Google earth on an interactive whiteboard.

I got this idea of an ICT resource at the school from where I was at during my practical training. In a few of their classrooms they had interactive whiteboards that are great resources to use while teaching. With this interactive whiteboard with a touch effect you can connect to the internet, show films and clips, news from all over the world and diagrams and at the same time write on the board and make comments to the things you want to teach your pupils and erase it just as easily.

This way of teaching is not just fun and instructive, it is also an easy way of bringing the whole world into the classroom in just a few seconds.

So, with this tool Google Earth could be a great programme to use in the classroom when teaching English integrated with other topics like geography, biology, math and history or while talking about environment or global awareness which are something that also needs to be learned according to the Swedish syllabus in English. Google Earth is a programme where you have access to the whole world literately. You can find information and photographs about places in the world, famous locations and buildings and similar things. Perfect for your English lessons! One important thing about teaching is to make the stuff you teach real for the pupils and to talk about, let say Grand Canyon in the US, can be so much more comprehensible if the pupils actually can see the Grand Canyon while their teacher tells them about it. And with Google Earth and an interactive board it is possible for the whole classroom to see and learn at the same time. That way the teacher can use Google Earth in their teaching but the pupils can also use this resource to be productive themselves. The Swedish syllabus says that the pupils should be given the possibility to develop their qualification to reflect about living conditions, cultural phenomenon and social issues and by using Google Earth they can see how these conditions differs from different countries because they can see how cities and countries looks like. The environment says a lot about how the people live there and the pupils can take part in photographs from all over the world. They can use Google Earth to find information and make their own presentations. There are many ways of how you can use Google Earth in your education, and here is an example… Integrating is a great way of teaching because you teach two subjects at once and that could be a perfect way of bringing curiosity and enthusiasm in the classroom. If you want to get away from the strict English lessons you sometimes need when teaching grammar and mix that wit lessons when the pupils learn so much useful English without even realize they do, integration is really great! So why not plan a lesson in both English and geography? Let say the pupils’ first think of a trip they want to make or places they would want to go to. Then they can start writing, in English of course and try to find out as much as possible about these places, what kind of food they eat, how the people live there, how the environment looks like, the area and population and so on, and how to get around the easiest way. Then when they are all done they can tell and show the rest of the class how their dream trip looks like with Google Earth. And with this only activity your pupils have practicing on to read, write and speak English and learned about geography.

This is just one of many ways of using Google Earth but there are tons of other ways, only your imagination sets the limit.

Camilla Ivarsson

Vocabulary Website

Are you one of those people who search for a great way to practice vocabulary?

Well, here is one for you!

It is called Glosboken.se and it is a Swedish website for both children and adults to practice vocabulary. One can practice vocabulary in all kinds of languages in a new, modern way that actually makes it fun to practice vocabulary.

To use Glosboken you will need a computer that is able to connect to Internet.

Click on this link and you will go directly to Glosboken's front page

http://www.glosboken.se/

Step 1 - Become a member

To gain access to Glosboken.se you must first become a member. This is easily arranged! Just click on "Sign up" in the upper right corner and fill in your personal details.

In your personal details you can fill in if you are a pupil, student, teacher, pedagogue or other. This is so that everyone involved can use the web site and have access to their pupils' homework in language courses. One class can use the same account or each pupil can have his/her own account.

After you have create your account you will recieve an e-mail from Glosboken.se with a link to activate your account. Click on it and your new adventure will be in front of you!

>The first thing to do as a new member is to get familiar with the web site. You can make friends, send E-mails, edit your profile, and make courses.

Step 2 - Create a course

To make a new course, click on ´Create course´. Then you name your course and pick a language and difficulty level. Now you can start to add words that you want to practice:

This is how it looks!

When adding your words you can choose different ways of how you want to practice:

• word, vocabel / translation (as it is in the picture above)
• fill the gap
  
• multiple choice
• verb

These are the exercises that is available and you can find the icons in the upper right corner in the picture above.

Step 3 - Learn - Study - Exam

Time for practice!

Now that it's time to study you have to find out which method that suits you. In the square above you have three options:

1. Learn
2. Study
3. Exam

Learn - You get introduced to the words that you have filled in on the opposite language and in your native language. You can decide how long you want the words to appear.

Study - You will see the words in one language e.g. in Swedish or English and translate to the other. Here you can change the settings after your language skills, e.g. word order, button mode and difficulty level. (Button mode is an aid for beginners or dyslectics) You are not done untill you pass all the words and afterwards you can see your time and score and earn stars for your

Exam - You will see the words in one language e.g. in Swedish or English and translate to the other. The only setting you can change here is 'language switch', but button mode is also available here!

