1. Tackling
Technology
Teaching With
21st Century Tools
Beth Csiszer
Indian Land Elementary
Lancaster County School District
OEC Professional Development Day
October 13, 2014
Beth.Csiszer@lcsdmail.net
3. DISCUS
• What is DISCUS?
– DISCUS is South Carolina’s virtual library
• Access to many online resources for teachers & students
• There are online Webinars to train you on how to use it at
» http://scdiscus.org/discus-training-sessions
To access DISCUS, go to http://www.scdiscus.org/
• How to log in : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyVWsMlqNw0
Ask you media specialist for your username and password.
4. GOOGLE CHROME
Google Chrome offers many apps that are
useful for ESOL students. Google plugins
can be used on Chrome books or with the
Google Chrome browser.
5. Google Chrome Plugins
Lingualy
• Google Chrome extension designed to help you learn a new
language while browsing the web.
• With Lingualy installed anytime that you come across a new
word you can double-click on it to hear it pronounced, read a
translation, and read a definition
• The words that you double-click on are added to your
Lingualy account where you can review them in a quiz format.
6. Google Chrome Plugins
Read & Write for Google™
• Hear words, passages, or whole documents read aloud with
easy-to-follow dual color highlighting
• See the meaning of words explained with text and picture
dictionaries
• Hear text translated into other languages
• Get suggestions for the current or next word as you type
• Turn words into text as you speak
• Highlight text in documents or the web and collect for use in
other documents
• Simplify and summarize text on web pages
7. Google Chrome Plugins
TLDR (Too Long Didn't Read)
• Free plugin
• A plugin that summarizes any web article without leaving the
webpage
• Can be shortened to 25%, 50%, and 75% of original article
• Can summarize articles into English, Spanish, German and French
• Can help student find more articles about the same subject
View preview here: http://youtu.be/_hZWjtnIIBk
8. APPLE & ANDROID
APPS
There are many Educational APPs available
through apple and Android for your ESOL
students. We will highlight just a few.
9. Apple & Android APPs
Phrasalstein
• Developed by Cambridge University.
• Available for Apple and Android products
• Designed to help students learn the meanings of phrasal verbs.
• Has practice and quiz modes.
• Practice mode allows students to select a verb and a preposition
combination. They see a short animated demonstration of the
meaning of the phrase they chose.
• In the quiz mode students see an animation, then have to select
the matching phrase.
• Translations of the meanings are available in Spanish, German,
Italian, Russian and French.
10. Apple & Android APPs
English Monstruo
• Developed by researchers at Cambridge University who
examined the results of 200,000 exams to determine the words
that give Spanish speakers the most difficulty
• Free app available for Apple and Android products
• Contains eight games designed to help students learn verb
conjugation
• Games in the contain activities such as fill-in-the-blank, sorting
words and replacing incorrect words with correct words
• Each game has a series of levels to work through to earn points
and unlock increasingly more difficult levels
11. Apple & Android APPs
Voxy
• Adaptable app that adjusts to students’ needs
• Features news and stories on a variety of topics, and provides
games for language practice, plus short quizzes to test
comprehension.
• It can be downloaded for free on iPhone and Android.
• Also available on the web @ https://voxy.com/
• Features “real world” lessons
• Can be used and synced between iPhone, tablet and computer
12. Apple & Android APPs
Sentence Builder
• Designed to help students build grammatically correct sentences
• 100 distinct pictures to aid in producing sentences
• 3 difficulty levels
• Optional audio reinforcement
• Optional animation reinforcement
13. WEB 2.0 TOOLS
Web 2.0 tools are tools that allow the user to
interact with web content. Examples include
social media, user generated content, and
virtual communities.
14. Web 2.0 Tools
Facebook, Google+, Twitter and Pinterest
• If you are not on Social Networking sites, I would highly
recommend them for professional connections. Don’t be afraid of
them, just be smart about what you post!
• Remember, once it its posted, it is out there for the world to see.
Represent yourself well. Deleting does not mean it is “gone.”
• I have included a list of recommended groups to join in Facebook
and people to follow on Google+ Twitter and on Pinterest.
• YouTube is a great resource as well
15. Web 2.0 Tools
• Blabberize http://blabberize.com/
– Students can upload pictures and make them “talk.”
