Summer time : time for CPD while sitting on the sofa at home

THE POWER OF  LEARNING ............ALSO  IN THE SUMMER 


The summer has arrived with lots of interesting activities on  line for  teachers.  Among the many activities which can be done from home, you just need to sit on a  sofa and have your  tablet or  a laptop and  then  .................................you can start your  journey to recharge your  batteries and learn more for your  professional development.

SIMPLEK12  is a nice website for teachers and they run regular webminars for those who need to implement their technologies. Just check the webminar pages and you need to register to have access to the webminars. You need to register to the site, but if you do not want to pay, webminars are free. Those you register and pay for an annual subscription  will get  a certificate of attendance.

For teachers who are  interested in learning more about  e-learning and  might be interested in teaching on line  Coursera  has  just started  an interesting course on line. 

The course  started in July and  there might be another course this year:
COURSERA LEARNING TO TEACH ON LINE

The course has provided me with a long list of weblinks , new tools and also  more knowledge about  CC and  copyright.

The  Resource  Library is very rich and I feel that this link should be shared:

SELECTING TECHNOLOGIES AND OUTCOMES

TOOLS DIRECTORY 

If you do not have the time for doing a course you might be interested in  watching some old webminars dealing with education and web 2.0 tools: here is the link to the archive 


CLASSROOM 2.0 ARCHIVE OF WEBMINARS 



Have a nice summer and enjoy your CPD

https://www.flickr.com/photos/eltpics/21193619424/in/dateposted/

Photo by @sandymillin
Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0) 

More about WEBTOOLS used for BLENDED LEARNING AND FLIPPING

After doing the interesting MOOC aboout WEB 2.0 with Coursera this spring, now  I have started a new journey into the  use of  technology to make our teaching and learning much better. I am doing a course about  TEACHING ON LINE, which sounds  a great way for improving my  teaching.


The first thing  I have  revised are web 2.0 tools and I came across this interesting presentation:there is a long list of tools among which  some are now well-known in my country too, but others are not  used because at school and at home we do not have a good internet  connection.  Once more  technology can help us but we do neet  a better learning  environment and  a good teaching team.  Some tools are  really easy to use, thus we should all try to choose  which one we want to try.

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2014 from Jane Hart

Here are somo free tools for teachers  who need to work on line  

Thanks to a recent  webminar on line with  professor  Jiim  Baker  I  saw the use of   TWIDUCATE  http://www.twiducate.com/   . It is a tool can be used for collaboration on line, sharing ideas, posting activities on line, it is a sort of  TWITTER - a social network but for students.

EDMODO  

https://www.edmodo.com

Edmodo is an easy way to get your students connected so they can safely collaborate, get and stay organized, and access assignments, grades, and school messages.

https://www.blendspace.com/

Usefull webtool for creating lessons, tasks: you can find lessons in the Gallery. 

CLASSFLOW
https://classflow.com/


Class management tool, it can be used for  assessment and collaborative learning. You can use it to create lessons and  your classes are on line. You can have a free account. 

To be continued ............................................

MY CPD - SHARING INTERESTING WEBSITES FOR LEARNING

Thanks to SYMBALOO I have now collected my best  favourite sites/ blogs which are now part of my CPD.

After doing  two interesting MOOC courses with COURSERA  I have now learnt that my  profession is undergoing changes but we should all share new  things which we have learnt.

These are two important collections which I have decided should be shared and  used by other teachers willing to learn on line.

  Important websites where you can do on line courses and MOOCS: some are really great and should have  a look at them.
The second is the colletion of my favourite sites where you can see about  modern technologies and learn more.
I hope you will enjoy most of them!  




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MY PLN - MOOC COURSE ABOUT GAMES spring-summer 2015

After a  first MOOC with this European organization I  took a second  course about  Games:  this is  the link to the course provider http://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/

It was something new for me, but it offered interesting ideas about the best ways for  using computers and  games in projects and  school activities.
I also carried out  my personal research about games in ELT and  I discovered interesting websites.
This is my  learning  diary and the final activity which I have submitted.

Created with Padlet

After I finished each module I took a test and got a badge. The final project made me think about the many possibilieties of using games in education. Here is a list of useful websites, more can be found in my learning diary which you can find in the padlet I have embedded .

