A Web Browser Designed for Kids

This is something I think I'll be trying out with my own daughter. It's a web browser designed only to access 'safe' websites. It's made by KidZui and there is the choice of a free version or you can have a membership subscription. The free version gives you reports on what your kids are using the browser for and what sites they are looking at.
The subscription version gives you the same but a bit more detail. It also gives you kids access to more accessories and Zui clothes!! (Think I'll go for the free option)

Anyway, if you want your kids to have access to 800,000 safe websites without having to look over their shoulder the whole time, then this looks like a good choice. Runs on PC and MAC.

Hope you enjoy it.

Best

Nik Peachey Read More..

Bring Your Kids Drawings to Life

I've just been playing around with a really nice site for kids. It's called Shidonni and it is similar to a paint program and allows kids to draw animals etc. The difference with this though is that once they have drawn an animal they then click a button and it comes to life!

There's more though. They can also draw items of food to put in the animal's fridge and draw habitat for it to live in. If that's not enough they can even play games of snakes and ladders with their animal and visit other planets where other students have created their own animals. So it's bit like a paint version of Spore for young kids.

• Watch this movie to see how it is done

I'm sure their must be loads of educational and language development uses we can put this to, so I'll be getting my thinking hat on. Until then I hope you enjoy getting your kids to create their own animals.


Nik Peachey Read More..

Video Dictionary 2.0

I've just been having a look at Wordia which is a wonderful new dictionary site. The entries are all video clips submitted by ... well anyone!
It's a bit like a YouTube video dictionary. I've just been having a quick browse and I love it. Great site for native and non native speakers of English. Also great collection of different accents. Even a few 'celebrities' thrown in!


Marvelous. Just love it. Read More..

Improve your Vocabulary and send Aid to Children

This is a wondeful idea and looks a little like Free Rice. The idea is that students work through vocabulary tests improving their vocabulary and with every correct answer .25 of a cent is sent to help impoverished children.
Seems like a great way to help epople raise money for a good cause. The level of the vocabulary is quite high, but would be fine for CAE, IELTS or Proficiancy level students, or even native speakers.

• http://www.aidtochildren.com

A very good cause too, so I hope you can spread the word about this.

Best

Nik Peachey

Related links

• Exam Practice
• Animating vocabulary
• Vocabulary and rice
• Multimedia wordsearch

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Free ebooks on elearning

There's a really impressive collection of free ebooks on the eLearning Guild website.

The latest one is Tips for Producing and Managing Flash-based e-Learning Content. In all there are eight ebooks there dating back to 2005 and they are all free to download.

Each book is a collection of tips and they cover topics from choosing the best LMS (learning management system) to tips on beingg an online trainer.

These all look well worth a read.

Best

Nik Read More..

Eco City Game

ElectroCity is an interesting online game designed for education. It's based around the SimsCity principle and users have to try to build a financially viable eco city where all the inhabitants can also be happy.

As I said the game was designed for education and there's a very handy teachers section with some downloadable worksheets. The producer put the level of the game at 7 - 9 year olds, but if you were using this with non English speakers for language development I think you could use it with any aga range and there would still be a good deal of motivation to try it.

There's also a downloadable version of the game for those with slower connections and wonder of wonders there is both a PC and a MAC version. It's quite a small download too ( 1 - 2 Mb). You can find these in the teachers' resources section.

You can also have a look at some of the cities other players have created.

If you register you can also enter your students in a competition to win a prize for the best designed city and students can keep track of how well there city is doing.

This looks like a really handy educational game.

Hope you enjoy it.

Best
Nik Read More..

A Tool for Helping Students Develop More Complex Sentences

A couple of years ago I wrote an activity for students called Extending a Sentence which used a Flash animated website to show how a simple sentence could be elaborated to become rich in detail. The site called Telescopictext had a marvelous sentence which started with 'I made tea' and developed into a full paragraph, just click on the grey words.
I'm glad to say that this site has now been developed so that everyone can create and save their own sentences. Here's my first one and it starts,"Telescopic text is great."

