Manage Learning With Google Classroom

We continue with our review of tools to facilitate teaching and learning

Google Classroom is an excellent Learning Management System that can assist teachers in managing remote learning.

 

Why Google Classroom?

As the name says, it is a tool that transforms the online learning space into a Classroom. It shares some features of physical classrooms like interactions, classroom activities and homework. 

Unlike other Nearpod and other online platforms, Google Classroom does not have lesson planning and development features. On the contrary, it is a space for managing lessons planned using different tools.

It can be used online, in person, as part of blended and flipped learning.

 

Some excellent features of Google Classroom

Easy to use

Google Classroom is one of the less fussy learning platforms. It has a straightforward and user-friendly interface. There are very few links on the homepage except links to create a class or set a calendar. All classes in which students and the teacher are involved are listed on the homepage of the teacher’s account. This is where the teacher manages all his/her lessons.

 

Creating a class is quick and easy.  To facilitate the management of different classes, Google Classroom assigns different colours and banners to each class. To access a class, students need the class code. The dashboard of each class has four tabs:

The Stream tab for a live discussion with the students. The teacher can modify the settings to allow students to post and comment, comment, post, or comment only.

The Classwork tab is where the teacher creates assignments, quizzes, questions, and materials. These can be organised under different topics. 

Quizzes can be administered in multiple-choice or short-answer formats. MCQ quizzes are administered using integrated Google Docs. 

Assignments can be sent to students individually or to the entire class. They can be sent as attachments in videos (from YouTube, for example), word documents, Google Drive, etc.

The People tab is where other teachers and students can be invited for a joint project.

Lastly, the Mark tab is where the teacher views and manages his/her students’ grades.

Google Classroom introduced a To-do feature to keep teachers and students on track with deadlines and work. This feature is linked to the Calendar and sends notifications about deadlines, homework, and students’ performance, missing and completed tasks.

 

My take

Google Classroom is simple and user-friendly to facilitate remote learning. It can run on all devices, including mobile phones. 

Have you ever used Google Classroom to facilitate remote learning? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

(All images credit: Nearpod)

Mobile Learning With Nearpod

 

Today, we go mobile in our journey to explore tools and resources to facilitate teaching and learning.

The mobile phone is one of the wonders of the digital world. Mobile phones have taken the lion’s share in the lives of 21st-century citizens. Even in the remotest corners of the earth, mobile phones have made their way into households. Students are not left out. In fact, they are the majority of users of mobile phones.

There is a hot and ongoing debate on whether to allow mobile phones in the classroom. The discussion is proof that mobile phones have a vital role in the field of education.

While hoping that partisans of mobile phones in schools win the debate, let’s see what to do with the mobile phones out of the classroom.

In this article, I take a look at Nearpod.

What is Nearpod?

Nearpod is an all in one solution for classroom activities. It is an interactive online platform for creating teaching and learning activities. Think of PowerPoint slideshows, Google Slides, PDFs, Videos, and YouTube content and how you can streamline all of them on a single platform. Nearpod offers just that!

How Nearpod works

First, get your PowerPoint, videos, and slides ready for the lesson you want to teach. If you are a busy teacher, pick from ready-to-use customizable formats from Nearpod. 

The platform boasts more than 15500 ready-made formats to choose from. So there are formats to suit all needs.

In addition to being an incredible lesson plan builder, Nearpod also transforms the lesson into interactive content.

The platform can transform the content of your lesson into a game to engage your learners. These games can be in the form of quizzes, polls, formative evaluations, simulations, and interactive media.

Also, with Nearpod, a teacher can assist learners in groups or individually to improve an area of difficulty. Nearpod offers a report on a student’s performance. Teachers can give assignments to students and receive a report of their performance via email.

You might now be asking what mobile phones have to do with this. Nearpod works like Kahoot. It has a lesson planning platform and an interactive platform for remote learning. Each content created by the teacher has a code to interact with the content.

