Bombay TV!!

another one is HERE

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adobe connect

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have you ever heard about CONNECTED CLASSROOM?sounds familiar, isn't?

yes, it is actually about how technology can be used to connect students/learners to the outside context of their classroom. One of the tools that we can use to apply this kind of classroom is called 

This is a website where people can connect with others online in order to share information, to have a meeting, discussion, chat, or virtual classroom session. So, because this tool can be used for these purposes, it is parallel with the connected classroom concept.

So, today we are going to discuss this tool, ADOBE CONNECT!

before that, MAKE SURE you have installed the Adobe Flash Player software to make it work nicely =).

then what do you need to do next??

1. go to this page . Create an Adobe account.

 sad to say, it's not free (maybe because it's good =) hopefully)

you get the 30 days free trial package. If you find that it's worth paying, you can pay for it.

 

then you'll have to fill in your details

then, log in

accept the terms of service first

30 days. a date to remember

this is how your HOME looks like

if you click on create a virtual classroom, you will have to fill in these things.

  

 next steps

then, TADAAA!!

this is how your virtual class looks like. so get connected then!

example of online classes with Russell Stannard

then, if you go back to HOME and try to create another thing, eg: sharing content

 

you have to fill in these information first before you can share your content with others

So, back to the connected classroom thing, how can you get benefit from this tool and use it in your classroom?

1. teacher can make an extra online class session in the weekend or maybe during the holiday time. teacher will  give students the details of the class (date, time, and url) and just do an extra lesson with the students. Teacher may ask a few students to participate and give ideas either by speaking or writing in a chat box. *so what's good here is that both teacher and students don't have to come to the class to do an extra class. So, it saves time and space* 
2. teacher can ask students to do a homework like discussing a topic in groups by using  this. then tomorrow the students will be asked to present their discussion to the class.*this is also good because students will have opportunities to find more supports quickly as they can share the links, pictures, videos together with the member in their groups. so this kind of discussion is much more effective in my opinion*
3. in the evening, teacher can ask students to give feedback about the previous lesson in classroom (what they feel about the lesson, is it easy to be understood, how can they connect it with other things, sharing additional information about the lesson, and asking questions). *Here, students will more likely to participate more than they do in their classroom because it is not a face to face interaction. So here, students will be more relaxed and confident to express their opinion/maybe to express their criticism as well*

WHAT I LIKE ABOUT ADOBE CONNECT:

1. we can share content such as mp3 files, photos and others.
2. whilst having a virtual classroom or a meeting, the host can give permission to participants to view their video, audio and their screen, not only him/herself can share them
3. it's a new and different ways of learning. basically people will like new things the most and this will make them become more interested and eager to participate
4. it encourages collaborative learning in which students or people (of course between teachers as well) from all other the world can connect together, EASILY
5. input and information can be shared/discuss more lively with the supports from other parties (links to related websites, photos or pictures or videos)

BUT THERE ARE THINGS I DON'T LIKE ABOUT IT:

1. it's not free! Why? Why?
2. it doesn't really help students in presenting skills (communicative strategies) because the interactions that happen is not really face to face
3. technical problem might occur especially when there are too many participants join the class. this will cause a problem where students might get disconnected with the class
4. quite difficult to be used, and require many things to be filled in before you can really start using /creating a room for online classes and etc
5. since it is not a face to face interaction, teacher can't really know what the students are doing (maybe they are doing other things and pretending to join the class)

That's it for today!! thanks Russell for introducing this tool to us! =))

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brainshark

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arghhh..my brain is eaten by a sharkk!!!


HOho. this week, i've learned about brainshark.WHAT is IT? it is a website where you can create and publish your own power point presentation or other types of documents and add your voice or sounds while the presentation takes place. it usually used as a mean of classroom connected activities where students don't have to meet their teacher or lecturer to listen to a lecture. For example:

this one is mine!! =)))

pssss: i don't like my own voice recorded. it sounds like i have a congested nasal.LOL 

HOW TO USE BRAINSHARK??

Firstly, you have to sign up for a new account. DOnt' worry, it won't cause you even a single penny. =)) hAPpy?

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As a teacher, i find that this website is very useful to be used in my teaching. How?

1. as a tool of presenting lesson or ideas or information to students, for example my presentation about me. it is a great way to present the lesson for your students even without your presence because you can upload your own power point presentation, then you can add your own voice or sound in order to make the presentation becomes more interesting. In addition, you can add pictures or music to make the presentation become more lively
2. it's not only useful for teachers' presentation, but to students as well. Students can create their own presentation to present it to class both individually or in groups, so this might help to improve students' speaking skills and increase their confidence level
3. it is useful as a listening activity where students can listen to what their teacher's presentation and then answer questions based on the presentation/maybe an extended activity like further discussion after listening to teacher's presentation

What I like about Brainshark??
1. it's free, of COurse! we just have to sign up and have an account. By doing this all our work can be saved as well.
2. you can make it private or public. it depends on you. if you make it public, everyone can view your presentation and and if they are interested they can share it with others
3. we can add other things to our presentation, eg:notes, audio, background music
4. many kinds of format available to be uploaded, not just power point presentation, but document words as well


What I don't like??:
1. after you've uploaded the power point and added the voice, you can't edit it (if there's a mistake about your point). If you want to, you have to start all over again.
2. the presentation cannot be downloaded
3. you can't know who's viewing your blog unless they leave some comments

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dvolver

~DVOLVER~

this short video is created using Dvolver movie maker. It's a quite fun websites where people can create their own short videos by using their own dialogues, music, setting, and characters.

These are the way to do it:


you can choose your own background and sky, according to your idea and interest


then choose your plot, depending on what story line you want to create


then select your own characters who are suitable with your background and plot


then create your own dialogues. not more than 100 words.


choose your background music which can lighten up your story


lastly, choose your title design that you are interested in. Don't forget to put your title of the video and your name in the boxes (like i did ~_^)


and now your video is finish! you can send it to whoever you want

and you can copy the code then embed it onto your blog/facebook

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox

This website can be a good tool for students to learn English. The reasons include:

• it's free so people or students especially don't have to pay for it
• it's fun because it involves sounds and visuals and tend to make students really engaged to the work
• it involves real life communication where students can choose their own context then use their own dialogues to make a story
• students will have freedom of choice in terms of creativity and language use, thus it motivates students to express themselves by using authentic language
• it also has a variety focus where students can enhance their vocabulary items, improve their spelling, having freer communication and might be changing their view on learning english from boring to fun 

However, there might be some problems with using this website as a tool of learning english:

• the words can be used to write a dialogue is only limited to 100 words, so students can't write as much as they want
• students might use inappropriate language because they are given too much freedom 
• not all students will have access to internet at their home
• unsuitable graphics for students eg:the characters' attire
• the video can't be edited after you've closed the browser, so if there's any mistake happened, students have to create the new one
• there are limited plot available, so students can't really create their story in a various ways

I forgot to put the title and the producer for the short video above.If you are interested, click HERE and try it!!. Have fun learning! =))

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