Step 4 - Study while having fun!

When you get a little more confident in your homework it's time to test your knowledge in some serious gaming, choosing among these golden oldies:

• Hangman
• Memory
• Crossword
• Puzzle
• Whack a word

Here is a shot from Whack a word!

Whack a word is a game where you are supposed to hit moles with a current word on it. At the same time other words from your course will appear. In all of the other games, it's only your words that will appear! The games are adapted for young users, though.

Step 5 - Print

The final thing about Glosboken is that you can print out tests or exercises for your pupils. Here you can choose from:

• Flashcards
• Wordlist
• Vocabulary test
• Larger exam
  

Flashcards

Here you can print out your vocabulary and

make cards to test your pupils' knowledge

Vocabulary test

Here you can use the first or the second
language for your pupils' tests

Wordlist

A wordlist with vocabulary in both languages

How the resource can be used by teachers?

The resource can be used by teachers whenever it's time to add new words for the pupils to practice. By adding the vocabulary on Glosboken.se so that the pupils can practice them at home! It is also possible to show the pupils via a Smart board, or similar, how they can use the page. The teacher can have reviews of vocabulary through the smart board and also have hearings on Glosboken's web site.

The teacher can also do multiple sets of the week's vocabulary. For pupils with difficulties in a language they can give less vocabulary and those students who are ahead can be given extra vocabulary or sentences to practice.

How the resource can be used by pupils?

By using Glosboken, the pupils protect the environment as they do not have to waste paper every each time they practice vocabulary. Instead, the pupils sit at their computer and working out the way that suits them. This is also a much better way to practice vocabulary as there are different ways to practice and the pupils can easily find a way that suits them.

Glosboken can be used by pupils both at home and at school. For those students who do not have computer access at home can practice at school.

Glosboken.se can also be used on pupils' free time as a hobby, you can play games, solve crossword, puzzles or hanging man just because it's fun! They can also add their own words, and with some help from teachers or parents, stimulate their language development on their own terms. This can be related to the Swedish Syllabus in the subject English:

• "In order to deal with spoken language and texts, pupils should be given the opportunity to develop their skills in relating content to their own experiences, living conditions and interests" (Lgr11 2011:32)
  

• "They should also be equipped to be able to use different tools for learning, understanding, being creative and communicating. Teaching should encourage pupils to develop an interest in languages and culture, and convey the benefits of language skills and knowledge" (Lgr11 2011:32)

Other considerations when using this resource?

Glosboken.se is a free web site but it is possible to get Glosboken Premium. You can get it as an individual, as a school or a whole commun, at different prices ofcourse. The benefits of providing Glosboken Premium is that you get able to hear your vocabulary, no ads, extra study mode, additional games, prioritized support, and extra functionality. All this for the price of 499 SEK per year.

A school or a commun Premium have the same benefits but it considers everybody and the price depends on how many pupils, teachers or people there are!

~

That was all I had to say about how Glosboken works, so let's try it out, alright!?

/ Hanna

PHOTO STORY

If you want to capture your students and at the same time use a simple and effective resource Photo story is a good program to download. You search for “photo story” at Google.com and then you click on the first link and before you know it, it has been downloaded. Photo story is an easy way to educate the students about something. Especially though you only need to have a working computer with a microphone and loud speakers. Nowadays most computers have the programs that you need to download Photo story.

This resource is a program you use when you want to make (as the name says) photo stories. For example if you want to tell your students about the digestion (matsmältningen) you can show them a banana’s way from plate to stomach with funny pictures and cool sound effects. To make this little story even clearer you can record your own voice to every picture. By making this, the photo story becomes a movie with still pictures. An alternative is to skip the voice recording and speak to the students while the pictures are shown. You can still use sound effects and such. Before I posted this Blog Post I did my own photo story to make sure that I really understood how to do it. I did my photo story like this:

• 1. My first step (though I already had it at my computer) was to gather some pictures, in a map, that I wanted to use.
• 2. After that I import all the pictures.
• 3. Then I add texts in a few of the pictures.
• 4. Next step was to record my voice to every picture.
• 5. The fifth step was to add some awesome sound effects.
• 6. The last thing I did was to save my work!

