Placement test for learners of English Placement tests are very important for students of languages. First, they can serve as motivation because they show whether the students improved their knowledge. Second, they help students choose the correct course on their level. And last but not least they inform students how good their English is. However, good placement tests are very expensive and mostly printed. That is why we have decided to create a placement test that will be available for free and in electronic form. The test contains 60 questions. If you are taking the test on a mobile device, it might be more comfortable to see it full screen. Placement test As there were some problems with the server, I have added the flash version of the test. Placement test – flash And here is another HTML5 version of the test, but it is placed on a different server. Placement test – HTML5 If you have a blog or a website where you would like to share this test, you can do so by placing the following code there. Placement test_print
10 Signs You're a Tech Savvy Teacher Are you a plugged-in, twittering ed-tech expert, or a terrified technophobe with a dusty blackboard? If you think you’re brave enough to find out, test yourself against these top ten signs you’re a tech savvy teacher…how many will you tick?! 1. You think PowerPoint is as outdated as flared trousers and lava lamps – your idea of a fantastic slideshow involves moving images, embedded audio and a zooming overview of the whole presentation. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. What makes you a tech savvy teacher? First picture courtesy of Flickr, Tweek Second picture courtesy of Flickr, Brandonprinceabroad Feature picture courtesy of Flickr, DubsarPR
15 Free Tools for Web-based Collaboration No man (or woman) is an island – and this statement can’t be any truer if you’re a designer or developer. Though paid/subscription services like Basecamp and Zimbra are great, individuals strapped for cash have a ton of alternatives that provide similar (if not better) features. In this article, you’ll find 15 free tools to help you facilitate remote/web-based collaboration. Whether you need basic whiteboarding/brainstorming tools or fully-featured project management applications – you should be able to find a tool or two that’s worth checking out. Google Docs Google Docs is an excellent application for collaboration. Stixy Stixy is a flexible, online “bulletin board”/drawing board. Project2Manage Project2Manage is a fully-featured, free, hosted solution for project management and collaboration (similar to Basecamp). bubbl.us bubbl.us is a free, web-based application for collaborative brainstorming. Dabbleboard Dabbleboard is a robust, online whiteboard that’s easy to use. Protonotes Twiddla
Utiliser Skype Mystère pour découvrir le monde Vous cherchez une activité pour créer un moment spécial dans votre classe ? Internet permet de créer des connexions impossibles avant celle-ci. L’activité Skype Mystère est un bel exemple d’une activité simple et qui peut transformer l’atmosphère de votre classe. Audrey Miller du site Infobourg a écrit sur le sujet il y a une dizaine de jours. Le Skype Mystère est une activité qui intègre TIC et collaboration. Cette idée a vu le jour avec l’arrivée de Skype in the classroom. Voici la description de cette initiative gratuite. Skype in the classroom est un moyen simple et gratuit pour les enseignants d’ouvrir leur salle de classe. Comment est-il possible de mettre en place un Skype Mystère ? L’équipe de la iClasse a publié un article qui donne des règles de bases pour le bon déroulement de cette activité. 1.
iLearn Technology Creative teaching resources | Sparky Teaching Pinterest YouTube Facebook Twitter We like to think our teaching resources are a little bit different... Resources with a twist, so to speak. Our resources have been used by schools all over the UK and US, as well as other countries including Australia, Canada and New Zealand, and we hope you find something here that resonates. For schools with a sparky ethos. Find out more > Mathematips Revision cards that celebrate the visual and beauty in maths. Find out more > Scientips Science key words and tips - sparky style! Find out more > e-SENSE TRAVELCARDS Send e-Safety messages home with your students. Find out more > Revision tips cards with a twist to keep your students motivated. Find out more > Reward who your students are as well as what they've done. Find out more > Every so often we make a video for you... Find out more > Hook your students into learning key words, designing fair tests and actually enjoying the write-up! Find out more > Spelling, punctuation and grammar with a twist... Find out more >
Wrong Focus: Teacher-Centered Classrooms and Technology There is a buzz around me these days about how EdTech is failing to live up to its promise fueled primarily by the In Classrooms of Future, Stagnant Scores. What is surprising to most when they share this piece with me or ask me my opinion about the failures of EdTech is my response. For the most part, I agree that it is failing but that failure has more to do with us than with the technology. Why? We continue to focus on the value of EdTech by what the teachers do with it NOT what the students do with it.We continue to focus on the value of EdTech by what happens to high stakes, standardized test scores. Teacher-Centered Classrooms/Technology When the focus of technology is on the teacher and teaching not learners and learning, it is easy to see EdTech as a failure: a waste of time, money, and resources. Is it any wonder we find ourselves unable to fulfill the promise we’ve preached about EdTech? Look at the front of the classroom from the students’ perspective. Now flip it. Paper. Really?
Correcting writing: 8 practical ideas Correcting students' writing is something we do on a very regular basis. And the feedback we give depends on many factors. For example, with more creative writing (e.g. compositions, reviews, stories, etc.) we will clearly want to demonstrate our interest in the content, apart from just using our red pen. Depending on the level and the assigned task, we might want to zoom in only on certain mistakes and ignore others (e.g. correct use of past simple). Below I’ve listed some of the most popular correction techniques (I use error and mistake interchangeably here): Using symbols:Most teachers use correction codes which can be written either above the mistake or on the margins. Ideally, we'd like our students to spot and correct the mistakes themselves.
An Introduction to Technology Integration Sal Khan: People have been integrating technology in the classroom forever. What I think is really exciting about what we're seeing now is that technology is being used to fundamentally transform what the classroom is. Fundamentally transform what you can do with a classroom. Adam Bellow: I think to define technology integration, it's really using whatever resources you have to the best of your abilities. Technology, it's a tool. It's what you do with that tool, what you can make, what you allow the students to make. Divya (student): This is a list of different applications that you can use to like make music or do art. Divya: My eyes were drooping. Mary Beth Hertz: Students today are creating using digital tools. Mary Beth: Kids can create podcasts, movies, songs to express their ideas, express their thoughts. but also to express their learning. Adam: When you create, you take ownership of your learning. Mary Beth: And sometimes they learn things we didn't expect them to learn.
Write and Improve: An Online writing helper Writing is probably the most difficult area for learners to improve on by themselves. Writing demands an audience and if you have no-one to tell you how successful your efforts are – or not – then you are doomed to repeat your failures into eternity. Cambridge English have, however, just released a beta version of an online, browser based writing helper. Currently free to use and requiring only a facebook login (or email registration), the service allows learners to input their answers to one of the five questions provided (or submit a piece of writing of their own choice) and to get feedback on their efforts. In the screenshot above, the highlighted text at the bottom of the image is the submitted text. You’ll also notice the “tabs” under the heading Detailed Feedback these are meant to provide a closer look at what errors the writer has made and give suggestions for improving them: As it stands, the feedback it gives is primarily linguistic and syntactical. So who should use this tool?
Teacher Guides These guides come in very handy for every teacher looking to better integrate technology into his/her teaching. They are very simple,developed in a step by step process, illustrated by pictures, diagrams, video tutorials, and examples, and concluded with a webliography containing links to a variety of other websites relevant to the topic under discussion. Needless to mention the pedagogical implications we include in the review of the web tools we feature in our guides. @import url( Custom Search Educators Technology See On About Us Educational Technology and Mobile Learning is operated by a team of dedicated teachers located in Canada. Google+ Followers Subscribe To Posts All Comments Copyright © 2011-2014.Please feel free to reuse or share content under a Creative Commons Attribution license unless otherwise noted.