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This site is going EFL/ESL in a big way, using video: "We recently found out that 22frames.com is becoming a popular site for learning English as a second language (ESL). It turns out that watching captioned videos provides a way to not only learn formal English but also idioms and other cultural concepts. To find videos, you can browse through categories or make caption-only video searches on your interests. Even more, we have been devoting significant time and resources to developing ESL-specific features that are motivated by our users' feedback." "Recently, we found out that many of our users are using the site to supplement their English learning (see: http://www.22frames.com/esl.aspx ). They also began to pitch ideas we could implement to make the site even more useful for this activity. With so many requests, we decided to seriously consider these ideas and devote significant time and resources into realizing them. Now, we are turning our site into a substantial and FREE English learning resource. We are aware of a couple sites out there that are also focused on using captioned videos for English learning, so we've been focusing on the unique user-motivated features. Therefore, my goal here is to let you know about our free resource and that we are opening the door to requests for anyone who might desire features that have not been implemented elsewhere. Perhaps, you can share this with your colleagues/readers/etc as it will help us better gauge which features to prioritize and to increase the rate with which we will release new features. Please note that we are really serious about considering whatever feedback we get. I'm also pleased to announce our first feature, which we expect will help in learning/teaching popular English idioms. Idioms are a big deal in learning English, and it is clear that watching them used in real situations will increase the rate with which they are learned. We therefore processed a large group of YouTube videos in o

22 Frames is going to the ESL/EFL market, and is free. First features are idioms.

"The Newseum displays these daily newspaper front pages in their original, unedited form. Some front pages may contain material that is objectionable to some visitors. Viewer discretion is advised." This would be very handy, and easy to use, for adult ESL/EFL, social studies classes, or cross-cultural study: What is considered important in each location? How is the same news story treated differently in different cities or different parts of the world? Excellent for visual learners.

This would be very useful for h.s. social studies or an adult ESL/EFL class where students can compare how the news is presented in different newspapers, or compare what is considered important in different cultures.

The Newseum displays these daily newspaper front pages in their original, unedited form. Some front pages may contain material that is objectionable to some visitors. Viewer discretion is advised.

Poetry Forge has online (Flash) tools for generating instant poetry, as well as a downloadable version of the tools to use on the desktop. It's really fun to add some words to a list and then have the poetry-maker pop up your new poem. Students can learn a lot about metaphorical language here.

A monthly blog from EFL Classroom that gives you ideas, resources, and a place to set up your own online classroom. Links to video talks, new online resources, ongoing discussions and blogs, student-created content, ideas for current seasonal holidays, and their own Diigo Group, et al. EFL Classroom has developed well over the past year or so, and is well worth following.

"Collect up gifs related to any vocabulary area you want to teach or revise. Embed them in an html page on your desk top and start a collection. Each time you add new ones send the html page to your students. (They will need to have a live connection on their computer to be able to view the gifs) Ask them to make notes of any words they relate to the images they see." This is another neat little tool with notes on how to use it from the very extensive collection by Nik Peachey. I'd suggest having the students make animated vocabulary gifs of words they want to learn/find useful.

Downloadable app to use Word Magnets on your own computer (requires registration). Sentences are broken up into words that can be rearranged and moved around the desktop to make poetry, re-create a target sentence, or make new sentences and punctuate it. See Russell Standard's http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/magnets/index.html for how to download and use this app.

This is a jumbled collection, but links to a few interesting new things, such as Incredibox, which allows you create music, record, share, and download your composition.

Cleverly presented in a slideshow at the head of R. Byrne's blog. "On iPadApps4School.com you can sort app reviews according to grade level category. Simply click on the grade level category in the sidebar to find apps appropriate for the age of your students. You can find elementary school apps here, middle school apps here, and high school apps here. I also have a category for pre-K students. If you want to be notified when a new app is reviewed, you can subsc" Take a look at this great resource for mobile learning for a wide variety of levels/grades/ages.

"Real-world learning experiences can significantly improve children's knowledge in a matter of just days, a new study suggests. "Researchers found that 4- to 9-year-old children knew more about how animals are classified after a four-day camp at a zoo. "It wasn't that children who attended just knew more facts about animals, the researchers noted. The camp actually improved how they organised what they knew - a key component of learning. "This suggests the organisation of knowledge doesn't require years to happen. It can occur with a short, naturalistic learning experience," said Layla Unger, lead author of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in psychology at The Ohio State University." A very, very small study, but supports intuitive notions of the neccesity of real-world, real-life experiences.

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.

Students can write and then read the commentary on their poems.

You may all know this one already, but it's new to me and oh, so much fun! Enjoy finding just the right color schemes here!

Why Is Project-Based Learning Important?

This is a good article on what makes a good teacher, but see my comment on it to understand why outstanding single examples of good teaching are not enough to create reform of a whole system.

This is the big question. See my comment below about the problems involved, however. --EHS