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EFL CLASSROOM 2.0

EFL Classroom's Blog (125)

Smart Choice - Culturally Specific Content

Smart Choice - Culturally Specific Content.

I'm not a big one for giving publishers promotion - not because I don't believe in textbooks yadda yadda... rather because I think that "profit" should stay away from those things directly concerned with learning and education. However, I understand realities and "good things" when I see them , so I'd like to suggest readers check out Oxford Univ.…

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Added by EFL Classroom on February 9, 2011 at 6:05pm — No Comments

Simply the Best - for any toolkit

There has been A LOT of consolidation online, over the last 7-8 years. Sites, tools have come and gone. The web can be a cruel marketplace and particularly so when it comes to tools that help teachers and get students learning/creating.

There is so much out there! So, in order to help new teachers especially, I'm going to list those that are "Simply the Best" and have stood the test of time. Simply the best sites for students to create, share, produce and work with… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on January 26, 2011 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Our Quizlet flashcards are now embeddable!

Yes, that's right! Finally this is a feature and easy to do with all our flashcard sets.

Makes it very easy for you to share the hundreds of our flashcard sets with your students on a school page, public page or wiki. You can even embed the learning games (Scatter).Here's an example.

Here's how it works.

1. Go to a flashcard set

2.…

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Added by EFL Classroom on January 21, 2011 at 9:30pm — No Comments

Huffduffer - Audio podcast library

Huffduffer is a site where you can simply collect and tag audio podcasts. It really is attractive and well laid out. Visit our EFL Classroom 2.0 collection and click on the tags on the right to get… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on January 16, 2011 at 4:09pm — No Comments

iEtherpad - Collaborative writing

Writing, shared writing and working on a document, can be a powerful learning process. Very constructivist.

Google docs is okay but there is no better place than iEtherpad. They recently took over the public etherpad code when Etherpad was bought out by google (still awaiting what google is going to do with this…

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Added by EFL Classroom on January 13, 2011 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Translation Tools - oddcast and google

Today's ELT chat was about using translation in the classroom. I joined in late but the tweeting reminded me of two very "solid" automated translation tools for students and teachers.

1. The Oddcast Translation bot

Limited to 250 characters, it is still very powerful. Type in the L1 language and then have it read…

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Added by EFL Classroom on January 12, 2011 at 1:36pm — No Comments

Chirbit - real Audio possibilities

When I think about the possibilities of using technology to learn language - it is the audio realm that really excites me. Unlike other subjects, we have ready made content to now bring directly into our classrooms. Input is the technical term - I call it the plain old thing - oral language.

I've championed from the get go such great tools as Voicethread,… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on January 10, 2011 at 10:15pm — No Comments

CDLP - a great listening/reading/learning site!

CDLP - The California Distance Learning Project, is one of the many governmental sites leading the way towards free online learning resources.

It doesn't have a lot of "flash"…

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Added by EFL Classroom on January 9, 2011 at 5:30am — No Comments

Tele prompter and Transl8it.com

Today, two quick tips of two very innovative and adaptable tools. The Cue Prompter and Transl8it.com. Listen/Watch as I show you them and suggest some uses. Get the dialogues mentioned… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on January 2, 2011 at 2:00pm — No Comments

Vocaroo - the audio recording solution

This is an update on Vocaroo, a great audio service that I reviewed a year or more ago as it was going through "growing pains".

It now works great and allows teachers / students to record their voice in a simple fashion. Then download it in one fell swoop! The quality could be a little better but for a free service, it rocks. Just what learning needs, this kind of simple functionality. Here, try it yourself! Enjoy…

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Added by EFL Classroom on December 28, 2010 at 5:04am — No Comments

Abracadabra - Self Directed Learning

One thing that I'm very convinced of, is the notion that us teachers are "motivators". It is our job to motivate our students, to lead our students towards becoming self directed learners, learning for themselves, intrinsically.

Oh…

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Added by EFL Classroom on December 19, 2010 at 3:00pm — 2 Comments

EPangsoft

EPangsoft

I recently began uploading into our shared mediafire account, lots of basic software teachers might use in their classrooms, for students. I'll be highlighting some here in the coming weeks/months. Lots of neat, helpful applications. Also see our Software page for a… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on December 5, 2010 at 6:04pm — No Comments

Speech Accent Archive

The Speech Accent Archive is for all those linguistic enthusiasts out there. A well organized site full of audio of how speakers from all over the world speak English. Ever wonder how an Uzbeki would sound like? No problem, click on the map and compare with many other regional speakers. You might also try - Who In The World Is… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on December 5, 2010 at 6:00pm — No Comments

Typing for EFL students

Today's site is a place your student's can go to learn to type in English. Very friendly and cartoonish but effective. I think typing skills in English are a very necessary skill students should learn when young and also by doing so, they learn a lot of English at the same time!

This site goes through 4 stages, just follow the dinosaurs instructions. In flash and flash and dynamic! Check it out!

I also recommend…

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Added by EFL Classroom on November 28, 2010 at 3:38pm — 2 Comments

Phras.in

Phras.in is a great way to compare phrases, chunks, collocations and even sentences. Having an argument about grammar and usage with a colleague or student? No problem, use Phras.in and settle it for good. How the language is used, should be the measuring stick!

Phras.in will compare the two expressions using the vast corpus that is the internet. It will give you how often the phrase occurs and tons of…

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Added by EFL Classroom on November 28, 2010 at 3:24pm — No Comments

Randall's Cyber Listening Lab

Randall's Cyber Listening Lab is a great site for students to get LOTS of listening practice. All listening activities are leveled from Easy Medium Difficult and Very Difficult and are appropriately leveled in my opinion. A great compliment to our own Listening page.

After the listening portion, there is usually a short multiple choice quiz for… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on November 22, 2010 at 8:01pm — No Comments

Transl8it.com

I love Transl8it.com! If your students love text messaging (and most do), they will be motivated by this creative tool.

Transl8it simply takes real English and then supplies you with the text message translation. Simply put in the English and it spits out the text message. Copy this text message and print. Give this to your students to translate! They will love it! A great way also to cover course content, have them translate… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on November 22, 2010 at 7:48pm — No Comments

ELT Games

ELT gamesis a nice "basic" resource site. All the resources are interactive and task based/conversation based. Students must use the information provided to communicate in "real" language terms. The teacher just needs to cut up the materials and distribute and explain (better demonstrate) the task well. I've always been a person who tells all the teachers I train that their best friend isn't a computer, a textbook or even a C.D - it is a pair of… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on November 22, 2010 at 7:30pm — No Comments

Quizlet - the ultimate ELT flashcard resource!

Quizlet I like for one important reason -- it shows the initiative and drive of youth. Quizlet is run and designed by a high school student! Yes, it started it based on his own need to study his French words in high school. And now look at what we have!

Teachers, students can go and practice. I've set up an EFL Classroom account and I'd like members to go there and create a quizlet. That… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on November 16, 2010 at 3:33pm — No Comments

SOHO Exchange

Sozo Exchange is a new video site for language learning. I am impressed by how clear the audio is and how well produced. Aimed at adult learners, the episodes focus on interviews and real language. Get a transcript to follow along. Unfortunately, they can't be embeded but you can download them thought they are quite large files. See the latest episode here or I've also… Continue

Added by EFL Classroom on November 16, 2010 at 3:30pm — No Comments