CALL_IS_VSL

Russell Stannard's video tutorial digs into all the details of this digital imagery and video tool.

This has great videos on how to teach a wide variety of subjects, as well as how to manage students' behavior in class, set up collaborations, assessment, and esp. for US teachers, the common core standards. Very useful for teacher training, though not specifically oriented toward ESL/EFL.

A cute little test that will make you even more convinced that knowing vocabulary words isn't knowing language. Take the quiz!

This is a good blog to follow as a teacher explores various technologies she find useful. This particular entry is on using Google Docs. Clear instructions.

Good articles on video conferencing and pedagogy of online teaching.

"Teachers - Register and create SchoolNotes pages for posting homework, creating flashcards, and sharing information. Post assignments, announcements, and links to important resources Notify parents and students each time you update your classroom page Create an online calendar of class events and activities Use our free storage to upload documents and add images to your page(s) Access practical tips and other resources from EducationWorld.com Use our handy tools to create flashcards and other learning materials" Looks really useful, and it's free.

" iBooks Author is still making the news in the educational sphere. This is probably the first mobile app to be embraced wholly in education in such a short time since its release. After posting a simple and guided tutorial on how teachers can use the different services of iBooks Author , today I am sharing with you some hands-on examples of what students can actually do with it." Nice examples of how to use iBooks Author

"The purpose of this assessment is to determine the number of high-frequency words that students know. LaBerge and Samuels (2006) call this automatic recognition of high frequency words part of automaticity. They state that when these words are instantly recognized, the short term memory is not overloaded and is freed to focus on comprehension of what is going on in the story. Therefore, this assessment can be used throughout the year to record students' growth in automatic word recognition."

The movie editor Loopster combines a number of the things that iMovie or Movie Maker do, but all online, and it's free.

Here are all of Randall's sites for American English listening and pronunciation on one easy to use web site.

ESL Galaxy offers over 2368 free printable worksheets for ESL lesson plans and ESL Activities; and there are more additions every day. The worksheets include: Board Games, Crosswords, Grammar worksheets, Vocabulary Worksheets, and more

"In compiling this list, I tried to really focus on highlighting sites that would be easy-to-use and engaging to both a younger Beginning English Language Learner and to someone who was new to computers. They all have audio support for text and, with only one exception, they also have visual support. Only a couple require registration (though the top-ranked site lets you do so if you want to keep track of what exercises you've done (and registration takes seconds). Of course, they all are free-of-charge."

These teaching ideas are very useful

Example of a quiz-maker that lets you use photos or video (with audio) for prompts.

"Chirbit is a free online tool for audio sharing. Chirbit enables users to record, upload, listen to and share sound bites easily. Chirbit is simple, useful and fun. You can now use iPhone Voice Memos to post to chirbit."

"Penpal Amis is the free penpal language exchange that is designed to help students find pen pals and pen friends who are native speakers of the languages that they are studying. "

I have put together a Wiki for my students to use. I have stressed that it is not part of their regular course but is there for them to visit and assist them in learning English. It goes for 16 weeks (the length of their course) and every week it has sections on Reading/Writing, Grammar, Litsening and Speaking. I also included sectioins on TOEFL, Environmental video and Pronunciation. There are exercises (links) for the students and all in all, it is a fun site to visit. If you want to join the Wiki and make material postings... make yourself at home. Please keep in mind that I AM in Oman and most of my students are young Omani university girls 18-20 years old. They are not the most liberal minded people and not prone to Adult entertainment. They are great students who are willing and eager to learn and a true pleasure to teach. Check it out and tell me what you think. Positive and Negative comments are welcome. So, send your students, send your enemies and even your enemy's students. Feel free to post bills on the local Metro, buses and outside your favorite adult beverage establishment. Gary Harwell www.teachergary.com

A free version of Photoshop--loads of options and things it can do! "The volunteer developers of The GIMP have been working hard to develop a polished, user-friendly, and freely distributed image editor. Although the separated palette windows may disturb those users who are used to more traditional layouts, your comfort level should grow exponentially as you discover how pain-free the program is."

"This guide includes step-by-step instructions for the basic editing programs that come with Windows and Apple computers. We have also included an introduction to editing video on a Linux machine." Links to video-based tutorials on the free video editing software available for each of the major platforms. Very useful for students.