Hot Potatoes

WHAT IS HOT POTATOES?

This tool is very useful to make different activities like matching, crossword, ordering, fill the gap... It has 6 different applications for that. Besides, you can add images, videos or even audios.

"The Hot Potatoes suite includes six applications, enabling you to create interactive multiple-choice, short-answer, jumbled-sentence, crossword, matching/ordering and gap-fill exercises for the World Wide Web. Hot Potatoes is freeware, and you may use it for any purpose or project you like. It is not open-source. The Java version provides all the features found in the windows version, except: you can't upload to hotpotatoes.net and you can't export a SCORM object from Java Hot Potatoes." https://hotpot.uvic.ca/

Here you can see a matching activity we did at class:

Topic: Animals

F:\ANIMALS.htm

Digital Story (StoryJumper)

StoryJumper is a tool made to create digital and personalized stories on the Internet. That for, you have have to choose the book style, add the text and add the images. You can publish your own hardcover or paperback books, and promote them to the worldwide community. It's very easy!

Here you have a short story about Dino the Dog we made at class:

A DOG'S LIFE

StoryJumper: Dino the Dog

Quizlet

"Quizlet is very helpful for all types of students. Quizlet can help the student learn the definition with the flashcards, learn to spell the word, and even play games with the words that are in the particular study set. Quizlet can also create a practice test that consists of multiple choice, true false, fill in the blank and matching. There are quizlets that are already created for many subjects, but users can also create their own." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quizlet

"Quizlet makes simple learning tools that let you study anything. Start learning today with flashcards, games and learning tools — all for free." https://quizlet.com/ 

Next, here you have a Quizlet activity I did about the same topic, animals:

Topic: Animals

Quizlet Animals

Initial PLE: Symbaloo

SYMBALOO

Initial PLE Symbaloo

"Symbaloo is a cloud-based application that allows users to organize and categorize web links in the form of buttons. Symbaloo works from a web browser and can be configured as a homepage, allowing users to create a personalized virtual desktop accessible from any device with an Internet connection.
Symbaloo users, which must be previously registered, have a page with a grid of buttons that can be configured to link to a specific page. The application allows users to assign different colors to the buttons for easy visual classification.
Symbaloo allows a single user to create different pages or screens with buttons. These screens called webmix are useful to separate topics and links can be shared with other users, making them public and sending the link via email. As of 2015 Symbaloo has 6 million users worldwide and mainly used as an online education resource." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbaloo

So, Symbaloo is a free social bookmarking service in the cloud which has available pro versions for business & education. This might be the tool I have liked the most because, since I knew it, I use it every time I use the computer. I think it is a very useful and simple way to save the pages you usually or mainly get in; either in your personal area or in the educational one.

This is a picture of my personalized virtual desktop with the webpages that I usually use:

LEARNING DIARY: Reflection of the 1st part of the course

REFLECTION OF THE 1st PART OF THE COURSE

In the first part of the course, we have learnt a lot about Information and Communications Technology (ICT), specially about the ICT related to education and language learning.

Before this course, I didn't know much about them. I knew how to use technologies and some quiet practical tools as Google Sites (Gmail and Drive, for example), Dropbox, Wikis, Blog, Power Point, Prezi, Microsoft Word, on-line dictionaries, Movie Maker, Real Player... But now, thanks to this course, I know much more tools which are absolutely useful and important fot the teaching of the language. Here there are some examples:

-To storage places in the cloud: Symbaloo, Netvibes...

-To create your own exercise: Hot Potatoes, Puzzles and cryptograms, Quizlet, Kahoot, Quizziz...

-To make mindmaps: ExamTime, Coggle, MindMup, Bubbl.us, Mindomo, Wise Mapping...

-To make WebQuests and digital stories (with the tool StoryJumper)

Besides, we have learnt to use interactive whiteboards, which is very important for teaching in existing schools.

As I have said in the page about Symbaloo, I think this page made for storage places in cloud is the most useful tool for me, because I use it every time I use the computer. It helps me to organize the webpages I usually use, either in my personal area (Social Networks, mail, other services...) or in my educational one (University webpages, dictionaries, tools...).

On the other hand, I believe that the tools for create your own exercise are also absolutely useful for us as future teachers. Hot Potatoes, Quizlet, Kahoot and Quizziz are the four tools that I have learnt to use the best and which I have liked the most. In addition, these games are very motivating for the students. Using them, they will learn new vocabulary while they are having fun.

Tools for making mindmaps are not less useful. I have used Coggle, for example, in other University subjects since I knew it.

Finally, StoryJumping is great too, because we all know that children love stories.

WEBPAGES

These are some webpages that we have seen in this course and that I have found very interesting. You can find there more information about the tools I have said in this reflection.

Mindmap tools: https://elearningindustry.com/the-5-best-free-mind-mapping-tools-for-teachers

Free educational technology: https://elearningindustry.com/subjects/elearning-software/free-educational-technology

Google Apps education: https://miaulario.unavarra.es/access/content/group/2016_0_301716_81_G/HERRAMIENTAS/Google%20Apps%20edu.pdf

Listado de Herramientas: https://tic-magisterio.wikispaces.com/Herramientas

Symbaloo ICT for teachers: https://www.symbaloo.com/mix/english209?cookieConsent=true

Activity Types and technological resource to be used: http://activitytypes.wm.edu/ESOL.html

20 tools to create interactive educative activities: http://www.ticeducacionec.com/2014/02/20-herramientas-para-crear-actividades.html

ICT in Early Childhood Education: http://www.slideshare.net/mrocio/uso-didctico-de-internet

An example of working with TICs in English for Early Childhood Education: http://erasmusfamiliesandschools.blogspot.com.es/