There are two options to deliver the content. The content can be delivered in a live session with students participating in the class with the teacher at the same time. It can also be delivered in a remote session where students participate from the comfort of their homes.

Students can access the content through their mobile phones and at home. In a context where mobile phones are not allowed in the classroom, the live session might be challenging for the teacher using mobile phones. That is only possible in a context where the school provides other digital tools like laptops.

This is where the remote session comes in handy. All the students need is the code to the lesson to access it from their mobile from home. It is excellent for flipped learning, where students are exposed to the material to be covered in class before the actual lesson.

 Cons

Like any good tool out there, there are not always perfect. In the case of Nearpod, accessing all the platform's features requires a subscription. There is a free plan, but the features are basic and limited. The free version makes it possible to save data for only 100 MB. 

My take

Nearpod is a tool worth exploring. It is very useful for large classroom management where it is not possible to attend to the need of individual students within the time frame of a lesson. Via students’ individual reports, a teacher can organise remedial classes. 

Have you ever used Nearpod in the classroom or to improve your speaking skills? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

(All images credit: Nearpod)

Improve Speaking With YouGlish 

Hello ELT!

If you are like me, teaching pronunciation is one of those award moments during an English language lesson. I tend to avoid teaching pronunciation. 

I am always worried about what pronunciation model to use in my class. I am not a native speaker of English. I speak French and a host of other indigenous languages. So my accent in English is also influenced by these languages.

Today, we will put that worry to rest. As much as I do not believe that there is a “best” pronunciation in English. However, I think that it is an excellent idea to improve one’s pronunciation of English.

Today, we will explore YouGlish, an incredible tool that teachers can use to help their learners to learn and improve their pronunciation. 

The first impressive thing about YouGlish is the layout. The website is not fussy, and it is easy to navigate.  

How does YouGlish work?

As simple as ABC. All you need to do is to input a word or phrase, sit back and listen to how it is spoken in the native language of your choice.

Did I say YouGlish is used for other languages other than English? YouGlish support several other languages: Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Turkish, Arabic and a host of other languages.

And Sign language too!

One important feature of YouGlish is that the pronunciation of a word is provided within a real-life context.

Once you type the word you want to hear how it is pronounced and hit the Say it button, the website loads videos from Youtube videos in which that word or phrase has been used. It could be a conference talk, a casual conversation. 

You also have the options to choose the variants of English you want to hear the word. You can choose between English, US, UK, CAN, NZ, Irish, and Scotland…

Below the video, there is a wealth of information related to the words you want to hear. 

There is the definition of the word and other words in the video. Click on the word, and the definition will pop up. 

If you scroll further below, you will also find a list of words that share some phonetical similarities with your word. For “funny” for example, you will find the following words. You will also find the phonetic transcription of the word

Do you want to have a good grip over the word? Then YouGlish provides tips to do that. 

YouGlish Cons

No! Not all languages are supported. For English, not all variants of English are taken into consideration. Only variants that are termed as “native” are supported. I wish Nigerian, Cameroonian, Indian, South African, Chinese and other variants of English were supported to reflect the diversity of videos on YouTube.  

My take: 

YouGlish is an impressive free tool for teachers and students and everyone who wants to improve their speaking skills.

Have you ever used YouGlish in the classroom or to improve your speaking skills? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

(All images credit: YouGlish)

Online Resources for ELT Professionals 2

Breaking News English

Hello ELT!

We continue with our review of online teaching resources available to teachers.

Today, we will review resources available on https://breakingnewsenglish.com/

As the name goes, this website focuses on teaching English using topics from the most significant issues or stories making headlines around the world. 

Is there an event that has interrupted the regular broadcast schedule of major media outlets globally?

Breaking News English will also be reporting from the classroom.

What makes the difference between Breaking News English and other media outlets is that while the latter is concerned with the nitty-gritty of the issue, Breaking News English looks at how it can improve the skills of English language learners. 

Breaking News English reports beyond the facts. It breaks the grammar and the vocabulary. It explores what people are saying. It analyses what media have written.