Creating your own text is really easy and if you register you can save the text and get a hyperlink to it. The first thing to do is to go to http://www.telescopictext.org/ and register. Then once you have logged in, click on 'Write'.


You can then start by adding a very short sentence. Then click the 'Start' button.
You can then add more words by slicking on a word, adding more detail and then clicking 'Insert'.
You can keep clicking on words and adding more parts to the sentence. If you click on the small magnifying icon at the bottom right of the screen you will also be able to see the structure of the sentence as it has been developed.


If you click on 'Fold' you'll be able to close the phrase up and then try it out by clicking on the word to expand it again.
When you think the sentence is finished, you just need to click on 'Publish' and after a few quick checks you'll be able to get a URL to share with your students.
Here's the one I just made: I went to class.

I think this is a great tool to use with students.

• You can put students in pairs with a starter sentence and get them to keep taking it in turns to add parts.
• You can see which students can create the longest single sentence without any grammar mistakes.
• You can put in short texts your students have created then get them to edit and make them more interesting.
• You can create a text with mistakes in and the corrections hidden, then just click to show what the mistakes are. Students can try to predict what the correction will be before you show it.
• You could create also a create a version with some errors hidden and some visible and students have to decide which one are genuine errors and which are actually correct.
• You can give students a starter sentence and get them to create short story around it by gradually building up the sentences.
• You can use 'View Structure' feature to highlight the way the sentence is formed and the different parts of speech etc.

I think Telescopictext is a wonderful tool to use with students either on a data projector / IWB in class or to get them creating sentences at home. I hope you find it useful. Read More..

Microsoft Small Basic - Simple Programming For Kids

Small Basic is a simplified version of Microsoft's programming language Visual Basic, suitable for kids and beginners. It includes dozens of lessons and exercises that explain basic programming concepts in detail. 

 WEBSITE: http://smallbasic.com/

For any child that has an avid interest in computers, one of the most magical experiences is when they write their first program. Microsoft seeks to introduce that amazing experience to students as well as adults with an impressive new programming tutoring tool called Small Basic.

Small Basic is essentially a "small" version of Microsoft's well known programming language called Visual Basic. Visual Basic itself is anything but basic, so by offering Small Basic, Microsoft can make <span class="fullpost">   </span>inroads with younger students. Small Basic may be a training tool, but it is a powerful enough programming tool so that some users have even created highly functional and intricate games such as board games or even simulations.

However, the real value of this software comes from its use in the classroom or in a home-school setting, where each lesson is laid out by Microsoft in a series of instructional lessons followed by exercises where the student can put what they've learned into practical use.


The Small Basic Application


When the student first download and installs the Small Basic application, it isn't really obvious how the software works. There is no instruction set or directory provided where students can just choose from available commands and functions. Instead, the student must actually work through the lessons and learn each of the functions individually. While this is more time consuming than a more visual tool may be, this lesson-based approach may actually provide better retention of that information.


Lessons and Curriculum


The most impressive thing about Small Basic isn't so much the application itself, but the fact that Microsoft put so much effort into coming up with a high-quality curriculum that consists of dozens of lessons. You can find each lesson under the "Small Basic Curriculum" header in the right navigational bar on the Small Basic website. Ideally, students should work through the lessons, starting from Lesson 1.1 and moving forward.


Slideshow Lessons


Each of the lessons are created as a PowerPoint slideshow presentation, so it's a given that teachers or parents will need PowerPoint available in order to work through each lesson with students. The PowerPoint lessons consist of animated slides that work through explanations of each set of instructions. Every lesson builds upon what the student has already learned in past lessons.


A Lesson Slide


Each slide is well designed by Microsoft, and obviously developed by someone with a good understanding of how students learn. The animated nature of each slide will hold the students interest, as actual snippets of code are displayed and the different elements of the sample program are pointed out.


Writing Programs in Small Basic


After each lesson, students can then go back to the Small Basic programming environment and put what they've learned into practice. Once they start typing the commands they've learned, helpful tips will pop up on the right side of the screen, showing the student additional information about the function and the many different properties and settings they can use.


