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R. Stannard: "This tool allows students to create sound files and then the teacher or other students can listen, click on the sound wave and add written comments. So it is great for providing feedback as teachers can listen to the recordings and then click at the appropriate point and add comments regarding language, intonation, content or pronunciation." You can embed the audio file with your comments into your teacher blog for students to explore. Obviously very useful for listening-speaking practice. Can also be used on smartphones.

This might be a nice way for students to get listening practice. Though set up to read blog-to-sound, students could also read the blog while listening. he teacher might also set up a blog and insert texts or words specifically for students to follow on audio.

This important article by the ACTFL discusses how the U.S. Common Core standards can be aligned with the National Standards for Learning Languages. Presents several diagrams and other visuals to help teachers see the crossovers for each skill--reading listening, speaking, and writing--in presentational and interpersonal modes, and how culture is woven into the whole.

This is a great article on using some of YouTube's lesser-known features: annotations to great adaptive listening exercise, playback speed control, and Safeshare links to remove ads for student viewing. This is a must-read article if you use video with your ESL/EFL students.

Teaching Channel video: A nice demonstration of how to conduct discussions in small group and pairs. Demonstrates active listening by the teachers as students report back then go to the board to offer the results of their discussions. Structured discussions and student ownership of the reasoning process are good even for very young learners. Applicable for all levels.

"You can listen to all the podcasts for free, but in order to download the worksheets and transcripts (except for the ones on this page) you must become a member." For elementary students. Also has worksheets, webquests, vocabulary exercises, transcripts for members.

This site is commercial, but it has lots of interesting ideas on ways the readers theater can help students with reading, listening, and speaking.

A huge list of materials online related to listening, speaking, reading, writing, grammar, and general study skills. Teachers need to review and select from sites to use them effectively in an academic program. Prepared by Christine Bauer-Ramazani for her Academic Skills courses.

An interesting use of social media. You create a profile with a little text and video from your Webcam. Others come to the site to ask you questions, while you question others. Great for class interactions, and can also be used in a distance class. Some channels have artists and book authors, too. Don't know how you might control predation, however. Training video by R. Stannard walks you through creating a "wait" video and a "response" video (an OGM), and how students would create and write questions and interact with the program, e.g., reading ealier question and listening to their responses.

"Hosted by Colin Hill, we attended the launch of the Bloomsbury Young Readers series, speaking to authors Jenny McLachlan and Michaela Morgan. " Click from this page to listen to this episode. Also has links to other podcsts and book readings for very young learners.

All Skills, All Levels: Grammar, Listening, Reading, Vocabulary, TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE, GMAT, SAT, English For Grades 6-12. Download all more than 4,500 quizzes and 60,000 questions

FoxVox is a simple text to voice Firefox plugin that allows you to highlight text on a web page and then have that text read back to you in a digitized voice format

Vocabulary exercises at many different levels with lots pre-reading (sentence-level), and then exercises with cartoons and sounds for help. Highly interactiv--point and click on an item, drag-and-drop an item to a cartoon figure, listening to the item and type, etc. Despite cartoon/movie figures, adults could use these exercises, too (from Russel Stannard, TeachertrainingVideos.com).

"Create and share great video lessons with your iPad or browser." This is a great tool for getting students talking, or for creating a lively presentation. You can upload a picture, or draw from scratch, as on a blackboard or whiteboard. Easy to use, free download, and available from the App Store for smart phone or iPad.

This looks like a great invention. As you are watching a video, take notes and the timeline codes will automatically link your notes to the portion of the video you were watching. The note tool will embed your video from YouTube, Khan Academy, or any of a number of sites, with the note-taking apparatus beside the video. Students might take notes of you or another lecturer in a flipped environment, and then compare each other's notes for review. Appears to be free so far.

You can put a question up on the website and then students reply with their webcam. It's a nice tool for oral language practice, digital storytelling, debates, etc. R. Stannard shows how to use the tool and suggestions for lesson plans. He notes that you will need a fairly fast internet connection. The site allows you to keep statistics on who answered.

"This list of five things that you may not know about QR codes contains some simple ideas that definitely pack a punch. These tips include strategies for differentiating instruction, distributing materials, and keeping families up to date on classroom activities. If you've tried one of these QR tips or have another to add to the list, the comments section of this post is the perfect place to share!" The article also tells how to make dynamic QR codes requiring a login, for example, for a daily lesson assignment, using Kaywa.

Offers songs in multiple European languages with text lyrics which you can manipulate as cloze activities. Lots of student control to repeat lines of a song, click on tab to show an answer to a missing lyric, etc. Students ign-up to keep a record of songs and the tasks completed. Provides 3 different levels of activity; e.g., "expert" is total cloze. R. Stannard has a training video on using this site at

"Instantly record & publish digital voice recordings" online, using phone, Skype, or mic. Saves and stores audio files in MP3 that you can post to website, blog, Facebook or Twitter, and playback with browser, tablet, or smartphone. Voice comments can be recorded, making it possible to use for language lessons. Great potential. Anyone who has used this with students, please comment!