New Tools
_ This is a
presentation of useful virtual media tools that you can include in your foreign
language teaching classes. All of the following tools can increase the pupils’
motivation and at the same time their media competences. The tools follow the
general tendency to create a virtual life besides the real life. If you are
aware of the fact that pupils also have to develop social competences in real
life and if you are willing to support their ability to combine the two worlds,
these tools can help to successfully integrate the two worlds into your classes.
Please bear in mind that legal aspects should always be respected.
Virtual Desk www.netvibes.com
_
This could
be the pupils’ welcome page where they put on their private tools like the access
tabs to their social network pages as well as some useful tools for their
foreign language acquisition. This could be a tab of a foreign language newspaper
that provides news of the day in the target language. They could also put on
the day’s weather forecast, a tab to some “jokes of the day” in the target
language or to a virtual vocabulary trainer. With these little tabs the pupils
could include the foreign language in their everyday life. They use the target
language without great efforts and sometimes maybe even notice the extension of
their vocabulary and the development of their comprehension of written language
and they could increase their cultural knowledge.
My personal experiences with this tool are rather rare. This is probably because I didn’t know about its existence. At first, it was a bit disturbing to have all tabs in front of you, blinking in different colors. But if you erase all advertisements and create a convenient order of tabs, it could be really useful.
My personal experiences with this tool are rather rare. This is probably because I didn’t know about its existence. At first, it was a bit disturbing to have all tabs in front of you, blinking in different colors. But if you erase all advertisements and create a convenient order of tabs, it could be really useful.
Social bookmarking www.delicious.com
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/4/7/9547768/1321720920.jpg)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeBmvDpVbWc
_
A page like
www.delicious.com is useful to collect links
and share it with others. You as the teacher could provide links to a special
topic and the pupils could use them for Internet research tasks. You could also recommend some useful dictionaries, a thesaurus or
reliable encyclopedia. But the pupils could propose and share links to helpful
websites as well. In addition, the pupils could create stacks where they can collect all their links, photos, videos etc. and present a whole collection of material about a special topic to all the others.
I have never used this tool during my schooldays or studies, but it could be very useful, especially if you do not have access to a virtual school platform or something like this.
I have never used this tool during my schooldays or studies, but it could be very useful, especially if you do not have access to a virtual school platform or something like this.
___ Virtual text-editing program www.edupad.ch
![Picture](/uploads/9/5/4/7/9547768/1321720251.jpg)
Source: www.edupad.ch
_ This program
can be used to write or edit a text with up to fifteen persons at the same
time. Each typing can be seen by the others and in a chat function they can
comment on the writing. This program is usable for in-class assignments as well
as homework activities. The pupils could create texts or dialogues in collaboration
with others in the classroom or they can meet at a specific time in the virtual
world and work together on the homework activities. In cooperation with others they
could improve their writing skills as well as their virtual social competences.
My first experience with this tool was a bit weird but I got used to it and in the end it was challenging and at the same
time motivating.
My first experience with this tool was a bit weird but I got used to it and in the end it was challenging and at the same
time motivating.