Autotext


You can even see elements of other Microsoft products appear throughout the Small Basic application. For example, all the student has to do is type a letter, and the program will provide a pop-up box of suggestions of words that the student is probably trying to type. This is particularly useful for when students can't quite remember the full name of a function they wanted to use. All they have to do is type the first few letters and they'll see the function listed in the pop-up box.


Running Test Programs


When the student is finished typing their test programs into the Small Basic application, all they have to do is click the big blue "Run" button in the top menu. Small Basic will switch into "runtime" mode, and the application window will appear, displaying the textbox or images that the student programmed.


Advanced Games


For anyone that thinks Small Basic isn't capable of producing anything of any real value, all you have to do is browse some of the sample programs from the forums. Students often post the results of some of their work there, and you'll find everything from simple mathematical programs, to some impressive advanced game environments like tic tac toe or even a graphical driving simulator. The software is really only limited by the level of creativity and imagination of the student.

Source : http://www.educational-freeware.com/freeware/small-basic.aspx 

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Find Easy to Read Text for Lower Levels

I sometimes wonder why companies continue developing search engines when Google's dominance seems so complete, but every now and then I spot one that has a nice twist and that's the case with Twurdy.
Twurdy is actually based on Google, but it analyses Google results for readability, so it can help you to find more lower level texts for learners without you having to read through every result from Google to see if it's simple enough.


Just type in the topic of the text you need and click on your Twurdy type. You have a choice of three different Twurdy types. The differences are mainly speed (how fast you want your results) vs complexity (how thoroughly you want the results analysed) I would recommend choosing Twurdy with Pop as this will analyse the number of word on the page, length of sentences, number of syllables per word and also the popularity of the words in the text.

Getting more accurate results will save you time in the long run and even using Twurdy Pop isn't so slow.

The results will then be shown colour / shade coded and with a rating. Darker results are more complex texts and the lighter ones are easier. Then you just have to find one that your students will enjoy (or get them to find their own).


Twurdy is a great tool that can save you a lot of time if you are looking for authentic texts to use with lower level students. You could even let them find their own texts to replace the ones in your course book.

I hope it's useful for you.

• Here you can find text based activities for EFL ESL students

Best

Nik Peachey Read More..

www.PetpetPark.com - Play Petpet Park Online Games

Petpet Park (www.PetpetPark.com) is a web-based virtual world for kids to play games online. At Petpet Park, you can create your own Petpet profile, explore and meet friends, collect items, and more.

You should play games and perform jobs to earn Park Points to do some shopping in one of the Park shops! You can buy food, clothes, and supplies from different shops. And these items can customise Read More..

Real time collaboration

I've just spotted this really nice real time collaboration tool called Twiddla. It's a free tool which doesn't involve any downloading or installing any software.

It allows real time collaboration through voice, or text chat and has a shared white board space which all users can annotate, drag pictures or text onto etc.

You can browse through websites upload documents and images to work on collaboratively or just use a blank background as a white board space to write or draw on.

There's a live sandbox so you can go in and try the real thing without registering.
If you do register you can then have either a public space or a private space that you invite selective people along to.

• Try it here

This looks really ideal for delivering synchronous distance learning sessions.

Hope you find it useful

Nik Read More..

English Online

Please forgive more than a hint of self promotion (Well I am a blogger so what can you expect?) in this posting. I've recently written an Action Research Toolkit, aimed mainly at language teachers, but it may well be of use to teachers in other disciplines too, which has now been published on a pretty impressive new British Council website in China.

The action research toolkit is split into various components with articles on a possible research cycle, planning research as well as suggestions for how to use video and audio recordings in your research, how to design questionnaires and even some downloadable tasks and tip sheets.

You can download the complete kit from here

The Toolkit is part of the British Council in China's English Online site which has been designed with sections for both teachers and learners.

