This week we were introduced to a great number of resources indispensable for teaching and learning process. We were given the links to web pages where we can make various exercises to use online and offline or to print them out.
Personally I enjoyed working with Server-Managed Interactive Exercises (SMILE). Though I spent some time learning how to create different activities it is really worth it. This program allows us to create different language exercises: Multiple-choice, True-false, Drag-drop matching, Sentence mix, Paragraph mix, Cloze, Multiple-select. You can also create an activity where you will include your exercises (or “items” as they are called in the program). What is really important, each activity has a unique URL, and students can access the tasks created by a teacher via this URL. And, of course, you can edit, add or, if necessary, delete activities.
Friday was a special day as I attended the webinar, organized by Jeff Magoto. He talked about ANVILL (A National Virtual Language Lab). I would say that ANVILL became my greatest discovery of this week. It offers such fantastic tools as Voiceboards, TCasts (teacher broadcasting), Livechat, Forums, Quizzes and Surveys, PracticalRecorder, Lesson Planning, Course Management. ANVILL is really one of the most appropriate tools for practicing oral communication.
One of the tasks for this week was to create some exercises that could be useful for teaching. I have created a survey “Technology and Foreign Languages Learning” URL: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEE5NEhiVVliMGVyWHJyb2h3MmN1bGc6MQ ) -
(using Google docs) to learn about students’ attitude to technology and its application to teaching/learning process; and an activity “Meetings”
URL: http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/mimea/smile/v2/viewActivity.php?ID=105081
(using program SMILE http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/mimea/smile/v2/) to check vocabulary and to practise idiomatic expressions on topic “Effective Meetings”.
We continue our work on a project and this week I presented a draft version of the project to my partners – Imas and Sagun, read their first versions and commented on them.
URL: http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/mimea/smile/v2/viewActivity.php?ID=105081
(using program SMILE http://clear.msu.edu/teaching/online/mimea/smile/v2/) to check vocabulary and to practise idiomatic expressions on topic “Effective Meetings”.
We continue our work on a project and this week I presented a draft version of the project to my partners – Imas and Sagun, read their first versions and commented on them.
What a busy and rewarding week!
Helen
Indeed, Helen! This has been a great week and I am only sorry I could not join you all yesterday, but school responsibilities have to be attended first. I am almost feeling the blues about the coming end of this course. We'll have to find a way to keep in touch.
ReplyDeleteHello, Luisa!
ReplyDeleteYou are absolutely right. We should keep in touch and I hope we will!
Helen
Of course we'll stay in touch. Nobody is going anywhere after this course. All of us will still be online and there will be various ways we can communicate.
ReplyDeleteI love your SMILE exercise, Helen. This tool is great for instructions and "modular learning" and it seems both of us have used it in a similar way.
Natasa
Thank you, Natasa, for encouraging words. Your SMILE activity is great.
DeleteHelen
Thank you, Natasa, for nice words. Your SMILE activity is great!
DeleteHelen
Hi Helen,
ReplyDeleteYou make me jealous with what you have done this week.
Great work, my friend
The
Thank you, The!
DeleteWe all are working hard these weeks.
Helen