 

On Breaking News English, there are thousands of resources on speaking, writing, listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary.

 

Let’s take a stroll on the site and see what they have to offer.

The first thing to notice about the website is how simple the layout is. On the homepage, you will find news headlines of the week. Two news lessons are published every week. Under each news item, you will have the date of the event. 

Teaching around that topic is organised according to the level of competencies in English. The same content can be taught to up to 6 different levels, from elementary to advanced. Each level represents the level of difficulty of the materials covered. Levels 0 to 3 correspond to a simple, while levels 4 to 6 represent more complex content.

 

For each level, learning activities are grouped under listening, reading, writing, speaking, vocabulary, grammar, spelling, matching, etc.

 

The site contains thousands of printable lessons, activities, and worksheets.

And all of these materials and resources a free.

 

Navigating the website is very easy. Its layout is simple.

 

My take:

Breaking News English is a site worth exploring for handy materials and resources for the classroom. 

Online Resources for ELT Professionals 1

Onestopenglish

Hello ELT!

We live in an era of abundant resources. There are so many online materials that we can use to boost our teaching. However, as I always say, more isn't always better!

Like the lonely Londoner, English language teachers can be frustrated choosing the correct resources for a particular lesson or teaching context.

In the following two articles, we will visit two websites where you can have some excellent resources for English language teachers and students.

Let us begin with Onestopenglish

 

Have you ever visited a one-stop-shop? Have you ever experienced the incredible feeling of shopping for all your items in a single shop and not moving from one shop to another?

Well, that does not happen only in a grocery or clothing shop! There is also a shop where you can have all the resources you need to teach and learn English. 

What are you looking for? Resources for teaching grammar? Vocabulary? Reading? Listening? Speaking? 

Are you searching for resources to help your students learn English independently? 

Let’s go shopping for some resources!

General presentation of the website

Onestopenglish contains more than 8000 resources. There are resources for each age group as well as for ELT. 

Resources for children

 

These resources are grouped into CLIL, Grammar, Sustainable Development and Global Citizenship, Support for Teaching Children, Vocabulary & Phonics and Warmers & Fillers.  

Resources for teenagers

In addition to the same sections for children, teenagers have resources for developing their skills, for General English and Exams. These include resources to prepare for Cambridge English Qualifications, IELTS, and TOEIC.

 

Resources for adults

Onestopenglish provides solid content for adult learners. In addition to the above sections, there are ESOL and Business and ESP resources. 

Resources for professional development

Onestopenglish is an excellent place where ELT professionals find resources for their classrooms and can also be brought to the spotlight by sharing their skills. Onestopenglish hosts a Lesson Plan competition and the winners have their resources shared on the website. It also contains abundant resources for Methodology, Classroom Management.

Onestopenglish also believes that teaching English is not only done onsite. The COVID-19 pandemic reminded online sceptics that education is fast-moving online. Do you plan to build a career online? Stop at Onestopenglish to learn about Tech tools for online teaching, Online Education, Interactive worksheets and tons of resources to launch your online teaching career.

Navigating the website

One thing that I love at Onestopenglish is how easy it is to search for resources. They know that teachers are very busy and have less time to search through tons of resources. Here is where the search filter of Onestopenglish comes in handy. 

You can filter resources by Language skills, Level, Format or Age.

Cons of Onestopenglish

As the saying goes, perfection is not of this world!

The website is not FREE! Not all resources on the website are free. To access some resources, you have to buy an annual subscription of £21.00.

You don’t mean it. Did you say £21.00 for 12 months! Yes, you have right. £21.00 for 12 months, £1.75 per month! Even though some materials are not free, the yearly subscription is still reasonably affordable. 

Overall, Onestopenglish is a great place to shop for pedagogic resources. 

Enjoy!

Have you ever used a resource from Onestopenglish? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

(All images credit: Onestopenglish)

Screencast-o-matic.com

Hello ELT!!

