Week 3
Web Resources for Language Teaching

This week, we talked about various tools to be used for language teaching.

I will talk about some of the tools we discussed in my post for this week.

Hot potatoes is a very popular tool that many teachers use and it can be easily applied to language classes.

I heard of it many times but it was actually my first time trying hot potatoes. I think it is quite easy to use and you can create activities in a very short amount of time. You do not have to worry about using a word document and spending time with the format of your activity. Hot potatoes does it for you which is very convenient for teachers. In addition, it includes several basic types of activities which are common in language classes. Thus, many teachers would be able to create effective activities since they are already familiar with these types.

Digital storytelling is another good way to help students' learning process. Especially for listening and speaking skills, storytelling has a lot to offer. Now with the advanced technology, it is possible to create digital stories which are stored online. I think there are many great advantages of online storytelling tools. You can create a story in a short amount of time. Teachers/students can record their voices and listen to others' stories. You can personalize the stories, choose whichever topic you want and share them with anyone you want. While it can be easily incorporated into speaking skills, it can also be used for writing skills or certain grammatical features. I have tried some of these digital storytelling tools such as capzles, storybird and voicethread and they all offer different features. So, depending on the purpose and the structure of the activity, it is possible to choose and use one of these online tools.

Overall, while there are great online tools, it is important to note that they should be 'tools' not the main purpose of the class. So while integrating these activities. teachers should definitely think about their learning objectives.