English Virtual Community

Interactive whiteboards have become more prevalent in classrooms. These whiteboards offer an alternative method of teaching by physically engaging students. The touch sensitive screen on interactive whiteboards provides teachers with a learning tool that can bring an entire class together.  Why Use an Interactive Whiteboard? ESL teachers can use online literacy activities and games that have been pre-made (See suggested links below) and specially designed for interactive whiteboard lessons. However, if a teacher is interested in creating their own activities they could try using "Microsoft Word" and "Paint". Using them on the whiteboard, students will become familiar with these common computer programs and are able to show creativity in their work. Some literacy activities the teacher can create with the students are:  1. Cloze activities (fill in the blanks). 2. Highlighting ("Paint" highlight pen). 3. Handwriting ("Paint" with writing ...

School year is about to start in Argentina and I am thinking about which tools I can suggest teachers to use in their IT projects. We can start talking about Google docs which can be used for IT projects with students and colleagues. Let's watch a Plain English video to understand the concept of this fantastic tool. Personally, I do not save my files in the hard disk any more. I use Google Docs because I have access to all my files from any computer with Internet conection.  Sharing files is very useful and important. I hardly take xerox copies or print documents. I just share my files with the people I am working with. Google Docs not only reduces our shelves burden with piles of sheets of paper but also contributes to   protect the environment. Here is an example of an IT poject using Google presentations: Spring in art

Throughout my own education I have considered myself a “visual learner”. I always found mind-maps and diagrams very useful because I could remember the information by displaying it in a visual format. If you want to read about mind mapping, click HERE There are many online mind maps makers but Popplet is one of the simplest. Watch this video to have a better idea of this online tool:   Adavantages:  The site is clean and simple. Ideal to use with children Popplet gives you the possibility of organising and synthesising information in more sophisticated ways than if it is just a list of information on a page. Popplet inspires creativity because its colours and interface. It is very easy to upload images (or grab them from Flickr) and add video. You can turn a PowerPoint into a Popplet . One of Popplet's best features is the fact that it is easy to share and collaborate. You can invite people to collaborate, send a link or copy some ...

The Internet platform has become an essential tool for learning and teaching online , as noted by English Virtual Community. In this post, Alexa Thompson discusses the ways that learning English in an online or offline setting can benefit non-native speakers. For instance, learning English can lead to outsourced jobs that big businesses make available overseas. To read more about online English school from Alexa, visit the website she maintains about English education. English as a second language teachers, English Language Learners Did you know you can get a foreign job based on your ability to speak English? Many work opportunities are available to English speakers from almost any country in the world. Thanks to the Internet and impact outsourcing, more foreign speakers of English are coming into contact with businesses from North America and Europe, making English as a Second Language courses extremely valuable for both students and native English speakers. The last three decades h...

On September 21st, we celebrate b oth Spring and Students' day in La Plata, Argentina. Luckily, nature is present in my city in all its parks - there is one park every 6 blocks and streets. We can smell the perfume of the orange trees along 47th street. Students meet and have picnics and at night there is a popular concert at Moreno Square . http://taggalaxy.de/

To teach, or not to teach, that is the question: Whether it is better to stay at home with the television, Munching on chips and gulping on root beer, Or continue with the ever troublesome job, An by opposing, get fired. To eat, to watch, No more, and by working hard, we will earn that Pleasing, satisfying, all-good paycheck That will be spent in less than a week Devoutly to all of the personal needs and wants. To eat, to watch; To watch; the minutes ticking before racing out of the house; ay, I am late; Many insolent words from the Boss, not to be delayed again, For who could endure the yells and screams of the little rascals, The numerous demands from co-workers, Aches and pains of marking hundreds of papers, cross and swoosh? And that desperate grumble in my stomach, will finally melt, When the tasks have been completed, only one place left to go, Which is my sweet home, where dinner will be waiting, television will be on. With this tremendous day finally over, An...

I am rehearsing about collaborative writing for a workshop I will give soon. Surfing the net, I came across  Many People, Many Minds: Collaborative Writing in the ESL Classroom – a master’s thesis   by Morten Oddvik which seems very interesting and would like to share with you. I hope you find it interesting.  Many People, Many Minds - Collaborative Writing using CSCL in the ESL Classroom