Group items tagged

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

Automatic captions in YouTube in many languages PLUS: You can type up your own captions and upload and YouTube times them automatically through text-to-speech. Then, you can download the text file with the timings next to the captions. If this really works, wow!

This is a collection of texts and accompanying images created by users that you can use for ESL/EFL activities. Have students create and add their own digital stories connected to a theme or short story they have searched for and read. You can also search by a key word, such as a grammatical term they are studying (e.g., "used to"). Thanks to C. Arena.

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

This creative mapping tool can hold text, photos, and multimedia. Would be nice to use with an international project. Requires sign-up and log-in. Available in several languages, including Chinese and Turkish.

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.

Lots of bookis read aloud. with text before your eyes. Being read to is a good way to get a sense of the language. Recommended by Russell Stannard at http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/10jan/index.html.

Texts, recordings and videos in different languages

Similar to Bubblr, but this app produces a book-lik presentation, rather than a comic strip format. You add two pictures per open book page, and add text as a subtitle. Good for projects with students' own photos uploaded to Flickr, or pictures found in a search. (See Russell Stannard's description and tutorial at http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/newBubblr/index.html.)

"A range of ELT publications available in pdf to download. These include Milestones - a series of classic ELT texts published online as part of the British Council's 75th anniversary celebrations." A real bargain if you have ink and printer--free books in pdf.

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.

Describes ways to use images, video, music, voice, and text in teaching literature with advanced level students to improve writing and pronunciation skills. Students engaged in online discussion through commenting and VoiceThread. By Jane Petring.

A brief presentation (1:02 min.) of what the Wiki-to-Speech tool can do. W-to-S allows you to use your computer's (Mac or PC) text-to-speech capability to record the comments written into your slideshow. For use with mobile technology as well, W-to-Speech looks like a great way to enhance presentations posted to an asynchronous site like SlideShare.

R. Byrne: "Wideo is a nice tool for creating Common Craft-style videos. You can create animated videos on Wideo by dragging and dropping clipart and text in storyboard frames. You set the position and animation sequence for each element in each storyboard frame. When you have completed your storyboards Wideo generates a video for you. "This week Wideo added a new feature that allows you to build interactive buttons into each frame of your video. The buttons can be hyperlinked to any webpage that you like. When people are watching your video they can click the buttons to be taken to the webpage you want them to land on. For example, clicking the buttons in the video embedded below will take you to the website of my favorite animal rescue organizations." Older students could, of course, create videos themselves to instruct others. The new interactive button might also lead to a quiz on Quizlet or in Google Docs, for example.

"Cyberbullying is something most families hope they never have to deal with. But if your kids are texting, sharing photos, and posting comments, it's important to talk to them about how to deal with online harassment. Learn 5 ways to stop cyberbullies. "

"Virtual Impersonation "Creating social media posts and profiles for people (real/fictional), places, plants, and animals has proven to be an engaging and thought-provoking experience for students. From creating FaceBook pages for endangered species to Tweets from Abe Lincoln, virtual impersonation can be a powerful tool for learning. I recently shared a great Google Slides Instagram post template. A coworker was looking for something a bit more interactive that would allow for multiple posts, so I built a multi-slide profile/gallery template. "The Instagram template is available for Keynote, Google Slides, or PowerPoint. Students just replace the profile text (name, job/title, description, location), then begin replacing picture placeholders with images of their choosing. Each small image placeholder is hyperlinked to a separate slide for that image's post." Impersonating an historical figure or book character, et al., is a great way to really get into the content. T/H to Nick LaFave

"To summarize, then, we might say that (1) the skill of guessing from context may not be as helpful in the real world as previously imagined, (2) it may not be as useful in acquiring vocabulary items as previously imagined. When a teacher is asked by a student for the meaning of a word in a text, the reflex response of 'try to work it out from the context' may also not be as helpful as previously imagined. Translations and / or dictionary advice may well, at times, be more appropriate." An interesting view of an activity that has been considered significant by many reading teachers. More research is needed! Article by Phillip J Kerr.