The section for teachers has some pretty handy tools like a flashcard archive , some video footage from inside the classroom (which is always useful and often hard to find) as well as a photo library for teachers to use.

What I like best about the site though is that it's one of the British Council's bravest attempts to really build a site that is very 'Web 2.0'. They have really tried to take on board and encourage the building of a sense of ownership and community within the site's user base.

Registered users can create their own blogs, get involved in forums and vote, comment on and rate the content.

I think this is a bold step forward for the British Council and a site that's well worth checking out whether you are based in China or not.


Best

Nik Read More..

Football vocabulary

This is a great free online game called GoalUnited. It isn't designed for education at all but I'm sure anyone who is keen on developing their English and has an interest in football would enjoy it and get a lot of vocabulary and reading practice from it.


The game is played in a similar manner to the popular Football manager computer game and each player builds up a team and plays against other teams online.

As I said it's free. It is available to play in other languages too so make sure your students choose to play it in the language they want to learn rather than the one they already speak.

I'm not really a football fan myself so I haven't really spent time with this, but for students that are, I'm sure it could be very motivational.

English version is here
To choose from other languages try here

Hope you enjoy it.

Best

Nik Read More..

Vocabulary and rice

This is a great site for revising vocabulary (at a higher level) and helping to donate food to the UN World Food Program. There is an audio of a word and students have to choose the correct synonym (there's a choice of four). For every correct answer Free Rice donates 20 grains of rice.


The site also rates the level of your vocabulary and sneds you more difficult questions if you are getting the answers.

Great vocabulary building and a worthy charity all in one.
I found it pretty addictive. Try it at Free Rice

Best
Nik Read More..

New game: Lost numbers

We have made a game. It is aimed at Primary School children. It's a very simple game and try to make Maths a little more fun. It has three level: add, subtractions and multiply. Click here to play. Read More..

New game: Vedoque cars

A new game and this time is not for learning. We are on holidays and it's only for fun. A classic game with cars and three Grand Prix to win and becoming the new World Champion. Let's play! Read More..

New game: Colours Vedoque

We have a new educational game: Click here to play. The colours are the subject of the new activities. This game is designed for Nursery and it can be used by 3 years old children, although, with some activities, they may need assistance.

As before, we have mixed activities where you make use of the mouse and the use of the arrow keys on the keyboard. These activities will help with the understanding and learning of the layout of space: up, down, left and right.

Also, we have designed the game, so it prevents the appearance of the typical Flash menu when the right button of the mouse is clicked accidentally.

Some of the sounds are from The Freesound Project and some images from OpenClipArt.

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New game: Move the mouse!!

This game is made for small children so they can start using the computer at an early age. It focuses on three basic techniques using the mouse: point, click and drag. We have designed four activities for each technique with some hidden surprises to be discovered. It is recommended for children from 2 years old with the help of their parents or teachers. So, let's get started! Click here to play. Read More..

New educational game: Maths hide-and-seek

This is a new game where the Vedoques love to hide. But don't worry! They are leaving us clues to find them. The Vedoques are behind the correct answer.
We have three different activities. The first one works with adding numbers, the second one with the times tables and the third one, you use subtractions. To make it more interesting and encourage children, they can win our Vedoque Olympic Medals. If you can complete twenty sums without any mistakes you will win a gold medal. If you make up to 3 mistakes, you will get a silver medal and up to 4 mistakes, a bronze one. You can choose the level of difficulty on the front page of the game. There are 2 levels, in the easier level (6-8 years old), the sums are made with numbers from 1 to 10, in the harder one (8-11 years old) the sums are made with numbers from 10 to 100. Click here to play Read More..

New Game: Maths Farm

The game is aimed at Primary School children. It's a very simple game and try to make Maths a little more fun. It has three level: Sum (1 to 10), Sum (1 to 100) and Multiply. The player must click on the animal with the correct answer. Click here to play.
In the Spanish version, this game has been played over 200.000 times this year, according to Google Analytics and StatCounter.
We hope you will find it fun and leave your suggestions in the comments section.

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