What can I pack into Padlet? (1)

Almost a year ago I published a post about Padlet and how successful it had been with my 11-13 year-olds as a class blog. I talked about this in my recent presentation at Digital ELT Ireland in Dublin and mentioned that the reason I though it was so successful was the fact that students could...

The process of pulling a pint of Guinness and other notes. Digital ELT Ireland 2015

I love Guinness. That creamy white layer, followed by that smooth, dark taste is hard to beat. Many people already know there is a whole process to go through before getting around to drinking a pint of the stuff (beautifully illustrated by this video on Youtube) and, well, it isn't easy to find that kind of...

I saw Seesaw

So, there's this portfolio tool called Seesaw which is aimed at young learners (see more about it on youtube here, their website here or through @seesaw) As someone who has used Edmodo and Padlet as online learning spaces with teens and pre-teens, I thought it would be worth looking at with regards to 'the smalls', (also known...

A Comprehensive Guide to GroupZap – An Online Post-it Board

Excellent guide to a collaborative tool with great flexibility from Nathan Hall.

Reflections on using Titan pad for exam preparation (writing)

This year, I'm preparing a group of high school students for CAE (Certificate of Advanced English) and, as most exam courses do, I have to provide lots of writing practice of various kinds. As they are high schoolers, it's not always easy to motivate them into writing, never mind squeeze some formal English constructions out...

E-moderation and beyond!

I just signed up for my first e-moderation course (this one) and really looking forward to it. What is e-moderation and why am I interested in it? Well, as training and development continue to expand to include on-line options, there seems to be an increase in requests for tutors and teachers to guide the learning...

Blogging with YLs: An example using Padlet

So, I was introduced to Padlet a couple of years ago in a training session given by our ICT coordinator (@marionodell). Since then, I've seen it used for vocabulary practice (brainstorming, mind maps, categorising, class dictionaries), for writing practice (description of photos, short stories, summaries) and as an on-line hub for learning links and resources...

Do you Class Dojo?

There's been an interesting teacher backlash to the New York Times less than flattering article about the classroom management tool Class Dojo. Teachers have filled the Twittersphere with their CD success stories highlighting its strengths. I use CD with YLs (teeny to teens) because it adds a motivational and fun element, has clear visual records...

Edmodo tools for Teachers (Training pics)

The following pictures have been taken from a short training session I did for teachers in September 2013 to inform them of the tools Edmodo offers teachers and how we can use them with our classes. They might be useful for anyone considering the platform in their EFL classroom: This work is licensed under a...

‘Quick voice’ – a simple app for speaking and listening practice.

Quick voice (Nfinity inc) is a free app I have used frequently in my English lessons. It could be the simplest app I have ever used. Press 'Record' to record, 'Stop' to stop. A classroom example I have used it with young learners to record their stories, with teens to simulate journalists and with adults...