

 

I've always used movies to improve students' listening comprehension, but I've always preferred movies taken from novels. So I have the chance to talk about literature, as well. 

This is a poster about my cineforum I created with Piktochart. You can save you poster as an image, as the following, or you can make it interactive, as you can see clicking on the next link.

Below you can find the above poster, but now it's interactive...

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1237601-create-your-own

Below you can have some more information. This time I used Blendspace.

There are links to the movies' trailers, to some information about the novels they are taken from, to sites about movies or books for EFL students. 

          http://blnds.co/1gXfZtP

 "I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians".
Francis Ford Coppola

 

For teachers - Infographics and interactive posters

Posters can easily draw student's attention but they should not be just wall decoration. They should be used to study in deep some topics or to visually organize concepts.
Posters should easily be seen, so you need colours and images. Now you can create you own poster in a few minutes or you can even make it interactive!

This time I tried Piktochart. 
http://piktochart.com/ 

It is very useful to create interactive posters. I already tried Thinglink and Glogster. 

(An example with Thinglink at http://thetravellingteachers.blogspot.it/2014/02/welcome-activities-this-is-our-school.html

An example with Glogster at http://thetravellingteachers.blogspot.it/2014/01/for-teachers-some-digital-tools.html)

You can save your work as an image (.png or .jpeg) or copy the url if you want to use it as an interactive poster. In this case you have to add links, videos, etc. to your project!

The following is an example of a project saved as an image. I've created it to advertise the study tour I am organizing for my students:

This one, instead, is an interactive poster showing our English class activities, with videos and links:

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/1198513-journey-of-love

Have fun with your posters! 

For teachers - a different kind of lesson

Don't know how to make your lesson more interesting?

If you want to take a more "digital" and interactive lesson you can use Blendspace or Thinglink.

I've tried both. They're really easy to use.


Blendspace
blendspace.com 

With Blendspace you can create  lessons with digital contents very quickly. You have a grid and you choose an interactive link for each box. You can also upload material from your pc.

this is my example:
http://blnds.co/1cII4wL

Thinglink
thinglink.com

With this tool you choose an image and then add many links (videos, music, images, etc.) to it to make it interactive.

My example:
http://www.thinglink.com/scene/481523444043743233

Bye for now!

I'll keep on surfing the Net 
through digital tools...