Online platforms for organizing and systematuzing work with the class
Such platforms are especially useful for online learning as you can use them to manage your classes, assign and check homework, communicate with your students and their parents and keep them updated.
Google Classroom: It’s very easy to create a class there, you need only your Google account to sign up. You can easily add your students to the virtual class using their emails or sending them the invitation link. It also creates a Class Drive Folder of your class where you can keep all materials from your lesson and textbooks which students can access anytime. You can easily create assignments or quizzes, interact with your students by creating posts or simply sending messages to your students. Students can post on the class stream and comment on any item if you allow them to do it in the settings. You can also use it as a class journal and keep the grades there.
Edmodo: It’s also very simple to use. To join your class on Edmodo your students need to sing up, and then you will be able to invite them to join by the invite link or code. Here you can post agenda for a day/ week with the expectations, tasks or some important information, share materials with your class, schedule events, create and give assignments and quizzes, which will be automatically checked. It’s very easy to start a group discussion, create a poll or a quick wellness check asking your students how they feel today. Students can ask each other questions, share information, view and respond to each other's pages. It can be used to put and keep grades and students’ progress as well.
Interactive activities:
There are some collaborative tools which can help organize and manage group work during online and offline lessons, allow students to share their ideas and get instant feedback.
Mentimeter: You can use this website to create interactive presentations in various formats and allow your students share their thought. Most popular formats include polls, word cloud, open-ended questions. When you create and open a presentation, your students can join in using the code, type and submit their answers or vote in polls. You will see their replies and can comment, start a class discussion or analyse the results and give feedback.
Padlet: It’s a great tool to create interactive boards, where students can share their ideas, upload their assignments or projects, see, react and comment on works or ideas of others. You can also download and save your boards.
Google services: These are great tools for collaborative work online. Use Google Docs for written assignments. Simply create blank documents for your students and give them access to edit them. When they’re ready, you can check their written tasks online. Students will be able to see your corrections and feedback as soon as it appears. Google Slides and Jamboard are great for group projects. Students will be able to create presentations or do project work in groups online, because it allows access to edit the file for multiple users at once. With the help of Google Forms you can create tests or questionnaires. The answers will be checked automatically, and you’ll be able to see the detailed statistics when your students submit.
Competitive games:
Make your lessons fun! Use various competitive online games for your students to practise different aspects in a fun way. These tools allow you to create your own games and tasks on any topics, or use a large database of ready-made activities. Students can play live during the lessons or practice at home.
Kahoot: Create your quizzes or search for loads of games made by other teachers. When you start a quiz, your students can join using the game code. They will see a question and options for answers on your screen, they will need to choose the correct option on their gadgets. After each question, you’ll see the results and will be able to give instant feedback. One more option is puzzle games, in which players will have to put parts of a sentence/text in the correct order. This format helps practice word order and text structure. If you don’t want to play in class, you can create challenges and assign them as homework. Students can play individually at any time and see their results. When your students complete a challenge, you will see detailed information on correct and wrong answers given, as well as a leaderboard.
Quizizz: One more tool for interactive online quizzes. You can create multiple choice, open-ended, T/F quizzes or use ready-made ones. Students join using the link or game code. They will be able to play individually or in teams using their gadgets. There are also some power ups which make the game even more exciting. After the game, you will see the statistics and will be able to discuss and analyse the most challenging questions with your class. It’s possible to play live or assign quizzes for homework.
Quizlet: It’s a great tool to learn and practice vocabulary. It takes 5-10 minutes to create your own study set by adding vocabulary items you want your students to learn and their translation/definition. There are also loads of available sets created by other users. You can play live, your student can join in via the QR code or game code, they will see a word/phrase on their gadget and need to choose the correct definition/translation/picture. The game continues until at least one player or a team gives all correct answers. You can share a set with your students for them to practise the vocabulary on their own at any time.
Baamboozle: You can use it to play team quizzes in your lessons. It’s very easy to create a game. You just need to add questions or tasks and correct answers. To play, assign teams and let them choose random questions one by one. If they give the correct answer, add points for them. There are also some power-ups. Students don’t need their gadgets to play, just show them your screen. There is also a great choice of ready-made games.
Plickers: It’s a tool to create multiple choice quizzes. But the procedure of the game is unique and unusual. Students don’t join in using their gadgets but give answers by showing a personal printed out QR code. Each side of the code represents one option a, b, c or d. Students look at the question on your screen and show their card with the QR code, the side with the correct option up. The teacher scans the codes using the app on the phone, when all the answers are scanned you can see the statistics and leaderboard on the screen. You need to print out individual QR codes from the website for all your students only once. When you create a class, your students’ names will be linked to their codes, and you can use the same QRs to play any games on this website.
Wordwall: There are more than 20 formats for interactive online tasks, for e.g. match up, quiz, unjumble a sentence, sort the words, wordsearch, label the picture etc. Share the link and your students will be able to play on their gadgets and get instant feedback. It can be used as a competitive game or as an open class activity. There are also many activities by other teachers which you can use. Play in the class or assign as homework.
Educaplay: It’s a game and activities generator. You can create or use existing games in different formats - wordsearch, crossword, matching, memory games, complete the gaps etc. Start a game and share the link with your class. They can play on their gadgets and see their results. After the game, you will see the statistics. The games can be played in the lessons or at home.
WEBINAR "DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN ESL LESSONS" (Green country)