– Can be used for reports and to practice listening and speaking
• Bookr http://www.pimpampum.net/bookr/
– A very easy to use program that allows students to make online
picture books
– Can use archived images or upload your own with Flickr
• Dvolver http://www.dvolver.com/moviemaker/make.html
– Allows students to create short films and write dialogue
16. Web 2.0 Tools
• Thinklink https://www.thinglink.com/
– A tool in which teachers and students can create
interactive lessons to go along with standards by attaching
facts, additional pictures, and videos to a picture he or she
uploads
– Can search for premade lessons
– Is web based, but also available as Apps for iPad and
Android
Example: https://www.thinglink.com/scene/441586128353492994
• ESL Video http://www.eslvideo.com/index.php
– Can create a quizzes from any video!
– Great for practicing listening skills
Example: http://www.eslvideo.com/esl_video_quiz_beginning.php?id=14137
17. AUDIO BOOKS
There are several sites that offer quality audio
books that can be used in the classroom.
18. Audio Books
http://www.manythings.org/listen/
• a collection of stories and informational text
• Primarily material for older students
• Some files have YouTube videos supplied that offer a karaoke like
read along file so the reader can see the words light up as they are
being read.
http://www.5minuteenglish.com/english-audio-books.htm
• Free lessons in grammar, reading, vocabulary, pronunciation, and
idioms.
• Listening exercises include dialogue and questions to check for
understanding
19. Audio Books
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/
• Downloadable books for iPhone, Android, Kindle, and mp3
players
• Many classics, picture books, and other genres available
• Many languages available such as Chinese, French, German,
Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Urdu, Russian, Hebrew, etc.
• Paid books available as well
http://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/
• A free online collection of stories and poems in Mp3 format
• Many also include a reading strategy to use as a lesson
• Story can also be downloaded as a PDF
20. BLOGS
Blogs are a type of Web 2.0 technology
specifically designed for communication
purposes.
21. What is a Blog?
• A Blog is a website where entries are commonly displayed in reverse
chronological order.
• Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others
function as more personal online diaries.
• In education, students often blog on an assignment such as a response to
a book.
• A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web
pages, and other media related to its topic.
• It gives readers the ability to leave comments in an interactive format.
22. Why Have ESL Students Blog?
• Engages students with native speakers
• Good for assessing writing
• Lets instructors post and track progress
• Empowers students
• Integrates internet resources as links
• Makes lessons interactive
• Less threatening environment
• Makes learning independent of time and place
23. Free Blog Sites for Teachers
• Only for education
• Safe and secure
• No advertising of inappropriate content
• Allows management of student content
• Teacher admin control over material
• Blogs are private by default
• Teacher can add password protected parent and guest accounts
• No advertising
24. Be Sure to Teach Blogging
Guidelines
1. Only post things that you would want everyone to know.
2. Do not share personal information.
3. Think before you post.
4. Know with whom you are communicating. Be safe!
5. Consider your audience.
6. Know how to give constructive feedback.
7. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
8. Use appropriate language.
9. Only post information that you can verify is true.
10. Cite your sources.
25. PODCASTS
A podcast is a digital medium consisting of an
episodic series of audio, video, radio, PDF, or
ePub files subscribed to and downloaded through
web syndication or streamed online to a computer
or mobile device.
26. Podcasts
• English Grammar HELP and Podcasts for the Inquisitive
ESL Student: We're Interactive! -By ESL HELP! Desk
– On iTunes
– Stories written by ESL students
– All are examples of authentic student language
Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net
– Free download
– Can be used to record students’ and teachers
– Great for practicing fluency when reading and speaking
27. Useful Websites
http://www.colorincolorado.org
• A bilingual site (English/Spanish) site for families and
educators of ESL students
http://www.everythingesl.net/
• A collection of lesson plans, teaching tips, resources, and a forum
http://www.readingbear.org/Default.aspx
• Teachers over 1,200 vocabulary words and the main phonics rules
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks1/literacy/
• Interactive site to teach grammar, spelling, & sentence structure
http://www.eslgamesplus.com/
• Many interactive ESL games to teach English
28. Useful Websites
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/
• A collection of English and Spanish educational videos for all
content areas in all grade levels.
http://knowitall.org/
• A collection of interactive websites (some bilingual) for grades K-
12 which includes virtual field trips, songs, and videos
http://www.anglomaniacy.pl/
• A collection of word games, quizzes, and printables to teach
children English
