Tools and free materials for educators

The web is now presenting us   plenty of  tools and resources which we can use for free. While working on line I came across these useful web links  which I am sharing with you.

I have also discovered a new tool which helps me be connected online in video conferencing with a maximum number of people and I don't need to be registered.
Here is the list I have prepared for this post: you will find information, guides and a lot of free materials which you can use in your lessons and with your students.    

Free books, courses and materials online:

http://www.openculture.com/free_k-12_educational_resources

Unesco Free Resources

http://www.unescobkk.org/education/ict/resources/publications/elibrary-themes/teaching-and-learning/directory-of-free-educational-resources-for-teachers/

Free digital story-telling tools

https://elearningindustry.com/5-ways-boost-your-workforce-performance

Free tools

http://www.edutechchick.com/teachers-tech-tool-kit-top-picks-for-2015/

Web tools for  Teachers

http://www.edudemic.com/best-web-tools/

Free guides to be downloaded

http://www.edudemic.com/guides/


https://convertio.co/it/                A free tool to convert documents 

Top Ten Learning  Tools for  2016   : source   http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/

Top 200 Tools for Learning 2016 from Jane Hart



A free  Video  Chat  &  Conference  Tool : Appear.in
In order to be able to connect with the other people in the room you need to have  Chrome or Mozilla  browsers. It is very easy to use. Just see the tutorial:

Elt and Technology : useful tips and ideas shared by Nik  Peachey  thanks to  Slideshare:

Online Tools and Resources for Teaching Young Learners from Nik Peachey

Empowering Teachers Through Self Publishing from Nik Peachey



Free Professional Development online : webinars

https://www.youtube.com/user/atesol


https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBQ58amRJh3anfDtob6sBSQ    ( American English) 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu378IVA2__mBS_AO5197FQ    ( Common Sense Education)

Raising Awareness about the Situation of Newly Arrived Migrants Reflections Week 2

The journey has continued, we have learnt from other teachers and  we have created a lesson and learnt about the best ways to approach the theme in our  classes.


It must be difficult but  it is  a " must do " lesson.

Also in my  region and the area where I live we have a lot of  immigrants and some refugees have arrived. They also arrived in the past.  We do need to know about them and their stories.


A more detailed overview is in my  website:  https://sites.google.com/site/thenewworldoflearning/learning-english/teaching-english



This is my learning  diary where I have shared some materials and more details about the topic: we have been informed and given some tips about the best ways to teache how to present and discuss the issue.  Learning can happen in different ways, by bringing the real world into our  classes and by helping learners to learn about  what is happening around us.

Raising Awareness about the Situation of Newly Arrived Migrants Reflections Week 1

I have already started a journey into diversity: this was two months ago and now  I am continuing it thanks to the MOOC which is run by the European platform  Teacher  Academy - check it on line:  http://www.schooleducationgateway.eu/en/pub/teacher_academy.htm

This month we are going to discuss an interesting topic "  Raising Awareness about the situation of Newly arrived Immigrants", by the end of the month I will have finished it and I will have started the third MOOC -  Integrating Newly Arrived Migrant Students in Schools

This is the presentation for the third MOOC which I am going to do next:

                                The Hashtag  :  #diversitymoocs                                                                 
Tweet riguardo #diversitymoocs

The week has started with lots of information about the present situation and in particular we have read and learnt about the problems of refugees in the Mediterranean area. As I live in Italy, I am aware of the great problem of thousands of immigrants who are trying to escape from wars and conditions of poverty in their lands. This is due to the fact that Italy is one of the nearest places where they are arriving or where they are forced to remain as some countries are not  ready to accept them. 

Teaching and Learning: what  other teachers and educators have  shared about  the issue .
DIGITAL STORYTELLING can be an interesting way for introducing the  topic in our  lessons.

Sway used in education

"Sway is a digital storytelling app for work, school and home that makes it quick and easy to create and share interactive reports, presentations, personal stories, and more. " This is the presentation which can be found online if you check the website .

I was a bit curious about it and so  after seeing a nice presentation created by a teacher who was working in a Mooc I decided to find more information about it.

Here is what I have learnt: it is easy to use and you can  make presentations in just a few minutes and what you have done can be shared and also embedded in websites and blogs.




