About Podcasting

Summary

Podcasting is an online place where people can upload their audio files to share with related group and they can also download those files in mp3 format and store it in any kind of player so that people can listen it anytime and anywhere when they find time. So it is very comfortable to all. Podcasting can also be used to develop Radio type content so that it can be helpful to use it as an educational purpose. Now there are four kinds of ELT podcasting and they all are different from each other according to their aims.

They all are

1.     Authentic Podcasts deal with higher level students and it provides rich         source of listening.

2.     Teacher podcasts aim to produce listening files for their students to provide listening content which are not available elsewhere.

3.     Student Podcasts are produced for students with the help of teachers and it helps students to know about all over the world and also they can create their community.

4.     Educator Podcasts deal with the ELT teachers and methodological matters.

Podcasting can also be used in the classroom and teachers can also upload homework tasks and students can follow downloading the audio files. In this way we can create podcast and to do that we need to have means of recording, audio editing software, weblog, RSS Feed and space online to store the audio files.

In this way Podcasting is enormous web tool that can help teachers to solve various problems with physical large classrooms. Here students can visit at any time whenever and whatever place they are free. This is really revolutionary tool in online education. Thus, I kindly recommend using this tool those who really interested to teach speaking in interesting way. Other tasks can also be taught in effective way but it very suitable and comfort to teach speaking skills.

Thus I would like to conclude this here saying that this tool is very useful to teachers and students as well.

In the end of all these discussion I would like to share my way of using this tool in the language classroom. If I get chance to use this tool, I will assign various tasks based on various language topics and also I will be able to teach poetry in interesting way. I will upload various audio files based on literary texts and students will learn listening skills and they will also be familiar with various literary texts. In this I will teach language and literature simultaneously. So this is the vary vary useful tool in the hands of language and literature teachers and it will also be helpful to wind up classroom walls.

About Nicenet

Introduction

Nicene is conferencing software and it easily available on net. Users do not need to download because it works only online so Nicenet is nice online software where teachers can create a virtual classroom and can share information with the members of group. Nicenet has all facilities to share information with the members of group e.g. teacher can send message to his students and can also get reply. This is freeware so anybody can get service from this software. In this way Nicenet is very useful to create an interactive classroom and it has conferencing system so teacher can manage his class easily.

How Nicenet Works

Nicenet can also be transformed in to virtual school because here same students can attend various online classes. A class is composed of sections or topics and within each topic messages can be stored and can be arranged according to date and also can be personalised. It is possible to have written conversations with the members of the virtual class and the teachers. Most important thing is that all members of the same group will have a mailbox for private messages that no one else will be able to access. There is also some drawbacks that teachers cannot upload files if they are not available on internet so only online files can be uploaded.

How to Start

First of all one has to access site called www.nicenet.org where teachers need to log in clicking on “create class” and students need to “join the class”. In this way teachers will get the class key which they can share with their students and without it students will not be able to approach the class again and teachers need to remember their username and password to log into class again. Teachers can send class key to various students in all over the world. In this way distance learning and teaching can be possible.

My Experience

I have created online classroom with the help of Nicenet software and it aims to teach certain ELT topics like Cohesion and Coherence in Writing. I have got students from ELT classroom and they are instructed to read various stories written by well known writer like R K Narayan uploaded on Nicenet and asked to observe very carefully all the linking patterns in the entire story. Then I have asked them to reform particular story in their own words so that I can check cohesion and coherence into their stories. In this way this kind of learning and teaching is really fun. Students can learn without any kind of threat and can express themselves completely.

Conclusion

In this way Nicenet software is very useful to both teachers and students and it also very interactive because students and teachers can deal with any subject through messages. But the important thing is that both students and teachers should have internet connection otherwise they cannot get help from this software.

Know about Social Bookmarking Sites

Know about Social Bookmarking Sites

“A method of sharing and storing web pages in a single online location for future use or sharing with other Internet users.”

Social Bookmarking sites are very wonderful sites in terms of their functions or facilities. These sites allow us to store tags and links. We can share these links with friends and colleagues. We can also access links from anywhere in the world with the help of Internet connection. So, if there is any page we find that is interesting and important, we can easily save it for future reference and also can share it with other people. In this way, clicking on social bookmarking link we can add particular link to the list.

Most interesting thing is that all the social bookmarking sites are free to use but essential part is that it requires registration with particular sites then after you can work with this sites.

How Can We Benefit From Social Bookmarking

Social bookmarking sites allow you to specifically target what you want to see. Instead of going into a search engine, typing something in, and then searching for that needle in a haystack, you can quickly narrow down the items to what you are looking for. Because many social bookmarking sites display recently added lists and popular links, you can both stay current and see relevant information. For example, let's say you are interested in learning more about English Language Teaching Methods, you might search for that on one of these sites and come up with two articles: one with a hundred votes and one with two votes. It's pretty easy to tell that the article with a hundred votes might be your best choice. And this is a lot easier than putting “English Language Teaching Methods” into a search engine and seeing page after page of links that may or may not be useful.

So, this started out as a way to send bookmarks to friends has really grown into social search engines and you no longer need to go through thousands of results to find a needle in a haystack. Now, you can simply go to a social bookmarking site, choose the category or tag that matches your interest, and find the most popular websites.

Delicious: King of all Social Bookmarking Sites

Now a day the social bookmarking site called Delicious is referred as the King of all other social bookmarking sites because it carries so many important functions like Add Link, Tag, Tag Bundle and Discover which are useful even in our professional as well as social life.

It is an online bookmark site so teacher can save or add important links related to the study material of particular field (e.g. English Language Teaching) and can assign homework based on these sites or can ask to refer important sites related to study course. Thus this is an important bookmarking site for all types of people.

How Do We StartWork on Delicious

Please, refer the sites given under which will provide all the necessary instruction about the Delicious Social Bookmarking site.

Know Steps of Sign in to Delicious

Introduction of Delicious

A Report on Video about Wiki

A Report on Video about Wiki

This short video, presented by Commoncraft called ‘Wikis in Plain English’ shows us how wiki can be useful in developing collaborative work. It explains entire process of editing, saving and linking for a new page through the demonstration of the plan of four friends for camp. Initially they use E-mail to send information about the preparation but it is found uncomfortable in terms of time so they choose Wiki to do the same and it remained better. In this way, this video introduces all the advantages and accessibility of this wiki source. It also explains how it works, e.g. showing the demo of editing, saving and linking for new page of two lists under the titles ‘we have’ and ‘we need’. Thus, this video introduces all the components of the wiki and also teaches us how we can use this tool for our students to learn in the interesting way. It ends with the introduction of various sites like Pbwiki, Wetpaint, Wikispace and Commoncraft.

Activity

With the help of Wiki we can do any collaborative work under the particular aim. It can also be used in classroom to create a virtual classroom. I will assign various tasks to students which tasks are supposed to be done on the wiki page, e.g. I will ask them to prepare an answer related to particular study topic and edit it on the wiki page to share with others and ask group members or classmates for the correction or improvement in the answer. In this way all students will prepare different answers on different topics and they share all answers with the classmates and ultimately teacher will make corrections in all the answers. Thus material will be available for all the classmates and it will remain interesting.

    

Hello!
I am Keyur Sardhara. I belong to Kalsari far away from Junagadh. I have completed B A with English Literature from Saurashtra University, Rajkot and am pursuing M A with ELT in H M Patel Institute of English Training and Research. My hobbies are reading novels, listening music and watching movies. My goal    is to be a good lecturer.