Pete Sharma Associates

I am in the middle of writing some training materials on using digital resources in language teaching and came across this mind map on using mind maps. I have to admit that I am not somebody who uses mind maps a great deal, but they are a tool I find useful in certain situations. This particular mind map made me think about a new way to help my EAP students this summer to summarise and write texts. In the hope that it might help others, here is the link:

https://www.mindmeister.com/143278182/how-mind-maps-help-teachers

Many Business English language learners need to give presentations for work and professional puprposes. This blog post looks at some of the techniques and technologies they can use.

For the rest of this post, please visit:

Linguarama blog

How do you store the new words and phrases you meet on your language course? Many students write down their new words in a notebook, along with a  translation. However, it can be difficult to find the words you record like this, in order to review them. Have you thought about how technology can help? This blog post looks at some of the exciting ways in which language learners can store their new words electronically.

For the rest of this post, please visit: http://blog.linguarama.com/post/2012/01/06/Learning-New-Words-Electronically.aspx 

We are delighted that the next update – the tenth – is available.

The update, which is free, focuses specifically on Interactive Whiteboards.

To download the update, simply visit: http://www.macmillanenglish.com/methodology/books/Blended-Learning.htm

Enjoy!!!

One of the most popular sessions on the PSA Blended Learning courses is on how to make your own podcasts. Recording and editing voice is straightforward. Adding music is also easy to learn. However, the question that arises with music is always the one of copyright.

Most people know that if you use a clip from a song by your favourite pop singer then you are likely to be in breach of copyright rules. This doesn’t mean you have to dig out your old Stylophone and tamborine and record your own. There’s lots of music available on the Web which is covered by the Creative Commons licence. The folks who have written and recorded these tracks are more than happy for you to use them or parts of them as long as you follow the rules of the licence and give them due credit.

Here’s a ready made list of Pod-safe instrumentals from the wonderful Free Music Archive to get you started. Have fun!

Came across this free eBook from Michael Zimmer. Thanks to Chris Stanzer for the original tweet, and the free technology for teachers website.

We are delighted to say that the next update for Blended learning is now available

This focuses firstly on M-Learning – mobile learning – and then provides a practical, step-by-step guide on how to upload videos to the popular website YouTube.

To download your free .pdf of this 5-page update, please visit the Macmillan website.

Enjoy!

So, interactive whiteboards!!

This is a subject that both Pete and I have brought up on this blog and is an important element in both the Blended Learning book and PSA‘s Blended Learning training weekends. In fact, even as I sit here typing this, Pete is across the corridor leading a session on using IWBs. He is able to do this because PSA have acquired one for this purpose.

Here I have to make a confession. I have had very limited experience using IWBs. I know the principles and theories or teaching with one and I’ve seen other people in action. But, I’ve not been able to get my hands on one for long enough to really develop any skills or to use one with a group of learners.

This is about to change. The PSA whiteboard has found a home at the school where I teach on a daily basis and I hereby resolve to take advantage of this fact and to blog my efforts.

There is very little to tell so far. The whiteboard is a 600 Series Smartboard and we have installed the Smart Notebook version 10 software to use with it. Connecting the board for use is remarkably simple. It needs to be connected to the computer using a USB lead and then a projector (also connected to the computer) has to be set up to throw its image onto the surface of the board. You then run a little program called Orient which projects a series of crosses onto the board the centres of which you have to gently press with the tip of one of the pens. Once that is complete the board is ready to go.

More to come once I’ve had the chance to learn a bit more.

A slow day at Stratford resulted in everyone playing around with Wordle.

Here’s a great idea that came from Mark:

At the end of a lesson with – especially – lower level learners, grab a couple of sentences from the board and type them into Wordle. Wipe said sentences from the board and your learners have to reconstruct them from the word cloud on the computer screen. Don’t forget to select “Do not remove common words” from the language menu or the exercise doesn’t work.

Here’s an example on a slightly depressing topic from my lesson this afternoon. No prizes for reconstructing this one.

The latest update to our book has just been uploaded to the Macmillan website. It looks at the mimio, New Inside Out Digital and the new on-line Macmillan English Dictionary.

Enjoy – it is completely free to download!