The following  link offers a useful  guide for  teachers of ENGLISH  and  games in education:


http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2015/06/13/the-best-online-learning-games-of-2015-so-far/

The course  provided us with a list  of  commercial  games and we could  discuss them and introduce more  games:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZvlHGXJEPBRcPi7Gm_Tsroq6CaoW6rrj3JWs9YU5Fp0/edit?pli=1


My personal research made me try  and see more  games and their use in  ELT:

http://www.teachercast.net/check-out-these-great-livebinders-to-support-english-language-education/

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=331059

This link  can offer  links to many   useful activities

http://www.e-learningforkids.org/

SCIENCE

http://www.e-learningforkids.org/science/lesson/shaping-the-earths-surface/

http://www.e-learningforkids.org/science/lesson/air-pollution/

LIFE  SKILLS

http://www.e-learningforkids.org/life-skills/

ELT games  can be found  by  following this link:

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/learning-english/games-social/

There are different levels and you should see which is the right one for your students: this is  a useful game for  students whose level is B1- C1.




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 To be continued........................................

MY PLN- A COURSE ABOUT THE USE OF TABLETS

EUROPEAN SCHOOLNET ACADEMY- COURSES FOR TEACHERS ON LINE 

Spring can be a busy  period for  a  teacher but  I am going to present my learning diary about an interesting MOOC which  I did after I finished the Course about  WEB 2.0 TOOLS with  COURSERA. For me last spring was inspiring because I learnt a lot, first of all we could  share ideas about  new technologies and see what other  teachers have  done or  are going to do thanks to the new learning  environment that is changing the way we  work at school now.  This is their presentation on line:

This time the course was run by a European institution, while COURSERA  is  based in the USA but  they offer courses from AUSTRALIA and other  countries, and  this MOOC made me learn more about the use of  tablets and how to make  lessons more engaging.  It is not  a rule to use them in all the lessons but you can discover a new  world of learning.
Here is my diary- at the end of the course I had to create a lesson/project using  tablets: I wish I could do this with my classes next year. Maybe lessons would be  less boring and  everybody would be  an active  learner. What I could see on line  was great: have a look and you will understand that education  is   improving now ....
SHARING ideas   was  great and I learnt from the  others.

Created with Padlet

This padlet is a summary of some the works teachers worked on while doing the MOOC: you will find  great activities and lots of ideas based on what we learnt.

 

Created with Padlet

IATEFL CONFERENCE MANCHESTER 2015

Manchester Online 2015 LINK

I have  just  received the invation from ManchesterOnline IATEFL  2015 : it is my first time on line and I am going to  see this  Conference on line from  home. It is an important event and I am going to  see what is  happening, what  new  ideas  are  developed.  If you  click and follow the link you will be able to have  access to it. I must  confess that it is a new experience and  I am  eager at learning more. The event can be followed on twitter   @iateflonline and  even if  I am at school I am willing to see some  parts of the  Conference.  I am attending  this Conference as a virtual blogger but  the curiosity has made me decide to see it.

This is the blog where I am going to post my comments about  what I have learnt:

MY BLOG ABOUT EDUCATION

I have already found some interesting  speakers at the  Conference and their  presentations: this is my website, the new one which I have  just  started and where I am going to write more. 

https://sites.google.com/site/thenewworldoflearning/home/iatefl-on-line-manchester-2015

So let's start the journey and see what is going on!!

Friday   10th April  2015 

PLN and what I have learnt from the WEB 2.0 TOOLS course with COURSERA

The journey into my  WEB 2.0 TOOLS  course has ended, I am still waiting for my  certificate and yet I am missing the lessons, the forums and the interesting people I have met because I have learnt a lot from them!
I have seen nice projects, I have learnt about  new tools and  now  I am eager to learn more.






   I have developed my PLN and I will continue to do this in the future.
I wish to thank all the people from COURSERA who  ran this  great  course which was so interesting and provided us with plenty of ideas.

But I would also say thank you  to people I have met thanks  to TWITTER  because I have  learnt more about teachers who are  sharing and learning.
The following link can provide you with more information about   these tools which  should be known by  most of  teachers and students:

http://www.livebinders.com/shelf/search?search=&terms=Web 2.0&type=3


https://www.pinterest.com/esheninger/web-2-0-tools-for-educators/


One of the  teachers has  shared this  teaching-Toolbox :

https://papaly.com/User42095/b5dZ/My-Teaching-Toolbox


In  Italy there is  a thriving community on line  where  teachers  share their  experience 

https://insegnantiduepuntozero.wordpress.com/



So .... there is more to learn  about   and  BECOME  A BETTER  TEACHER!