Jing

Link to Jing Download

What is Jing? What does it work?

Jing is a very useful screen-capture tool with lovely interface. This tool can make it easy and simple to share your screen. All you need to do is click one button and record it. Once the video is finished, it can be shared or sent via emails.

How to use Jing?

Why is this particular tool or technology relavant to language learning? What approaches to language learning or research underpin the use of this technology?

Jing can be both used by the teachers and students. As for the teachers, teachers can easily give vivid feedbacks to their students with sharing their screen. They can marking their homework online and highlight the mistakes and explain in detail. Students can understand better with watching the whole process and make them feel like their teacher is right in front of him. However, in the traditional ways of giving feedbacks, students just see the result and probably don't know how to correct their homework. Jing has overcome this difficulty and creat this platform for bettering their after-class academic interactions.

How might you use it to foster language learning in class/outside class?

Jing can be used in language teaching in various ways. As for the teachers, they can use it in the following ways:

• Teacher can do some Jings about preclass warm-up activities like introducing some new words and how to pronounce and use them.
• Teacher can show students how to do some academic research online before or after class to enrich their knowledge with providing them some websites and keywords.
• Teacher can give feedbacks in a more attractive way to stimulate learner's autonomy and encourage them to make use of the digital tools to improve their learning.

The advantages of Jing:

• By using Jing, teachers can give personal feedback to students with corrections or suggestions on their homework efficiently.
• Teachers can make this video with their voice to show the students their computer screen and explain more explicitly than traditional feedbacks.
• The interface is user-friendly and easy to use.

Limitations:
. The free version can only video five minutes.

Self Introduction

What is it? What does it do?

My brainshark is kind of software that can add sound easily into different kinds of file such as powerpoint presentation, document, PDF etc.

Why is this particular tool or technology relevant to language learning? What approaches to language learning or research underpin the use of this technology?

In the four interrelated skills, speaking is becoming increasingly significant in current world. Generally speaking, speaking is an ability based on the other three skills and a quite number of students are afraid of speaking English in the public because they worry about making mistakes. This obstacle is a big barrier for language learners and in this case attractive learner-centered speaking tool need to be come up with. Mybrainshark is one of them. This tool can be used to practice students speaking and get them another stimulating way of speaking.


How you might use it to foster language learning in class/outside class?

There are numerous ways of using mybrainshark on ELT. As for the language trainers, they can use it in all the three phases of teaching like pre-class, in-class as well as after-class activities. They can make the PPT and add their voice into each page correspondingly about the teaching material, homework etc. Similarly, students can make presentation with sound to practice their speaking. For instance, making a self-introduction PPT and could let the audience know more vividly with their vocal narration. The following one is my self-introduction with using my brainshark. Please feel free to comment on it.




Limitations of mybrainshark:

• Some hardware equipments requirements for using mybrainshark like the quality of the microphone and good connection with the Internet.

Leaning Chocolate for Teaching Vocabulary

http://www.learningchocolate.com/content/animals-1

What is it? What does it do?

This website provides English learners a stimulating platform to get to know new words and memorize them better with these well planed activities.

Why is this tool or technology relevant to language learning? What approaches to language learning ir research underpin the use of the technology?

As for language learners, the majority of them go through a difficult time of remembering the new words especially when they are faced with a boring vocab list. This website can support them to learn and memorize them easier and more efficiently. For instance, the following picture is full of words about animals with their cartoon pictures and pronounciation. These can be an attractive and brand new way for learners espacially the kids to learn them.

How might you use it to foster language learning in class/ouside class?

• Teachers can use this website to support their vocab teaching in the class with using these vivid pictures and interesting exercises.
• Within the class, teachers can ask students to work in pairs to pronounce each word and help corret each other.
• Teachers can ask students to go over ther new learned vocab through this website.

Limitations:

• Vocab exercises are fixed and not versatile.
• The words on this website are not fully covering daily words.