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This is mentioned in the Loucky article we are reading this week and is worth checking out; don't get distracted by the late 90s layout of the site.

This is the blog of a EFL teacher in Japan who has a technology focus. He introduces some pretty good CALL tools and also provides some lesson/activity ideas and resources that you can use yourself. He's got some really interesting ways of using video and shows off some neat things with a WiiMote.

This is super cute! Definitely a K-12 resource.  So, with Class Dojo, the teacher projects a class of little monsters on the screen. Each one corresponds to a student. The teacher can give praise (a +1) on screen for being on task, participating, or other positive things. On the flip side, the teacher can also give corrective feedback that displays a -1 by the student's monster. This program also allows the teacher to take attendance, create student behavior reports, and share student reports with parents. Another great feature is the random button, in which one student's monster is selected. This could be great for calling on students to answer questions. I think this would be really motivating for students because it's like a mirror that the whole class can see. However, I can see it being a big adjustment for teachers at first. It might also damage students' face to be reprimanded on screen. I like how this application focuses on behavior, rather than linguistic ability. I think some students benefit from additional feedback on their behavior.

Wow, this is the clearinghouse for information regarding CALL teacher training. Many good links and interesting information!

"Learn real English language from English speakers around the world on elllo with free listening, reading, and vocabulary activities and downloads." Elllo is a library of over 1200 ESL listening passages. One really nice feature of the site is representation of many varieties of World Englishes (Inner, Outer, and Expanding Circle speakers are featured). The site is fairly low-frills, but I find that to be a good thing- it's very easy to go directly to what you want and use a listening passage for your own purposes. I wrote a longer evaluation for my CALL blog this week, which you can find here: http://dancallblog.blogspot.com/2013/01/evaluating-call-resources.html

When I taught Listening and Speaking, I found ello.org to be a really good source for listening passages about all kinds of subjects.

It looks like the site busyteacher has lots of resources and links for...busy teachers. There are articles, worksheets, and links to seasonal activities. I'm posting this particular list of photo activities because (a) I think a lot of our students take pictures anyway and we could include them in the photo-gathering aspect of these projects, and (b) I think a lot of these activities can be adapted and incorporated into digital stories or grockit videos (or other CALL activities). Photo activities can provide context for teaching grammar or situational uses of language.

These are really interesting videos that you could assign. Students have the option to read subtitles (sometimes up to 30 or so languages in subtitles). They could listen and read in their language and then in the target language. Comprehension could improve because students already know the content. Good listening exercise, too. This video is called "What adults can learn from kids." One of my favorites is about dance - of course, it's called "Dance vs. powerpoint…." That title makes me smile! http://www.ted.com/talks/john_bohannon_dance_vs_powerpoint_a_modest_proposal.html Another one on teaching: http://www.ted.com/playlists/11/the_creative_spark.html

Google voice is a resource that can potentially be used in listening and speaking classes. Essentially, it allows the user to associate a phone number with one's Google account. From there, the user can record messages that the caller will hear when he/she dials the phone number. In a Listening and Speaking context, access to recorders for classroom use may be limited at times. However, many learners have cell phones. To complete a listening and speaking task, during class or for homework, learners can call the phone number, listen to the task, and record their responses. Many concerns with Google Voice arise, however. Most notably, the quality of the recording may be muddy. That is, learners may have a difficult time comprehending the recorded message they hear when initially calling. Additionally, the messages recorded by the learners can be difficult for the instructor to understand. Also, whereas recorders allow learners to confirm that their speech has been recorded, on Google Voice, the learners simply hang up and receive no such confirmation--unless the task is done in a classroom setting whereupon the instructor has the list of messages available. Moreover, the learners are not able to listen to their messages or the messages of other students in the class if they are not logged into the instructor's account. As far as the positive attributes, Google Voice attempts to transcribe messages, and while the transcriptions are not always accurate, even when transcribing messages from native speakers of English, the transcriptions are interesting to read nonetheless. Possibly giving learners an incentive such as extra credit for a perfect transcription due to their pronunciation is an option. Additionally, Google Voice does allow the instructor to download the messages if desired, so saving the files is possible. As far as identifying the callers, each voice message is accompanied by the phone number, so collecting students' phone numbers is probably

This document includes sample checklists for evaluating CALL courseware and websites from the ICT4LT

We'll be looking at these checklists in class.

Our class wiki. During the semester, you will create and maintain one entry for the wiki.

ESL Video is a website that pairs authentic videos with comprehension questions. The user selects a video at a particular level and about a particular topic, views the video, and answers questions about what was said in the video. While such a resource could be used in a listening and speaking class, some, or at least one, of the videos could be used in a class focused on reading. To explain, the video only had music for the soundtrack while simple text appeared on the screen for the viewer to read. Of note is that many of the videos feature popular culture, so conceivably these videos would contribute both to language learning and to learning about the culture of English speaking countries. One interesting video features Jimmy Fallon, the Roots, and Carly Rae Jepson playing "Call Me Maybe," and the related quiz asks learners to fill in the blanks in lines of lyrics. Also, teachers are able to create their own quizzes for the website.

Claire Siskin's site gives a rather comprehensive list of mobile apps for language learning. The apps categorized according social networking apps, instructional apps, repurposed apps, make your own exercises and general references. For anyone interested in Mobile Assisted Language Learning (MALL), this is a great place to begin experimenting with different applications.

BigBlueButton is an open-source suite of tools for webconferencing. It does many of the same functions as Collaborate but does not have the costs associated with it. It may be a good alternative for teaching online.

This is a great website for finding games for your ESL students! Enjoy, Nour

Hello Guys, I do not know if you remember Dr. Stoller mentioning this website in class. This is a great tool for a project-based learning. Enjoy! Nour

This is similar to Skype, but less expensive to use. You can video chat with up to 12 people at the same time for FREE. Nour

Live TESOL webinars are presented every Friday at 4 PM EST or New York time with Shelly Terrell. TESOL Webinars are open to the public, so feel free to invite a friend.

This site provides a wealth of information about technology for classroom use, as well as current discussions about technology and resources for teachers. I think K-12 teachers should subscribe to the newsletter to stay informed about what's going on in the field. I've been skimming the site, and so far, I've come across interesting research about the use of games in the classroom, as well as serving diverse populations, like special Ed through technology. The strength of this site is it's breadth of topics, but the weakness appears to be the amount of time sorting through everything to find what you want.

Learn a Language with free online language lessons, interactive games, and fun lessons. Learn up to 8 foreign languages with Visual Link Languages. Pick a language and start learning.

This website is neat as it has a updating blog and a culture section for language learning.

My blurb: I checked out this site based on Heidi Wright's recommendation. You do have to pay for a subscription, unfortunately, but the newspaper is very readable, the layout is nice, and it comes with teacher resources and activities. Heidi's blurb: I have just finished a research project on a ESOL suitable newspaper called Newsademic. I send my PPT to the company and they sent me a free subscription. They also sent me a link to pass on to friends so they can get a free two month subscription. For those of you beginning to teach or those going overseas, it is cool. The newspaper, which is written for 9-16 year old native English speakers, works with intermediate level and above (we have used articles in level 4 at PIE ) and covers lots of current international topics. No pop culture and intentionally balanced opinions. British or American edition available for spelling. The newspaper comes with two sets of exercises and is delivered every two weeks. The Flesch-Kincaid level runs from 6-11 with an average of 8.3 and the Lexile level runs from 860 to 1150 with an average of about 950-1020. You can make as many copies for your school as you want. To buy a year subscription is $32. Their blurb: Newsademic - a Children's newspaper used for educational resources, home schooling and English study