Engaging ELLs and Building Student Confidence in Oral and Written Communication: Effective Uses of Web 2.0 Tools

Explore

Excite

Excel

Engage

Exhibit

Increase Student Contribution in Written and Oral Communication

Collaboration-Based

Complex Tasks

Wikis

Tutorial

Application of Knowledge

Use it to:

• Become proficient with using a collaboration-based Blackboard Learn Tool.

• Construct a Wikipedia-like page.

• Practice verb usage and sentence structure.

• Develop punctuation, and paragraph organization skills.

• Practice editing skills

• Develop critical thinking skills: meaningful comments.

• Share some personal information and connect with classmates: Cultural Heritage Project.

Web Link:

Student Empowerment

http://www.voki.com/

Web Link:

https://storybird.com/

Tutorials:

Use it to allow learners to:

Student Samples:

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=11726773&height=267&width=200

• Become proficient at storytelling using art.

• Practice the verb tenses.

• Develop sentence structure

• Practice paragraph organization skills (chronological order).

• Improve punctuation skills.

• Practice editing skills.

• Narrate -Describe - Predict Events

Instructor's Sample

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=11729449&height=267&width=200

Use it to:

• reduce accent related anxiety
• customize student look
• introduce yourself
• talk about an aspect of your cultural heritage
• summarize news segments
• and many more....

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=11706067&height=267&width=200

Web Link:

https://voicethread.com/

Tutorial:

"at first its a little bit of frustrating to learn voki but it so much fun to learn more about voki. "

"It is exiting, like making an animation. I feel the avatar is really me. I like it :)"

Sample:

Blackboard Learn - Voice board

can be useful but it has limitations...

http://storybird.com/books/not-so-unfortunate-event/?token=mxg5pnaj5c

"This is good experience to make a voki account. This is the great way to use for me because it is easy. This is also the way to help me how to improve to speak English."

Student Samples:

"It's a great way to learn English and improve my speaking. It does have a lot of interesting features but it took me a little time to understand how to publish it."

http://voicethread.com/myvoice/#thread/7069916/37587687/38782146

Use Voice Thread to:

• allow students to become visible
• describe images provided by students
• summarize a Ted Ed talk and add opinion
• record speeches - various rhetoric
• encourage learners to comment on each post using their web cam instead of typing

http://voicethread.com/ myvoice/#thread/7081954/ 37654295/38848838

http://voicethread.com/ myvoice/#thread/7069889/ 37584629/38780454

Active Learning

• tell a story based on unique images:

Share Your Resources!

Edublogs

Have an educational blog - a collection of ESOL resources! Why?

Learners will ask you, "But how can I learn or find out more about X topic?" You can simply reply, "Go to my blog and you will find more information there."

http://mysoulofesol.blogspot.com

Round Up and ...

Simple Exciting

Projects

Building Student (ELLs) Confidence in Oral and Written Communication: Effective Uses of Web 2.0 Tools

Blackboard Learn Tool:

Web Links to list useful - additional - resources

Professional Development - Follow educational blogs:

http://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/

http://www.edutopia.org/

Web Link:

http://www.wordle.net/

Tutorial:

My Bio:

Compelling Creative

Learning Opportunities:

Visual Content and Collaboration

Making Word Cards to Share

Select Your Tools: Google Docs or Slides or Blackboard Tools: a Blog or a Discussion Board Forum

Show a sample:

A Student

Paragraph

in Wordle:

Add a Tutorial:

Apply

Smart Strategies

Web Link and Tutorials:

Target Word: COMPETITION

1. Word forms: competition (noun) compete (verb) competitive (adjective) competitively (adverb) competitor (noun-person)

2. Synonyms: rivalry, race, contest

3. Antonyms: cooperation, working together

4. Definition: an event or contest where people or groups compete against each other (try to win)

5. Collocations: (words you can see before or after the target word):

compete with, against, for

fierce, strong, global, fair, unfair, intense, tough competition

act, behave, fight, work, do sports competitively

new/novice, old/experienced, overseas, industrial competitor

6. Sentence examples: The competition between Peter and Jim made it difficult to work in the office.

Their competitive behavior was annoying. They act competitively in every situation: who gets there first in the morning, leaves later at night, brings in treats for the office. Our overseas competitor took the job from us, so our company lost lots of money.

7. Analogies: competition is to rivalry as happiness is to joy

8. Images:

http://edu.glogster.com/

http://edu.glogster.com/glogpedia

Start Simple

Use it for...

http://www.wordhippo.com/

http://www.yourdictionary.com/

http://sentence.yourdictionary.com/

http://prowritingaid.com/Free-Online-Collocations-Dictionary.aspx

Google Images

Offer Web Links

as resources

• ice breakers: "About Me"
• introduce one's cultural heritage
• travel report
• description, definition
• process analysis, arguments
• narration: digital story telling!!!

Images should accompany the topics of written assignments.

• Learners will know exactly what you mean!
• Add word clouds to help them brainstorm - review topic related words.

Share on

Blackboard -

Discussion Board

Forums

Google Docs

Web Link: https://storymap.knightlab.com/

Add tutorials:

http://drkdomjan.edu.glogster.com/ice-breaker-esl/

http://drkdomjan.edu.glogster.com/cultural-heritage-project-esl/

Use it to...

• Students use Google Docs instead of emailing single attachments
• Students use Google Docs as portfolios
• Students use each doc as a collection of paragraphs or essays or a collection of vocabulary stories or other written assignments of the same type
• Instructors help students name their google docs
• Students allow instructors to edit

Comprehensive

tasks

• describe places
• narrate a trip
• discuss future plans

Tutorials:

https://storymap.knightlab.com/edit/?id=vacation-2015

Allow and encourage students to

share their complete and revised

course work to learn from each other.

Creating

User Generated Content

mysoulofesol.blogspot.com