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Managing Teaching through Virtual Learning Environments

Today, we tried a website (www.pagamo.org). It allows students to pick an avatar and enter a game similar to Three Kingdoms. The idea is that they have to answer questions in different subjects, e.g. English, Mathematics, to upgrade their abilities. Then they can conquer other areas and expand their territories. In the form of a game, students are motivated to answer questions which originally look boring to them. They can compete with each other and try to conquer as much land as possible. Usage in the classroom: 1. Students log onto the website (www.pagamo.org). 2.  Students select an avatar for themselves. 3. Students will then need to complete 20 basic questions before they can start to explore the map. 4. Once they are on the map, they can start choosing challenges and answering questions. 5. Every week, the teacher will log onto the teacher's console and see which students are winning. 6. Rewards will be given to the top students in the game. I think students ...
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Using ICT for Assessment

Today we've come across the concept of e-portfolios. The idea is to create a website detailing one's personal background, personal development, future goals and anything one wants to share with others. For example, a teacher can share his teaching methodologies on his site. In the classroom, students can do something similar by composing a website talking about their personal background, interests, future plans and anything that interest them, e.g. movies, books, articles, etc. Procedures in the classroom: 1. The teacher demonstrates how to create an account on wordpress.com. 2. The teacher shows how to create a post, including how to upload pictures, videos, music, external links, etc. 3. Students need to create their own e-portfolios with at least three pages, including personal background, interests and future plans. 4. The students need to complete the website in a month. 5. The teacher will check their progress and select some good works to share with other...
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ICT for Listening

Today we've come across a website, posetest.com. We can use it to help students learn the subtle differences in pronunciation. I deem this site useful as many of my students are unable to distinguish the differences between some consonants, e.g. /f/ and /th/, /b/ and /p/, etc. Procedures in the classroom: 1. Students create their own accounts using their email addresses. 2. A demonstration about how to use the website will be performed by me. 3. I will use the first section about vowels to demonstrate. 4. Students need to complete a section per week. 5. In seven weeks' time, all the sections will be completed. 6. I will use the interface for teachers to check their progress. Pronunciation has long been a big problem for students in Hong Kong. By listening to the demonstrations on the website repeatedly, they can have a better impression of the sounds in English.
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ICT for Speaking

Today we learnt about speech recognition technology. We used the website iSpraak.com to practise pronunciation. I find this website very useful because my students often encounter difficulties with pronunciation as we only have one speaking lesson per cycle. Only a few students are selected to practise in front of the whole class and it is hard for the teacher to listen to all the students. Procedures: 1. First, an article from the Young Post is selected. 2. The text is then entered into iSpraak.com. 3. In the lesson, the teacher reads the article and explain the vocabulary to students. 4. The students need to read it together once in class. 5. At home, students need to read the article to the computer on the website iSpraak.com. 6. The teacher can monitor students' progress. As the results are sent to the teacher's email, this website can let the teacher keep track of the students' progress and spot any difficulties they have.
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ICT for Writing skills

This week we've learnt a lot about using ICT to teach writing skills. The website I like most is www.toondoo.com, which allows users to create their own comic strips. The most appealing feature is that students can can compose a story without any restrictions and no drawing skills are required. Users can just choose the characters and other props and tell their stories. Procedures in the Classroom 1. First, I'll show the students how to create an account and log in. 2. Then, I'll teach the ideas about the structure of a story, including background, development, climax and resolution. 3. Students need to compose a 4-panel comic strip by dividing them into background, development, climax and resolution. 4. Students will submit their work to me via the intranet. 5. The most creative ones will be shown to the whole class. This activity encourages students to be creative and write their stories. At the same time, it can arouse their interest in English.
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ICT for Reading Skills

Today we've learnt about some websites which can help students improve their reading skills. The one I find the most useful is www.loudlit.org.  Users can pick from a variety of texts, including poems, short stories, novels and speeches.  When they read the text, an MP3 is played simultaneously to show the students the pronunciations of the words.  By using this website, students can know how to read the words they've not learnt before. Procedures in the Classroom: 1. An excerpt of a passage from the website (around 200 words) is given to the students. 2. Students need to log on to the website and listen to the recording. 3. In the next lesson, a student is picked randomly and he or she needs to read out the passage in class.  With this tool, a lot of reading time is saved in the classroom and the teacher can focus on other aspects in the curriculum. 
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Hot Potatoes

Last week, we learnt about the software Hot Potatoes, which enables teachers to generate clozes, matching exercises, crossword puzzles, etc. I think this application is useful for teaching vocabulary as I can create vocabulary exercises easily. For example, for a lesson about tourism in Hong Kong, first I can extract the essential words from the textbook, e.g. tram, the Peak, tourism. Next, I will write a hint for each word and use Hot Potatoes to compile a crossword puzzle. During the lesson, I will first introduce the words to them. Then, I will distribute the crossword puzzle to them. The exercise will be conducted in the form of a competition. The first three students will be awarded with a small prize. In this way, students' interest in the learning materials can be aroused.
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