basic tools for language teachers: itilt
TRANSCRIPT
Digital toolsBasiceduca*ontechnology
forlanguageeduca*on
12 tools plus 1
• getting started
• writing and feedback
• collaboration and sharing
• audio and video
• social media
• low-tech classes
Getting started
1. passwords
2. online office suite
3. message board
4. link shorteners
1.PasswordsLastPass is a password manager that saves your passwords online and lets you access them from one master password (the *last pass*word you’ll need from now on). It can generate secure passwords, but I don’t risk this (if you have connectivity problems you can’t retrieve these from memory). Instead I create my own passwords with a keyword system and save them to LastPass.
I suggest this as my first tool for learning because it’s the obvious first hurdle to using almost any platform, tool, or application and I find until students or trainees are confident logging in and out of multiple sites, it’s difficult to build up confidence or expertise.
An associated tool is Xmarks, which lets you synchronise bookmarks across browsers and devices, which I also find useful for moving between machines, though if you share computers it might not be so relevant.
2.GoogleappsOnce you have your password manager set up, my next recommendation is Google Drive, where you have e-mail (Gmail), online storage (Google Drive), online wordprocessing (Google Docs) and spreadsheets (Google Sheets), as well as Calendar, Slides, and Forms (for online surveys, questionnaires, and tests). Also worth a look are Sites for building your own websites or getting learners to do so, and Communities for working with groups.
I find these work well for planning my teaching, administration (attendance, grades), giving feedback on student writing (Docs), or collecting links to sound files, for example (Forms). We have run telecollaborative projects on G-Drive, using a private folder to save student-teacher video selfies, with sub-folders for class tandems to share their learners’ productions and prepare collaborative papers and presentations.
If you have multiple Google accounts it’s worth associating one account with one browser (work gmail on Firefox, home gmail on Chrome, for example) to avoid problems signing in and out. I have never found the offline functionality anything close to effective, so only for use with good internet connectivity.
3.PadletThe next most useful tool for language teachers is an online message board like Padlet.
This platform allows you to create a single page and add short texts, links, audio files or PDFs like post-its.
Teachers can use it to prepare resources to share during class or for homework, and learners can post assignments or collaborate in brainstorming activities.
The platform offers a range of options, including private and public boards.
4.LinkshortenersOnce you begin sharing links to resources with your learners, you soon need a good way to communicate addresses quickly and easily.
Tools for making long urls shorter can save a lot of trouble. Just copy your long link to generate a much shorter one which learners can copy without mistakes. • goo.gl • bit.ly • ow.ly • is.gd
And if you find you need to copy a clean link found via Google search without the
Google redirect, try duckduckgo.com
Writing and feedback
• Google docs
• Evernote
5.Googledocs Google docs is useful for your own writing, but also for use with learners. They can edit their own documents, prepare translations in groups, or submit work for evaluation and you can set access to private (sign-in), public (no sign-in) or an intermediate option with files accessible only via link.
I find the Docs interface (there is also one for Sheets, etc) less easily navigable than Drive. Also be aware that you need a computer for full functionality – on smartphones and tablets comments are not accessible, for example.
6.EvernoteEvernote is very useful for taking notes offline and saving all sorts of bits and pieces which you can tag and sort into Notebooks or leave unorganised to search. The search function is great and it works offline.
There’s an app for your phone but the free version limits the number of devices you can connect to 2, and I use Evernote on my laptop and home computer.
Collaboration and sharing
• Dropbox
• Weebly
7.DropboxAfter Google apps perhaps the single most useful tool, Dropbox lets you save files and synchronise across devices. I use it to save teaching materials (slides, handouts) but also for collaborative research writing with colleagues in other countries. Accessible offline, syncs in the background, usable like a drive or folder on your own computer.
One thing to be careful about: the default drag and drop which copies a file from one drive to another in other circumstances moves the file on Dropbox. So if you download a file from a shared folder you delete that file for others. Doesn’t work well on an external drive; you must save your local version on your local hard drive.
8.WeeblyThis free website platform lets you make your own website with images, media, and other links very easily and intuitively.
It has the advantages over Google sites of
a) letting you create classes with your students’ names and e-mails, and
b) making comments on pages easy to see.
Audio and video
• VLC
• SoundCloud
9.VLC
For language teachers, you need the digital audio player VLC, which plays any format you can imagine.
Another useful digital audio editor is Audacity. Most language teachers use this tool to create short audio clips for class, and it is also good for editing learner recordings.
10.SoundcloudThis open platform is a good place to share audio files, which you or your learners can upload and save privately, share to a select audience, or open to the world.
With adult learners you can outsource the recording (smartphones), uploading (SoundCloud), and sharing (Google Forms) so you can focus on the feedback.
11.TwiOerI use the microblogging site to find and communicate useful resources for teaching (educator blogs, tools, pedagogical resources) and research (conference and journal calls for papers, new publications).
Many teachers find Facebook a more convenient alternative; Twitter may suit those who prefer to keep professional and personal networks separate.
12.scoop.itI save online references to curated sites to help me keep track of resources and tools. The advantages include the possibility of • tagging for future retrieval by me or others • highlighting key information and posting
comments • immediate sharing on networks. My sites are here:
• Teacher Education in Languages with Technology
• Learning technologies for EFL • au service de l’innovation
pédagogique I notice service for the free version of Scoop.it has fallen off and it may not be worth starting there now, though you can still find many useful resources.
Low-tech classes
Finally, special mention for technology you can use in class without technology: with Plickers, learners hold up paper cards to answer pre-set or spontaneous multiple choice quizzes, and the teacher records them via smartphone.
