flynn089

Anyone who uses their whiteboard for ELT / EFL classes will know what a really useful teaching aid it can be, so how about using one with your distance learners? In Part 1 of this series on Skype plugins, I looked at how and where to find and install plugins for Skype and I also looked at how to use Pamela to record audio materials and interviews with Skype. In this posting I'd like to have a look at an online collaboration tool called Yugma which allows you to share files, share your desktop, make live presentations and have a shared online whiteboard all running along side your Skype application. This quick tutorial takes you through some of the basic features. You can download a version for your computer in Quick Time here . Or Open the tutorial in a new window here . How to use this with ELT / EFL students Well I think this is definitely a distance learning support tool rather than some thing to use in the classroom / multi media lab with students. It could be ideal...

Rollmio is an ingenious new website base around the idea of user produced advertisements! The site seems to be able to get commissions for online advertisements (they're only on their forth so far, but it is a start up site), then users come along, read the brief and produce and submit an advertisement (10 - 60 second video)that should fit the brief. The advertisement that the company likes best wins a prize ($500) and there are also some runner up prizes. For more videos, rollmio.com How to use this with students This seems like the ideal site to build a project around and get your students creating and uploading their own advertisements. You could even try to win the prize for your school. You might need to do some preparation work first discussing their favourite ads what they like about the etc. Then you'll also need to do a bit of analysis of ads thinking about who the target of the ad is and the kind of profile of people the company wants to sell to etc. You could also g...

Monkey See is an excellent site which carries a lot of short high quality video content. It is based around the concept of instructional videos; being able to see something in order to be able to do it yourself. It has short video clips that cover a really wide range of things from parenting tips, relationship advice, to how to set up a home studio, play the guitar or apply red lipstick! The featured video content is very high quality and each 'lesson' is split into shorted clips of between 1 - 3 mins, so it doesn't take too long to watch. Visitors to the site can also create their own channel page to show their own videos and become 'experts'. Some of my favourites are: How to audition for a vocal competition How to salsa dance (I still need some work on that one) How to create a home recording studio There's also a good section on careers and education which has advice and tips on selecting colleges, doing interviews as well as more business orientated stu...