Let's continue to review what technology has to offer to an ELT teacher to facilitate learning.

Among the several challenges teachers face, teaching in difficult circumstances and with low resources is the most frustrating.

Have you ever taught English as a foreign language in a classroom of 120 students in the afternoon when they are likely to be tired and sleepy? How possible, you surely ask! Trust me, I have been there, and I know exactly where the shoe pinches and HURTS!

But teaching English shouldn't be a frustrating experience!

How do we make the experience enjoyable, even under challenging circumstances?

Here is where the screencast comes in handy!

What is a screencast?

Simply said, it is a video and audio recording of what occurs on your computer screen. In other words, anything found on a computer screen can be recorded as audio or video and shared.

How does that aid teaching and learning?

We live in an age where learners have a digital preference for learning. They would rather watch videos than read boring textbooks. They would give 100% vote to games and a veto to grammar exercises.

As ELT practitioners, we can capitalise on these learning trends to reach the same goals just in a traditional classroom!

Screencasting is also a very pragmatic way to engage learners before and after the classroom. It can be used as part of a flipped classroom or blended learning.

This is where teaching in large classrooms becomes less burdensome and scary to an extent.

Do you have activities for your learners, and you wonder how to effectively conduct the activities in a classroom of 80 students? Screencasting the exercise and sending them to your students before the lesson will help tremendously.

If you were born with a silver spoon of creativity in your mind, then conjure the spirit of creativity in you to make your videos interactive and fun.

What is the most challenging and boring English language lesson to teach and learn? Trust me, with screencasting, your students will learn that lesson without even realising it!

Now, enough with the chitchatting! Let's get down to some practical business!

How do you make a screencast?

You need screencasting software. There are several on the internet like Loom, Open Broadcaster Software, Filmora Scrn, Icecream Screen Recorder, Camtasia, Screencast-o-Matic.

In this article, my focus is on Screencast-o-Matic. I have a strong preference for this software for several reasons. 

It isn't that fussy!

It's simple to use 

And it is very easy to navigate. 

You don't need more than 30 minutes, and I mean it, more than 30 minutes, to become an expert user of Screencast-o-Matic.

   

Hey, I see you got an excellent grammar lesson lined up for your next class. What about Screencast-o-Maticating it! I mean, what about making a screencast of that lesson!

Before we look at what the website has got to offer, get your lesson or whatever resource you want to screencast ready in whatever format you want.

Now, let me take you on a quick tour of the Screencast-o-Matic website.

The first attraction of Screencast-o-Matic is that you don't need to create an account on the website to use it. Can you believe that? If you are anything like me, creating an account on any website can be very boring. 

You can start straight away by screencasting your lessons!

Click on the "Record for free" button to start the recording. It will 

A page like this will appear. Click on Launch Free Recorder

Once you launch the recorder, a frame will appear with recording boundaries. The frame is very important because the record will only capture content that appears within the frame. 

You can expand or minimise the frame but make sure the content you want to capture is within that frame.

You can choose to record with your webcam, on or without your webcam, or both. 

Once you are ready to screencast your content, clink on Rec and after three seconds, your recording will start. As long as your recording is on, whatever page or content you navigate to on your computer will be captured. You can move from one document to the other or on different folders on your computer or different tabs on your browser. 

Once you have finished recording your content, stop the recording and click on Done. A pop up will appear where you have options to save, share or edit your video. You can save your video and edit or share it later. 

If you decide to save your video, click on Save. A new pop up screen will appear with different saving options. You can either save it on the Screencast-o-matic website, on a folder on your computer, on Youtube or on your Google Drive. 

You can edit your video by adding captions, background music, and other animated content. 

It is as simple as this! 

I know you are saying it is easier said than done! 

Well, I've summarised this content in a screencast. Follow this link on Youtube to watch it.

Enjoy!

Have you ever tried screencasting in your classroom? Let's chat in the comment section!

(All images credit: https://screencast-o-matic.com/)

My Take on Kahoot!