My first encounter with Photo story was in our previous course at the University. According to me it sounds difficult and complicated to use, but after a short while it became something fun and simple. Me and my group made a story about animals. Later on, when I did my “vfu” for the previous term, I showed this story for my students. They were in the fourth grade and even though our story (perhaps) objects to younger students they become amazed. After this lesson they got the chance to do their own photo stories and the result was very successful. They did their photo stories in pair (two and two). They should write a short story about an animal. After this lesson they have learned how to:

• · working with a computer
• · download pictures from Google
• · use Photo story
• · working in pair
• · practice to write a story (with a beginning, middle and end)

I did this with the whole class (24 students) in a computer room. This is something I do not recommend thus everybody needed help in the beginning since Photo story was something new for them. So my recommendation is: WORK WITH THIS IN HALF CLASS OR SMALLER GROUPS.

Other considerations when you use Photo story are that you need at least one computer. Far more computers if you should let your students try to do their own stories. Available computers are a matter of course for some schools and for some schools, it is not. When you use computers you may consider that technology can make a fuss. So my suggestion is: be prepared with other materials as well.

To sum up Photo story is a free of cost, simple, educational and entertaining resource you can use with your students in all ages. You can show your own photo story in first grade to educate your students about something and you can let your older students make an own photo story to educate each other. With this resource you do not need to have bored students! All you have to do is to search for “Photo story” at google.com and then you will find the website where you can download it!

/ Louise Lidfors

Starfall.com

Hi, everyone!

I have been working with a website called Starfall.com. You can find it here --> http://www.starfall.com/

This is how it looks like:

Starfall.com is a free home site for children which have English as its first or second language. The site has four different alternatives to choose from; ABC - Let's get ready to read, Learn to read - Zac the rat and other tales, It's fun to read- About me, art gallery, magic and more, I'm reading - Plays, nonfiction, comics and more. There are more things to do on this website, like look at the calendar, read stories, make postcards and so on. This is what Starfall.com has written about themselves:

“Starfall.com opened in September of 2002 as a free public service to teach children to read with phonics. Our systematic phonics approach, in conjunction with phonemic awareness practice, is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL). Starfall is an educational alternative to other entertainment choices for children”.

I would like to show you the alternative "It's fun to read". When you press on that button you will come to a site that looks like this:

Then press on the button "Magic", and it will look like this:

Then press on the button "Magic Hat Trick" and it will look like this:

Now a voce will speak and read the same sentence as the one at the bottom of the page. The voice will tell you what to do. I tried it out with my nephew who is seven years old; he has not started with English in school yet. He understood what to do and thought it was really funny. He said many times like: "Jaha, så cow är ko", and a lot of other words he learned. I asked him afterwards if he remembered the words in Swedish when I said them in English, and he did!

This is just one example of what you can do on the website. What you can do on starfall.com is unlimited. You can find everything there! What you need to use starfall.com is of course a computer. In every classroom there should be a computer, sadly there is not one each for the children.

It may seem like this is a website that can only be used by students, but a teacher can use this site in many ways. For example, if the teacher has an interactive board he/she can show the site for the students and they can play together or why not read stories. I would highly recommend reading stories this way. The students will see both pictures and letters as the same time as they hear someone read. If you want to you can also repeat words or explain them because it is you who decides when to switch pages.

Considerations

Starfall.com also has an app you can download to your smartphone. Not all of the games are included, only the ABC part. There is also a link on the website where you can find more exercises for smaller children, but if the children have English as their second language I believes it suits beginners in first to third grade. Here you can find nursery rimes, colors and math songs. You find it here --> http://more.starfall.com/

I believe this is a website that we all can enjoy. I hope you will check it out and find it useful.

Finally, I wish you a happy new year!

//Emmy Lundberg

Smartboard

Hello everyone!
I would like to inform you about the Smartboard, which I think is a good alternative to use in the classroom.

What is a Smartboard?
A Smartboard is, as it says, a board with touch-function and there are many different ways to use it. You can use it as a regular whiteboard, a screen, playing different games, making tests, etc. When you buy a Smartboard you get a computer programme to install on your computer with different ways and ideas how to use it.



How does it work?
The Smartboard is connected to a computer, which is connected to a projector. Everything you write or do on the computer exposes on the Smartboard, and vice versa. With the Smartboard four different "pencils" resides in the colours, red, green, black and blue, and also a rubber.

The "pencils" does not work as regular pencils, they are connected to the Smartboard with batteries and, as mentioned before, everything you write on the Smartboard appears on your computer, so that you can save everything you do and use it again or just remember what was said.

How can it be used by teachers?
With the following computer programme you can use already existing files, like games, tests or quizzes or make your own. For example you can make a test about all the European countries where the pupils have to point them out. The Smartboard tells them if their answer is right or wrong. You can make the tests into fun team-games and make it fun for the pupils to learn.

