English Central Videos

http://www.englishcentral.com/videos

Many thanks to Dorota for flagging this one up. It's a (primarily) US site but don't let the accents put you off using the videos as the resources themselves make up for that (to us UK English people)  in spades! There is, in fact, a 'see Britain' section where a number of the voices have British English accents (e.g. http://www.englishcentral.com/video/16402/freedom-of-speech).

As this screenshot shows you have a video (choice of thousands) which is labelled by approximate level. You watch and listen and can click on any word as you go for a definition. There are then 'learn', 'speak' and 'quiz' sections on each as follow up. Each one is a lesson in itself and could be used whole group or individually if chosen carefully by the teacher. There's a mobile version and a history of videos watched which would be useful for students who want to track their progress. The premium version gives you unlimited access and allows for course and class creation and management. I wasn't able to see what the limits were on the free account but Dorota says she has been using for a while with no issues. 

For teachers there are some case studies of how it can be used like this one 

assessment without paper : vocaroo mp3

listen to ‘assessment without paper : vocaroo mp3’ on audioBoom

assessment without paper:using audioboom

listen to ‘assessment without paper:using audioboom’ on audioBoom

will teachers be replaced by technology?

Trucano (2015, online) addresses this fear head on. Using historical, research and experiential justifications he draws the following conclusions with which I wholeheartedly concur: 

"Introducing new technologies will not replace teachers.
Experience from around the world shows us that, over time, teachers' roles become more central -- and not peripheral -- as a result of the introduction of new technologies.
Introducing new technologies will, however, replace some of the things that teachers do -- and require that teachers take on new, often times more sophisticated, duties and responsibilities.

That said, teachers who don't use technology will be replaced by teachers who do" (my italics)

That fear is perhaps justified when compounded by the evident glee with which performative and audit driven tech based systems are introduced in some areas of education but it is the application and use of technology in effective ways to support teaching and learning that needs to be embraced. Distinctions need to be made by properly trained teachers between monitoring tools and teaching/ learning tools as a first step towards undermining ongoing resistance. 


Trucano, M. (2015) Will technology replace teachers? No, but ... [online]. Available at: <http://blogs.worldbank.org/edutech/tech-and-teachers>  

That said, teachers who don't use technology will be replaced by teachers who do."

super action hero comic maker

and stop frame tool online. Only had a little fiddle but seems simple enough. Perhaps a little limiting but fun and has clear potential

http://www.culturestreet.org.uk/activities/superactioncomicmaker/

Although they are designed for kids the lesson plans might be of interest to some colleagues too. 

http://www.culturestreet.org.uk/teachers/shipwrecks/index.php 

some additional how to vids

How to create a collaborative presentation using Google slides
How to Blendspace



Next level Blendspace- tracking and adding students- increasing interaction

quiz template