ICT
Latest recommended tool - Voki
A useful tool that students enjoy which provides motivation and improves confidence in oral skills.
Voki is a free service that allows you to create personalized speaking avatars and use them on your blog, profile, and in email messages.
Voki allows teachers and students to create speaking avatars in a fun, stimulating and engaging way. Although some initially find tools such as Voki of little educational value, upon closer inspection, teachers quickly realise that Voki allows students to express themselves on the internet in safety and confidently, as their real identities are hidden behind the avatar. Suddenly, with Voki, the shy become outspoken and the reticent assured.
Latest Must Visit Sites
Watch now on 
A series of video tutorials demonstrate how to use an Interactive whiteboard
Why develop Personal Learning Networks?
First of all, why do we need to develop Personal Learning Networks? Listen to this: The Digital Divide is Growing by Russell Stannard
Joe Dale made this great compilation of responses from language teachers on what Twitter means to them as their Personal Learning Network
Joe Dale also created this presentation 7 Easy Steps for Creating Your Own PLN
Why Twitter?
Tweet yourself to a new circle - What is Twitter all about? Twitter is not for exchanging trivia. It's a powerful networking tool. See this article by Russell Stannard. See this training video on how to use twitter and this one on how to use tweetdeck as a filtering tool.
Sites of Interest for Language Teachers
General CPD
- Comprehensive manual on Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers
- :/Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers - is a 53 page guide with instructions and suggestions for how to use free web based tools to develop languages (8Mb PDF). The guide can be downloaded for free or you can read it online at: :/Web 2.0 Tools for Teachers
- www.cesi.ie The Computer Education Society of Ireland (CESI) is an association of practicing teachers from primary, post primary and third level with the common interest of using ICT to benefit teaching and learning.
- ICT for Language Teachers - great blog
- Teacher Training Videos for all teachers on the use of ICT - try it on how to use the interactive whiteboard or powerpoint or many others
- Integrating ICT into the MFL classroom: Joe Dale offers practical tips and advice on using ICT to enhance the teaching of modern foreign languages
- José Picardo, Head of MFL in Nottingham High School, really believes that being able to take advantage of the available technology is an essential skill for teachers to acquire in an age where pupils' learning expectations are changing radically...awards for best Edublog, nominations for best Teacher Blog, best Educational Technology and Support Blog
- ICT CPD 4 Free- FREE on-line continuing professional development opportunities
- Great training tutorials on the most useful web tools for language education on the CILT website
- Top 25 Web 2.0 sites for education
- Edmodo, a private social platform for teachers and students to share ideas, files, events and assignments, and a training video by Chris Thomas on Using Edmodo as a collaboration and communication tool for school classes
- More info on Edmodo by José Picardo on how microblogging can help you as a teacher
- Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 Animoto - is a web application that allows you and your students to upload pictures and sounds and create professional looking videos which can then be downloaded and shared online. Animoto is free for education. Follow this link to see how José Picardo and his students have used Animoto and this link to see some examples
- Wordle one of the best ways to engage learners in learning new vocabulary, use it prior to reading or as stimulus to speaking or writing activities, it is versatile and visually powerful. -44 interesting ways to use Wordle in the classroom , Word Cloud Resources, Tips and Tools
- The benefits of podcasting and what you need to do it by José Picardo
- Podcasting in 5 easy steps by José Picardo
- Examples of how to use Storybird in MFL - a simple tool to make short visual stories
- The Best Digital Storytelling Resources
- Voki - Students can make avatars and then make audio recordings, great for speaking practise
