TodaysMeet

Screenshot 1: Home page of TodaysMeet

Description

A website where many users get to meet up in a chatroom and discuss using chat function (Screenshot 2)

Screenshot 2: Create or choose a room with delete options

Steps

1. Visit the website at http://todaysmeet.com/

2. Firstly create a room by entering the room name and delete time. After you create the room, you can key in your user name and wait for others to turn up.

3. You can give the link of the room to others so they can access the room and start chatting with you.

Advantages

1. All data and chats wil be stored as long as the time you want.

2. You can also save the date and put it up on display online for others to view.

Disadvantages

1. You cannot filter the chats so things might get out of control in the chat room.

2. There is no one moderator that can lead. It all depends on everyone's cooperation.

Suggestions to improve

This website can be improved if it can have smaller rooms specialised for group discussion and chatting while lesson in case any group discussion is needed among the students.

Brainshark

Screenshot 1: Home page of brainshark

Description

Brainshark is a tool that allows user to insert narration into presentation such as word document, video, powerpoint and photo album. What users need to do is upload their files and add audio files into it.

How to use in classroom

1. Teacher can use brainshark in classroom by asking students to do a powerpoint presentation of anything they are interested in or about their family or life.

2. Upon finishing the powerpoint presentation, students can add audio files, recording of their own voice explaining the powerpoint presentation. After that students can email the powerpoint file with audio to their teacher.

3. Teachers can then reply giving comments on their language use or just focus entirely to the discussion of the topic the student write to further encourage speaking and discussion session.

Advantages

1. The tool is free.

2. Help improve multiple skills such as speaking and writing at the same time.

3. Can be set private or shared public.

4. The tool allows students to be more creative with their presentation style. Allows freedom to be creative.

5. Students can practice at home. This will reduce their anxiety filter and make them calm. They can also practice at their own pace to produce the presentation that they want.

6. The presentation can be emailed and embedded to the blog.

Disadvantages

1. Time consuming to construct the narration and the powerpoint. Cannot be done at class, needs to be homework. Classroom for preparation only.

2. Cannot be download to computer but only can be viewed online. Might be troublesome for places with no internet connection.

3. Needs to have microphone, computer and internet connection. So, some students might not be able to afford to do it at home if they do not have the necessary equipment. However teacher can try to make it a group task and assign each group to have members with the equipments at home. Or simply ask them to come and record their voice using school or teacher's computer one person or one group at a time.

Suggestions to improve

This tool will be next to complete if the presentation can be downloaded to computer and saved.

Elllo

Screenshot 1: EllloEnglish home page

Description

This is a website filled with activities that suit all type of learners with all different levels provided targeted to help improve listening skills. This website has 5 different main columns, Views, Mixer, Games, News and Scene. Let's first try to understand the function of each column.

a) Views

When you open the Views column, you wil come across audio files with speaker talking about some issue and expressing their views. You will find lots of interesting issues and different type of speakers from all over the world expressing their views.

Screenshot 2: Various audios in the View section

b) Mixer

In the column Mixer, you will come across audio files with 6 speakers talking about the same issue. The speakers might varied from native speaker to other foreign speakers as well. Here you will get to listen to the discussion and debate over the same issue by 6 speakers with different views.

Screenshot 3: Various audios in Mixer section

c) Games

In the Games section, you will come across audio files with a speaker expressing their view on something with games and fun activities to do in regards to the speakers dialogue. You will get to test your skills by playing the games and fulfilling the instructions.

Screenshot 4: Various audio files in Games section

d) Videos

The Video section offers various type of videos with different type of speakers speaking about different things. Here you get to listen and watch the speakers' facial expression at the same time. 

Screenshot 5: Various videos in the Videos section

e) News

Lastly in the News section, you will come across news audio files with different topics and current updates from time to time for the purpose of listening.

Screenshot 6: various news up for listening in News section

Advantages

This website offers different type of audio files, single speaker, group speaking, audio or video and with fun activities for users to choose from. It will not stop to entertain frequent user in many ways too with all the current updates of news and activities. It also has twitter accounts for user to follow to new updates. Furthermore it expose learners to various accents of speakers from around the world. Some of the audio in the new version is also downloadable.

Disadvantages

1. Some topics might not be appropriate for young learners.

2. The accent might make it a bit difficult for young learners to understand.

Suggestions to improve

This website will be able to be more suitable for younger learners if it has automatic under-18 filter function. Apart from that, it will be very much useful for learners to improve their learning skills.

Wordle

Screenshot 1: Home page of Visuwords

Description

This is an interesting website where user get to create word cloud from a text they want to discover. The word cloud comes in different shapes and can be stored in the website's archive. 

Steps

1. First you need to create your own cloud if you want to try make a text into a word cloud.

2. Then you need to paste the text into the space provided.

Screenshot 2: Paste your text and click Go to make a word cloud.

3. You can get different type of clouds from your text. Adjust the shape and size according to your liking. You can change the layout and design too.

4. The word which is bigger is being repeated more often in the text.

Advantages

1. The word cloud can be used for pre-reading purposes. The colour and interesting sizes, design and layout will make it pleasurable to view.

2. You can change the layout and design according to your likings.

3. You can save and store your creation in the website archive or check out the creation by others and try to guess what the text is all about.

4. You can also print the word cloud you like.

Disadvantages

1. User cannot edit the format of words in the word cloud.

Suggestions to improve

It will be very exciting if the website allows editing of word format in the word cloud.

Visuwords

Screenshot 1: Home page of Visuwords

Description

A website which focus more on word type relationship with many functions to be used. You can simply key in one word you want to discover and then a mind map or diagram will come out with other words related in the word you keyed in in many other ways.

Steps

1. First open the home page: http://www.visuwords.com/.

2. Then key in the word you want to discover in the word search section.

3. Next you can analyse the diagram appeared.

Screenshot 2: Analyse the diagram and find out word relationships

4. You can further choose any other related words and further discover other related words then.

Advantages

1. Provide detail information at word level with different sort of diagram indications to show different relationship. There are nouns, verbs, adjectives and other type of classes.

2. Diagram is colourful and interesting. This might attract the interest of learner.

3. The diagram can be made bigger or smaller according to user's interest.

4. By pointing the mouse pointer to a word in the diagram, description and information of the word will appear for users to check.

Disadvantages

1. Although the function in this website is fancy and fun-looking, it does not really serve any very useful purpose. I mean if I want to look up word meaning, I would rather open up a dictionary rather than going on the website and try to understand all the different colours and type of diagram indications.

2. This website can be quite hard for colour-blind people because of all the colours shown.

Suggestions to improve

1. It can have a simple dictionary function to ease meaning finding task.