An interesting blog by a teacher of languages and technology. Three entries, "improving pronunciation using Speech-to-Text Apps", "Using Thinglink to prepare for the AP cultural comparison", and "using google drawing in language classes" have direct correlations to what we do and can use in our classrooms. Google draw (found in Chrome's Google Drive) would be particularly helpful to practice writing Arabic or Chinese.
Some members of the class were asking about Google Forms. I thought the video and tutorials on the site might give some ideas about how to use Google Forms with students.
Definitely a cool tool to use while watching all the videos in this certificate program! VideoNotes is a neat new tool for taking notes while watching videos. VideoNotes allows you to load any YouTube video on the left side of your screen and on the right side of the screen VideoNotes gives you a notepad to type on. VideoNotes integrates with your Google Drive account. By integrating with Google Drive VideoNotes allows you to share your notes and collaborate on your notes just as you can do with a Google Document.
Students use their cell phones to call and leave messages in the target language at any time. Assign a question or set of questions for them to call in and answer.
Blogger is a free site for blogging. It is incorporated with Google, so if the user has a Google account, he automatically has a Blogger account.
This site (as well as any simple blogging site) can be used for students to publish their writing and receive a world-wide audience. Additionally, students can keep a reflection journal of their own progress, feelings, and questions regarding their learning. Finally, instructors can use blogs to communicate important information to their students as well as share their voice in an easily-accessed, asynchronous means.
If you are using Google Reader, you should know that it will phase out July, 2013. This article offers 4 alternative. The most popular one is called Feedly.
This site has many great pictures and information about sites all over the world. The Education tab gives you lesson plans as well for some of the sites. Click on 'find a location', and you are brought to several possible areas around the world. Additional information is available by clicking on the arrows along side the pictures.
This one-page document offers a good reminder that we (teachers and students) must cite images found on google images. I gives clear instructions for how to cite in APA.