clicknlearn.net

Hi readers, 

New day, new tool. Today I would like to introduce a new teaching site that might help you in simplifying your ways in teaching vocabulary to students. It is called clicknlearn.net.

WHAT is clicknlearn.net?

clicknlearn.net is an interactive website which help users to teach and learn languages in fun and full of excitement ways. This tool is suitable for language teachers (English, Spanish and French), and additionally, it is also suitable for all levels of students. This is because it provides guidance, and exercises which include different levels of language competency for beginner, intermediate and advance students. 

HOW to use it with students?

Firstly, go to clicknlearn.net and select the language.

Next, go to the Menu, and select the activities according to the level of the student, name of the unit, lexical content, grammatical content or functions, text types, and the cultural preferences. In most of the units, students will be exposed to activities which activates their schemata before doing the actual exercises. 

There are also tutorial videos in youtube.com which explain how clicknlearn.net works. One of them is this video :

Apart from that, you could also watch  russellstannard-teachertrainingvideos.com as guide to use this website.

ADVANTAGES

• It is FREE.
• Contains more than one languages i.e. English, Spanish and French
• User-friendly
• Varies teaching methodology.
• Language teachers could be creative and explore more on vocabulary teaching.
• Different ways in integrating teaching with technology.
• Provides feedback for students.
• Students could explore more vocabulary from different level of proficiency.
• Encourage autonomous learning.

DISADVANTAGES

• Internet connection is essential 24/7
• Sound effects might distract users
• Some exercises are too easy for beginners and some activities require learners to have good background knowledge on the topic. 
• Texts are overload
• The activities and exercises are irreversible. Users are unable to go back to previous activities/ exercises in the unit. 
• Some students might deviate while doing the exercises that they are supposed to do. They might want to try new things, and end up doing something beyond their level. 

Dvolver

Hi readers, 

Today I would like to introduce an interesting teaching site called Dvolver.com.

WHAT is Dvolver?

Dvolver is a tool that allows users to create animation based on their own dialogues and preferred characters. It is very useful for teachers to grab students' attention in learning language as students are free to make their own animation and create dialogue. Dvolver is suitable for secondary school learners with low and intermediate levels of English proficiency. 

This is one of the examples of using Dvolver:

HOW to use Dvolver with students?

1. Select the background for the movie.

2. Next, select a plot for the movie. 

3. Then, choose the characters for the movie.

4. Create dialogues for the characters based on the story line.

5. Choose the suitable background music for the movie. Students could also create the movie without the music background. 

6. Then, select the design for the movie title. In this section, students are free to create title of their movie and write their names as the director of the movie.

7. Once the movie has been created, students could email their works to teacher.

There are also tutorial video(s) on how to use Dvolver available on youtube.com. Check this out:

ADVANTAGES

• Develops teachers' creativity in language teaching.
• Enhance students' creativity in making their own movie and creating dialogues.
• Participation in class could be increased through interesting teaching tools like Dvolver.
• Promotes autonomous learning.
• Students could learn to use language based on different contexts.
• This website is FREE.

DISADVANTAGES

• The background, characters, and the music background available in the web are limited.
• Students might use inappropriate language in creating dialogues, thus it is difficult to achieve the objectives of language teaching and learning.
• Some students, especially low level students, might have difficulties in finding suitable vocabulary and creating their own dialogues.
• Schools with no or limited internet connection might have problems in using this tool.