How can it be used by the students?
The Smartboard is a great way for the pupils to learn and use modern technology. They can use it as a tool while they have oral presentations, showing Powepoint's or pictures. They can also make their own quizzes to the rest of the class, or just show a movie.

Learn more
Do you want to learn more about the Smartboard? Visit http://smarttech.com/SmartBoard.

- Stephanie Skärheden

Windows movie maker

Hi!

I will tell you about a programme called Windows movie maker. It is quite similar to Photo Story but since some of you already have been telling us about that I will tell you about Windows movie maker.

What the resource is and how you can get it

Windows movie maker is a programme you can download to your computer for free by google it. There are many different versions of the programme but the most easy one (and one of the versions you can download for free) is Windows movie maker 2.1. This is a programme that both teachers and pupils can use. With this programme you create your own movie by adding pictures or/and videos, music, sounds and text. It is a very easy and fun programme to work with and you can create wonderful movies.

How the resource can be used by teachers

Teachers can use this programme to create for example instruction-movies for a task or an activity that the pupils will work with or a movie as inspiration for the pupils when they are going to create their own movies. The teacher does not always has to stand in front of the whiteboard and give instructions out. I think it is great to vary the lessons and make it fun for the pupils by, for example, doing a movie now and then.

How the resource can be used by pupils

Pupils can use this programme to do an information-movie about something they have studied. Instead of always write it down with a pen they can create a movie with pictures and text, it can be like a presentation that they show the class or just the teacher. I think this can be good for the pupils that have difficulties in standing in front of the class and talk or in expressing themselves with their voices. The pupils can also practise on doing a story with a clear stucture. I think it is good to practise on that and to do that in Windows movie maker is a very fun way to practise it. The pupils can choose their own pictures and music and text that fits with the pictures.

How the resource works

In Windows movie maker you create your movie in three simple steps as you can see in the left column in the pictures. Step 1 is to import your pictures, videos and music that you have saved on your computer. Step 2 is to draw the pictures, videos and music to the timeline (at the bottom of the pictures) and move them around until you are pleased with the order. You can also decide what transition you want between the pictures/videos, in what picture your music will be played and for how long and also add text to your movie. Step 3 is to complete the movie by saving it on your computer.

Other thoughts about the resource

I have used this programme and like it very much. When I was on my teacher training practise the pupils used this programme. They liked it and was very good at it. I was surprised how well they did it, they knew exactly what to do and how they wanted their movie to be like. These pupils were 10-11 years old but I think that teachers can introduce this programme when the pupils are about 8-9 years old. Children know more about computers than we think they do and since the movies do not have to be the most perfect onces pupils at the age of 8-9 can work with this programme with a little help from the teacher.

/Angelica Janderå

Gloso.eu

Glosor.eu

I have chosen to examine a website called glosor.eu. When I first got introduced to this website, I was not entirely convinced that it really worked. It seemed a bit too complicated and unserious. But when I learned how to use it and understood how it worked, I started using it more and more and also started to like it. Glosor.eu is a handy tool that helps students to practice their vocabulary in a very fun and varying way. This website is a free resource that can be used by both teachers and students.

How does it work?

As I mentioned earlier, this recourse is free and you can choose if you want an account or not. The advantage of having an account is that you can log in and make a list with your own words that you need to practice on.

You can also save your words and practice them later and share them with your friends.

How can it be used by teachers?

There is an account that is only for teachers “lärarkonto”. Teachers can create exercises that the students can do or add a number of words each week that the students must learn. They can divide the students into groups and placing different vocabulary lists in each group. The lists can be locked so that the students cannot see the other lists but their own. It is also possible to print out the vocabulary lists and the exercises, and then use them as tests so that the teacher can assess the students. Teachers can also connect with each other and share their lists and ideas.

How can it be used by students?

Students need to create an account so they can make their own lists of words they feel they need to practice on. They can choose to first go through the words, train them and finally get the final test. The exercises are also designed in various kinds of games such as: driving a car, memory, match the words, bow game, hangman, train game, sort letters, quiz and the game mahjong. The results are not recorded. The student can save their lists and share them with others. By becoming friends with other people, you have access to their lists and can transfer them to your own account and save them there.

Other considerations

You can also have access to glosor.eu by smartphone. Unfortunately, it is not free because it is not used over the Internet. Therefore, it costs 15 SEK to download it. Obviously, it is unreasonable to require that your students have to download it, but it is good to let them know that it is available.

Enjoy!

-Burbuqe Krasniqi.