References online to learn more about it:

https://sway.uservoice.com/knowledgebase

https://office-watch.com/2015/sway-privacy-and-offline-concerns/

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/microsoft-office-sway-online-tutorial

What some educators have done with their primary school students:

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/fa/ICTFalkirkPrimaries/sway-for-engaging-online-presentations/

‘Microsoft Sway – what it is, how to use it in the classroom, and how to create one’ by Fiona Beal from Schoolnet SA

Comparing the tool with what has already been  used in making presentations online: Emaze and Sway:

http://theprezenter.com/presentation-tools/sway-vs-emaze



More information about   Sway can be found in my  Tackk:

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Adobe Spark - a new tool, easy to use

This year Italian teachers are continuing their  professional development and learning more about  new media and new tools.
I have just learnt about  Adobe Spark as we are working on bettering digital competences in my school- Liceo Artistico G. Chierici in Reggio Emilia.The aim is to train teachers and later to use the new tools with our students.

Here is the  video presentation  I found on line about the tool:

Adobe Spark Overview part 1 from CreateEDU TV on Vimeo.



Here is my  Tackk where I have collected what educators have  written about it:

View Adobe Spark..... an interesting tool that can be learnt by anyone and it is useful for students for making presentations and narrating their stories . It's a tool teachers must " know".by Tiziana Angiolini full version on Tackk
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This is my first  attempt online:





Finally,  a nice video created by using   Adobe Spark- a nice document which I think is worth sharing:

Professional Development Autumn 2016

October and  November   2016

Professional  Development  for  Teachers 

From the Europenschoolnetacademy webpage to other  platforms we  have interesting webinars and courses   which can enhance teachers' development: learning online is now part of most of us - life -long learners.
Here are just a few  Moocs or courses:

• Collaborative  Teaching  and  Learning  

     starting on 24th October   2016

   http://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/web/collaborative-teaching-and-learning

• Raising Awareness about the Situation of Newly Arrived  migrants   starting on 31st October 2016    

       http://www.schooleducationgateway.eu/it/pub/teacher_academy/catalogue/detail.cfm?sid=26037

•  Teaching your  subject in English     starting on   31st October   2016   https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/cambridge-teach-in-english

I have been so impressed by some platforms that I cannot but try to do more courses. Most of these courses have the same  framework:
- weekly modules
-  a list of sources and  shared  materials by the teachers
-  working on an online activity to be evaluated by peers
-  videos and interesting  lessons online which can be assessed at anytime of the day
-  FB or Twitter chat
-  end of course  certificates
-  badges for the  activities  students have finished


I really think that  Moocs  will be the future of  education as most of educators  are workers and need to work on their self-development and chose when to do it .  Every month we can find new ones, some are good quality while others provide educational opportunities to people living in different parts of the  world who cannot afford to work and study abroad. In Italy we have started some platforms but I think that the most reliable are still the institutional platforms that can offer many  Moocs-   Coursera and Edx are really good and they are trying to specialize more......

More links can be found online   https://www.mooc-list.com/

Are all the  MOOC courses  free?  Yes, .... but.................in some cases if you want to showcase them you need to pay for the certificate of attendance. Futurelearn can offer free courses but  people will always have to pay to get the statement of accomplishment.
I think that we will have to pay for courses online also in the next years: how can universities  provide " free courses" to anybody? The cost of running a platform can be high and I have also faced problems with technology as sometimes we had problems with the assessments or they had to extend the time for assessment as the platform was not  accessible.

It is not the end of  MOOCs but .............we are moving towards a new  generation of courses and MOOCs as  today people are willing to study  from abroad and  I think  that this is a great business.

Competences for the 21st Century Schools

Teaching in the XXI  century


I have just finished the Mooc which was run by the European Platform  Schooleducationgateway.
It was an engaging activity online where I had to read and to watch videos about the issue of 21st century skills and education today.
I have learnt from the other teachers and we have shared ideas and learnt together: we are a community of  teachers who are learning and we are trying to better education in our countries.

Here you can find  the hashtag which they had on Twitter.


Tweet riguardo #21skillscourse


I have also written my learning diary about what I have learnt.  I am still learning and I feel that I will have to work on rubrics and  new  tasks to work with my students.
In particular we have to work on activities that develop specific  skills while at school we still teach content and students do not work on their knowledge and work on projects  like  PBL activities.
It is important to develop the skills the students will require at work and when they become older as today what we learn at school is not always useful in the working environment.
Critical thinking, creativity, learning how to work in team, making  decision and collaborating are just some of the competences which we need to teach our learners. Today we are more aware of the complexities of the society and the use of new web tools can also enhance our learning.


I am still  trying to better my knowledge and I hope I will become  a  21st century  teacher!!

View Competences for the 21st CENTURY SCHOOLS 19th September- 16th October 2016                   My Learning Diary                     by Tiziana AngioliniTeacher of English and German in Italy full version on Tackk
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