Elllo English

What is it?
Hello hello elllo! This time around, I'd like to introduce a fabulous tool which is called Elllo English. It is one of the largest source for teaching and learning materials on the net. Now, how amazing is that? This tool allows the students to learn language naturally through listening to authentic materials. There are thousands and thousands of texts with interesting topics available on Elllo English. Those texts are divided into six main sections which are Views, Mixer, Games, Videos, Scenes and News. Additionally, there are two more sections under Mixer which are called Songs and Talking Points. In each section, there are a range of activities provided, with loads of additional stuff such as the transcription of the listening task, free MP3 files, multimedia, vocab tasks and language notes. The printable version of the activities are included as well. In addition, almost all texts are provided with audio explanations of vocabulary items. Besides that, the students could also benefited from video sharing, a feature that allows them to upload a video about their thoughts and opinions regarding certain text. Not only that, they could listen to other videos of people from all around the world sharing their opinions as well.

Suitable for:
I would say that Elllo English is suitable for secondary school and college/university students since the listening task might seem too complex for primary school students.

Activity Suggestions:
This tool is definitely could be used as a listening activity material. The teachers should choose the appropriate videos according to their students' levels. Additionally, the students could also be encouraged to use Elllo English outside school period so as to encourage towards greater learner autonomy.

The Link:
http://www.elllo.org/english/home.htm

The Snapshots:

Views

Mixers

Games

Videos

Scenes

News

Songs

Talking Points

Advantages:

1) Authenticity. This tool provides authentic materials of listening activities. The English language that are used in the videos are all real, and it is very important for students since they can learn how to use the language in their daily lives.

2) Pronunciation. Elllo English includes audio files for vocabulary pronunciation. This feature is so great because students can learn and practice the correct pronunciation of certain words. Moreover, the definition of the words are also provided, and thus will be useful for helping the students to thoroughly understand the texts.

3) Variety. Since this tool offers thousands of interesting topics, there will be a variety in language learning process. Thus, it will make the learning process more fun and enjoyable.


Disadvantages:

1) Server down. If there are too many users, the system will be overloaded and thus make the tool nonfunctional. It will surely distract the learning process.

2) Crowded layout. The layout is too packed and crowded. Sometimes, it is confusing as well since there are too many things sprawled on one page.

3) The videos cannot be downloaded. What a shame, because the videos are interesting.

Though there are some limitations of this tool, they are all not that worth concerning. So, teachers, go for it! Anyways, as usual, this is the help provided by Russell Stannard regarding Elllo English.

The Link:
http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/elllo/index.html

Zimmer Twins + Vodpod

What is it?
Zimmer Twins is a movie maker tool that is very interesting to be used for language learning. It is quite similar to another tool that I have introduced before this - Dvolver. But, Zimmer Twins is way cooler than Dvolver (I think!). Using this tool, the students can create an amazing quality of cartoon animation (seriously!). Zimmer Twins provides several story starters which enables the students to create their own movie endings. Or, they can even creatively create their very own animated movies from scratch. It is easy to use and a video on how to make a movie is even provided by Zimmer Twins. With a little guide, I bet that the students will be able to use the tool successfully.

Suitable for:
In my opinion, this tool is suitable to be used for learners of all ages and levels. However, this tool might be too complicated for young learners (primary school students), so, I guess secondary school and college/university students would be much more benefited from it.

Activity Suggestions:
There are several ways of using Zimmer Twins in the classroom. For instance, the students can be asked to watch a starter video and finish the story however they would like. Ideally, the activities should be carried out by students in pairs so that communication between students can be maximised. Besides, the teachers can also ask them to create animation movies from scratch to encourage their creativity. Besides that, the teachers themselves can use Zimmer Twins to introduce new topics for language learning. After that, the students will have to apply whatever they have learned in a form of movies. How fun the teaching and learning process would be!

The link: http://www.zimmertwins.com/

Treasure Hunt | Zimmer Twins

- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Advantages:

1) It will give so much fun to the students. They will enjoy something light and easy like creating a movie. Therefore, they will engage in the activity until the end.

2) Increase creativity among the students. Zimmer Twins will allow the students to work and think creatively in order to create an animation movie.

3) Personalisation. Since there are loads of choices offered in Zimmer Twins, the students are free to choose whatever they think the best for their movies. It is very important as it allows the students to use language to express their own ideas, feelings, preferences and opinions comfortably.

Disadvantages:

1) Irreversible. Once the movie is saved, it could not be altered anymore. So, no changes can be made if there're some mistakes in the movie. Besides, the bubbles provided in Zimmer Twins have been restricted to certain amount of words only. Thus, the students could not write long sentences in the bubbles since it has word limits.

2) We cannot embed the video to the blog or other website directly. Instead, you have to use other tools that can give the embed link of your video, so that you can embed your Zimmer Twins movies in your blog. The tool that I used is Vodpod.

3) Subscription. In order to share the completed movies or view other movies, the users have to purchase a VIP membership, thus it would not be convenient for language learning if all students have to become the VIP members.

Although the disadvantages are quite a turn-off, especially regarding the subscription, I still believe that Zimmer Twins is a really great tool that can be a huge help for language learning. Since we can use tools like Vodpod, the teachers could embed the movies created by the students to the classroom's blog or teacher's blog. Therefore, the movies can be viewed by all, and the subscription thingy would not be a matter anymore. By the way, Vodpod is totally free, and you need to sign up and after that, it will give a 'tour' on how to use the tool. Cool. Anyway, here's the link:

http://vodpod.com

And, as usual, here is the help from Russell Stannard that you might need regarding Zimmer Twins. But, bear in mind that the Zimmer Twins does not work the same like it did in Russell's video anymore. It is totally free then, no VIP membership whatsoever.

The link: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/zimmer/index.html