 Let's Kahoot it!

 

Hello ELT!

Since Elliot Masie coined the word e-learning in November 1999 to describe online learning, the education industry has witnessed a boom in education technology. Learnplatform.com reports that US school districts used 1327 e-learning tools as learning shifted online during Covid-19.

Now, before you become excited at the idea of plenty, consider this…more isn't always better!

Choosing the appropriate e-learning tool among myriads is a daunting and overwhelming task. All the tools available out there may be aiming at the same goal, but they come with varying levels of complexity. Some of the tools require an excellent grip of tech-knowledge, while others are easy to navigate. 

As teachers, we've got so much on our plates: preparing lessons and materials, delivering the lessons, correcting students' homework, grading their scripts. Taking advantage of what technology has to offer is a great way to facilitate the load of teachers.

Today, I will walk you through Kahoot, one of the educational techs to spice teaching and learning, and I promise to keep it simple!

What is Kahoot?

It is a game-based educational tech founded in 2012 by Johan Brand, Jamie Brooker and Morten Versvik and released to the public in September 2013. 

It is a tool to create interactive learning games. If you want to break the ice or add some fun to your class, then Kahoot is the go-to platform. Kahoot quizzes (called Kahoots) are great ways for students to have fun and compete while learning. With Kahoot, the saying that "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy" will be a distant memory!

How to create a Kahoot activity?

It's as simple as ABC.

First thing first, create an account! 

Who does not know how to create an account these days? Nobody for sure! As long as you are an internet user, there is no platform you use without creating an account. With Kahoot, all you need is an email, username, password, and bingo! You are ready to use Kahoot!

Once in your account, the interface presents you with a few options.

Create a Kahoot!

To do this, click on the "Create" button, and several options will be presented to you. You may want to start a Kahoot from scratch or use one of the available templates.

Kahoot questions are MCQs with one correct answer. All you have to do is tick the correct answer before moving to the next question. You also can choose the type of questions (quiz, True or False, Puzzle…You can also set the time limit for each question, the number of points for each correct answer and the answer options. While setting up the question, you also have the option to insert videos, images, audio and gifs to add more fun to the activity. Once you are done setting your questions, save and exit.

Where do you find your Kahoot activity?

It's simple! Head to your account. There you will find several tabs. 

The Library tab

This is where all your Kahoot activities and games are saved.

The Report tab

Here, you will find all the Kahoot games you have played with your students. 

When you click on each Kahoot, it provides a detailed report of the activity: number of payers, the most challenging question, the percentage of the correct answer for each student, and so many other useful stats.

The Group tab

You may want to collaborate with a colleague to create and share Kahoot. You can do so under the group tab. Henry Ford said: "Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success." Get together with a colleague and create great instructional games!

The access pas tab

Do you want pre-prepared Kahoot games and activities? This is where to grab some. But watch out; they are not free. You need to subscribe to have access to this premium content. However, you do not need this pricey content because you can create excellent content with the free version of Kahoot!

Now that you have created your Kahoot, it's time to play it!

Head to the Library tab of your account or the Group tad if it is a group-created Kahoot, select a Kahoot and click on play! 

Once you click on play, you can play the Kahoot immediately or assign it to your students to play at a given date and at a given time.

Once you are ready to play, click on start, and a code will be generated. 

Here, you have several options to control students' participation. You may decide to pitch the students against each other or have them compete in groups or on shared devices. "You have the yam and you have the knife" Cut as you deem fit!

Send the code to your students, who will enter it on www.Kahoot.it to have access to the game. 

Once all the participants have locked in, start clicking on the questions to play the game!

Like any human activity, perfection is always an aspiration, not a reality, and Kahoot is no exception. Let's look at some pros and cons of the platform.  

My take

Now that you know what Kahoot is and how it can add flavour to your teaching, sign up, create fun games and Kohoot it!

 

Have you ever used Kahoot in your classroom? Leave your thoughts in the comment section!

(All images credit: http://kahoot.it)